Modeling the Evolution of Electric Cars with Focus on the “Tesla Factor”

Abstract

In a highly competitive auto manufacturing world, this thesis focuses on the different types of analysis and relationships that are currently forming between known electric vehicle manufacturer (Tesla Motors), the financial market place, regular automotive gas and consumer markets and the effectiveness of Tesla’s supercharger distribution network. Given the rising demand for battery production metals, how do their financial values correlate with the rest of the market and other big players in the lithium and copper industry. This paper will also show the adoption of the electric vehicle into this gas dominated market and how sales and new technology will add to the increasing presence that Tesla Motors is making for itself while still remaining in a small niche market since electric vehicles make up close to 0.1% of the 1 billion vehicles globally. Main questions will be answered about mass production of electric vehicles and how it could affect different financial resources and stock prices for commodities and how the Tesla charging network fares under simulated trips of the entire population of the United States. To conclude it will look towards the future and where Tesla Motors can go from here in order to maximize its profits and size including optimizing its supercharging distribution network. Using different stock prices including its own, this paper will try to represent the growth that Tesla Motors has gone through since its IPO in 2010 and how it competes with other electric vehicle manufacturers for a foothold in the automotive markets while reducing costs and mass producing revolutionary new technologies in order to reach the lower tiers of consumers who want to purchase electric vehicles in order to go greener and save money.