Nikola Tesla did not invent alternating current, but his polyphase AC system and induction motor helped make AC electricity practical on a huge scale. In the late 1880s the AC system backed by George Westinghouse using Tesla’s patents competed with Thomas Edison’s DC system in what became known as the War of Currents. AC eventually became the basis of large-scale electrical grids. But Tesla’s personal finances deteriorated in his later years, several ambitious projects failed to produce results, and he died alone in a New York hotel room in January 1943 with very little to show for a lifetime of invention.
The episode opens with Mom describing Tesla’s death before Daniel knows who she is talking about. What follows moves through what Tesla actually contributed, the War of Currents, the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and 1896 Niagara Falls milestones, and why Tesla Motors founders Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning chose his name as a tribute to his AC motor work. Daniel’s humor runs throughout, and the episode closes on a line that is both funny and the most honest possible reaction to the story.
MomDaniel, did you know that, in January 1943, a man died alone, in a New York hotel room? He had almost no money, and at that exact moment, electrical systems built partly on his inventions were powering cities across the world.
DanielMom, that is either the most unfair thing I have ever heard, or a very dramatic way to start a podcast.
MomBoth can be true. His name was Nikola Tesla, and his story explains why one of the world's most famous electric car companies carries his name.
DanielWait, the Tesla car is named after an actual person?
MomYes, a real person, who arrived in New York in 1884 with four cents in his pocket, and ideas that would change how civilization uses electricity.
DanielHmm, what did he actually invent?
MomHis most important work helped make alternating current electricity practical on a huge scale. Tesla developed a polyphase AC system, including motors, that used rotating magnetic fields. That engineering made it possible to build the kind of electrical grids the modern world runs on.
DanielSo, he did not invent electricity or AC. He helped solve some of the big engineering problems that made AC practical on a huge scale.
MomOne of the key advantages of AC is that voltage can be stepped up or down using transformers. That made it possible to transmit electricity over long distances with far less loss, which is why AC became the basis of large-scale power grids.
DanielSo, what was the alternative, and why did it lose?
MomThomas Edison championed direct current, and when the AC system backed by George Westinghouse, using Tesla's patents, started competing with Edison's DC system in the late 1880s, it became one of the most dramatic technical battles in history. It was called the War of Currents.
DanielThe War of Currents. History has such good names for things.
MomEdison's company ran an active campaign, arguing AC was dangerous. Tesla gave spectacular electrical demonstrations, including some where high-frequency current passed through his body that drew enormous public attention and helped build confidence in electrical technology.
DanielHe ran electricity through his body in public. This man was either very brave or had very different ideas about what counted as a normal Tuesday.
MomProbably both, in my honest opinion. AC eventually became dominant. In 1893, Tesla and George Westinghouse lit the Chicago World's Fair with AC power, a massive public demonstration. Then, in 1896, the Niagara Falls Power Station began transmitting AC electricity to Buffalo, showing the technology could power entire regions.
DanielSo DC lost and AC won. But Tesla did not exactly win either.
MomExactly. The AC system succeeded and Tesla's contributions to it were enormously important. But technological success does not always mean personal financial success.
DanielSo I guess the technology won and the man did not.
MomHistory is not always fair about these things, you know? Tesla's finances deteriorated over his later years. Several ambitious projects never produced the results he hoped for. He spent his final years in a New York hotel and died in January 1943 with very little to show financially for a lifetime of invention.
DanielAlone, with almost no money, while AC power ran through the entire building.
MomAnd throughout New York, across the country, and eventually across electrical grids around the world.
DanielSo how did the car company get his name?
MomTesla Motors was founded in 2003 by two engineers named Martin Eberhard and Mark Tarpenning. They deliberately named it after Nikola Tesla as a tribute to his pioneering work on AC induction motors, technology closely connected to the kind of electric motor the company's first car would use.
DanielSo the name is not random then. There is an actual technological connection.
MomElon Musk joined the company as an investor in 2004 and became CEO in 2008. But the name and the tribute were already there from the founders who wanted to acknowledge the man whose work made the electric motor possible.
DanielSo Tesla the car exists partly because two engineers in 2003 decided that a man who died penniless in 1943 deserved to have his name on something that actually worked.
MomSomething that worked and changed the world again. In a very different way from the inventions that inspired its name.
DanielHe came to New York with four cents and now his name is on one of the most recognized car companies in the world.
MomHistory takes its time with recognition. He did not live to see it, but the work remained. So Daniel, what is one thing you are taking with you today?
DanielThere is actually so much history behind an electrical car. Nikola Tesla did not invent alternating current, but he developed crucial inventions that helped make AC practical on a huge scale. Especially his polyphase system and induction motor. Also, during the war of currents, AC competed with the DC system, championed by Thomas Edison, and AC eventually became the basis of large-scale electrical grids.
DanielBut Tesla's financial success did not match the importance of his work and he died with very little in a New York hotel in 1943. I also remember that Tesla Motors was founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Mark Tarpenning, who chose his name as a tribute to his pioneering work with AC Motors.
MomAnd every time you see that name on a car, you are seeing a tribute to an inventor whose ideas helped shape the electrical world we live in.
DanielI genuinely cannot decide if that is poetic or deeply annoying.
MomMaybe that is the most honest reaction anyone has ever had to this story.
