10 Things You Didn't Know About Tesla

Tesla is one of the hottest new car companies of the century and has helped usher in an era of electric cars. As Tesla grew in popularity, people started to talk about all the little facts about Tesla people could find.

It's a company that's famously named after Nikola Tesla, one of the people to really pioneer the widespread use of electrical currents. It was a company that was founded by a real-life Tony Stark who happened to date Grimes for a bit.

But, even with all the trivia going around Tesla these days, chances are that there are still things you didn't know about Tesla, its cars, and the way they do business. Did you know these cool trivia bits below?

Record scratch. Wait, what? Elon Musk didn't start Tesla?! How could this happen, and if he didn't found Tesla, who did? Tesla was actually created by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.

Elon Musk was actually hired to help design the cars and help market them. He became so involved with the brand, most people assumed that Musk was the founder. He's not. He's just the company's CEO.

Tesla really enjoys paying its dues early.

When Tesla was first founded, the United States government gave the company a loan of $465 million dollars. Most companies would take their sweet time to pay off that massive loan, but not Tesla.

Tesla paid off all $465 million nine years early!

Most people are aware that Tesla's first car was the Roadster, and many might actually remember that it wasn't that good of a car. In fact, it was one of the worst flops the company ever saw.

One of the things you didn't know about Tesla's Roadster was how bad of a disaster it was. It was so bad, Top Gear had an entire episode that was spent talking about how bad it was. The bad press made Tesla irate, and a lawsuit was launched.

Top Gear won.

There are plans for a "Gigafactory" to create the newest fleet of electric cars.

It's already clear that Tesla loves the idea of electric cars and weaning people off gas. What you might not realize is how environmentally-friendly the company really is.

One of the newest investments Tesla has made can be seen in the yet-to-be-built Gigafactory. It's slated to be the second-largest building in the world, and a testament to Tesla's awesome vision.

This factory will run entirely on renewable power, will turn used trains and other recycled materials into batteries, and will work on reducing the price of lithium ion batteries by 30 percent.

You know how you have to buy a new car at a dealership, and how you feel the smarminess of car salesman secrets used against you? You know how grimy that feels?

Yeah, Tesla doesn't like that and prefers to sell their cars directly to consumers rather than deal with individual dealership franchises. This is actually illegal in a couple of states, which is why Tesla dealerships can be hard to find.

Elon Musk isn't paid very well, technically.

One of the things you didn't know about Tesla is how it pays its CEO. The answer to this riddle is...not very well. On paper, Elon Musk's salary is only a dollar. It's clear this is a labor of love.

Don't cry for him, though. He has a net worth of $12.1 billion!

If you're a Wall Street fan, then you probably already have a little Tesla in your portfolio. Smart move! Ever since Tesla ended up on the stock exchange, the value of its stock skyrocketed by over 2,000 percent.

As certain billionaire investors would say, that makes Tesla a "ten bagger."

Despite the excellent work Tesla has done and the high value of the stock, Tesla's not profitable.

Tesla is still a relatively new car manufacturer, and that means that it's still actually gaining traction in the market. Despite all the progress the company has made, Tesla still has yet to turn an annual profit.

The lack of profit is due to Tesla's heavy-handed approach to investments. It's expected to stay that way until 2020, after which investors will probably see a profit appear rather quickly.

The Tesla Model S happens to be one of the best-made in terms of centers of gravity. The low gravity center allows it to handle like a Ford Mustang.

The Model S also gained fame for it's low drag coefficient and lays claim to the largest panoramic sunroof of any production car. Feeling like you need a chauffeur? The Model S also has a "Summon" control that lets you bring it to your door via a cellphone app.

Tesla is the second oldest publicly-traded American automaker.

Even if you love Wall Street, we're willing to bet that this is one of the few things you didn't know about Tesla. Tesla Motor Company is the second oldest publicly listed American car manufacturing company in existence.

Ford is the oldest, obviously. GM, which used to be publicly traded, went bankrupt and no longer is being traded on the exchange. Chrysler, the third oldest American car company, is privately owned.