The namesake of Elon Musk‘s enormous business enterprise would be proud. The great scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla — for whom Musk named his most famous (so far) company — wasn’t just a motors guy, after all. He was a free-range genius and his name can stand on its own, just like Musk’s company. That’s obviously Musk’s opinion. As Tesla Motors expands into more of an all-around energy/technology/battery company, it has officially dropped the Motors from its name. Now the company is simply known as Tesla rather than Tesla Motors. Which is what people called it anyway.
That creates further separation from Tesla‘s big US rivals in the auto business — at least on the surface: Ford still goes by Ford Motor Company and General Motors doesn’t figure to become simply “General” anytime soon. Tesla follows a well-traveled path in simplifying its name and signaling a broader mission. Apple dropped Computer from its old name, Apple Computer, in 2007 just as the iPhone revolution was beginning.
