Museum shows the range of Tesla

The cars inside the latest exhibition at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles don't have loud engines to rev up, and they definitely don't have gasoline running through them, but they are changing the rules of the road when it comes to fueling up.

“Whether you're a fan of Tesla or not, electric vehicles are looking to be the wave of the future, and this explores the story of how one company brought them to the broader automotive market and made them not only viable but highly desirable cars,” said Autumn Nyiri, the associate curator for the museum, which just launched “Inside Tesla: Supercharging the Electric Revolution.”

In the museum's Mullin Grand Salon, the exhibition traces the history of the company, which is run by Elon Musk, from startup to becoming a driving force in the electric vehicle movement. A display shows more than a dozen vehicles that range from early models and current prototypes to cars that inspired the evolution of Tesla vehicles.

The exhibition, which runs through October, also looks at other products created by the company, including batteries, solar roofs and various innovations.

But it's the vehicles that really tell the history of Tesla. Visitors will find a 1997 AC Propulsion tzero, a yellow two-passenger sports car that inspired the first Tesla Roadster in 2008.

“They built three, but only two remain. Elon had a ride in the tzero and it got him really excited about it,” Nyiri said.

While the tzero sparked Musk's interest in electric cars, people may also remember one of the controversial public figure's more embarrassing moments when they check out the prototype 2019 Tesla Cybertruck pickup truck. Made of stainless steel, the truck was first revealed onstage in Los Angeles by Musk in 2019 with a memorable stunt that went awry after he claimed the car was “bulletproof.”

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