Nikola Tesla built an electric car using a Ford model T and a 90 HP Westinghouse multi-phase induction motor. He then hooked up a little black wooden box with two or three holes in the top and electrical leads for the motor. Pulling out a couple or three metal rod (depending on who's reporting you read) he shoved them into the holes while declaring, "We have power" and off he would go with a top speed reported of about 90 mph and the most conservative report of a range approximately 300 miles. The least conservative report was an unlimited range, because he was supposedly also connected to two antenna through which he inducted the energy out of the atmosphere.
He tested his car around Texas with a nephew, as his assistant. He reportedly had electronics in the little black box that he had bought at a local electronics store. He relied on a driven oscillating electro-magnetic system to recycle AC power through three phases of the motor.
The newspapers reported on it and he was accused of charlatanism. Doubters speculated that he had secretly stored the energy in the ground instead of inducting it out of the air or manufacturing it in the black box. (Frankly, storing energy in the ground is just as amazing). The car is on display at a Tesla museum in Serbia, the little black box is gone, along with all his research and paperwork from Wardenclyffe when they tore it down for the last time.
The US government supposedly has all his research and it is still classified, even through numerous petitions have been presented over the years to declassify it. I don't know about that part, only that I have read about people speculating or reporting it to be so.
Elon Musk named his car in honor of Nikola's car. So, yes, that's the same Tesla.
- Will (Dragonfly)