Their plate may be filled with churning out Tesla Roadsters and developing the Model S sedan, but Tesla Motors can't seem to get a break from the lawsuits. First there was the tiff with transmission supplier Magna, followed by potential development partner Fisker, and now Tesla is facing a class action (it's not a class action lawsuit until a judge deems it so) lawsuit from former Director of Public Relations, David Vespremi. Vespremi ended up on the cutting room floor during the tornado that swept through the company ranks at the end of 2007 was let go prior to the layoffs in January of this year. Vespremi is trying to connect his firing to the layoffs, but according to Tesla's Darryl Siry, that's not the case -- his termination was a separate matter. The details of the lawsuit allege that Tesla Motors did not practice good faith or fair dealing, violated labor codes with unpaid wages and waiting periods, and utilized unfair business practices. The document also listed libel and slander due to the harsh words spoken from the mouths of executives to the media when referencing the former employees.Thanks for the tip Jan!
UPDATE: Darryl Siry of Tesla wanted to clear a few things up with the story. To begin with, a judge must certify a lawsuit as class action before it can be deemed as such. That hasn't happened yet. Additionally, the part of the lawsuit filed by David Vespremi that asks for class action status has nothing to do with libel, slander, or defamation. The only part of Vespremi's lawsuit that could be classified as "class" has to do with Tesla's arbitration and non-conciliation clause in his employment agreement.
If Tesla has learned anything from the development of the Roadster over the past five years, it's that building a production car that meets present day regulations is a lot harder than anyone in Silicon Valley guessed. The process is filled with all kinds of potholes and having some people on the team with experience navigating those craters can be a big help. During AutoblogGreen's recent conversation with Tesla Chairman Elon Musk, he revealed that the company would have several experienced auto industry people coming aboard soon. The first of those new recruits has now been revealed as Mike Donoughe, Tesla's new Executive Vice President for vehicle development and manufacturing. Donoughe is a 24-year veteran of Chrysler who resigned from his VP post there three months ago, and was instrumental in the effort to redesign Chrysler's mid-sized cars. At Tesla he will be responsible for vehicle engineering for the Roadster and Model S except for the drivetrain. Initially, Donoughe will focus on getting the Model S' engineering and manufacturing sorted out. The Tesla press release is after the jump.
Click above for high-res gallery of the Fisker Karma
A few months back, Tesla Motors sued Fisker Automotive for allegedly stealing information related to the production of its upcoming plug-in electric sedan named Whitestar and using it to develop its series-hybird, the Karma. Yesterday, a judge ruled in favor of Fisker Automotive by allowing the case to go into arbitration outside the courtroom, which was apparently part of the original agreement between Tesla and Henrik Fisker in the first place. It appears that Tesla went outside that original agreement by bringing forth its lawsuit in the first place, though Tesla may have considered that contract void as the original lawsuit alleged that it was signed merely to gain access to confidential information.
Although the arbitration is to be handled outside of court, the judge has scheduled a management conference this August, perhaps to be sure that negotiations are moving along. This is good news for Fisker, which is currently working to get its Karma PHEV sedan to market by the fourth-quarter of 2009.
Much has been made of the issues that Tesla Motors encountered with its original two-speed transmission. The fledgling EV automaker was unable to find a supplier that could engineer a two-speed gearbox capable of allowing the Tesla Roadster to hit 0-60 in four seconds and meet specified targets for its range. The two-speed box was eventually dropped in favor of what has been called "powertrain 1.5", which uses a single-speed gearbox and other improvements to the electric motor and inverter to achieve Tesla's seemingly incongruous goals of performance and efficiency.
JB Straubel, Chief Technical Officer Tesla Motors, recently posted an update on the progress of powertrain 1.5 on the company's blog, and be warned, if you're not up to date on how highly complex electric motors and transmissions work (like us), you'll probably get lost. The basic nuts and bolts of it amount to a Tesla Roadster that will have both a 33% higher peak torque output and an additional 10 miles of range versus the 1.0 car. According to our own Sam Abuelsamid who has followed the Tesla Roadster's development from gestation, these two seemingly irreconcilable accomplishments were achieved mainly through lowering resistance at every point along the powertrain. This was done by redesigning some components, using low resistance materials and switching to a new, shorter gear ratio of 8.27:1. You can read Sam's nitty gritty explanation of the changes over at AutoblogGreen, but it seems the little EV company that could is finally getting back on track after some major set backs.
Tesla has big plans, and to finance them it plans to raise big money. How? First, with an influx of venture capital that could put 10-percent of the company in VC hands. There has also been talk of an IPO, which Chairman Elon Musk thinks could raise $100 million dollars, and Musk said he plans to take the company public by the end of this year. And to make sure Tesla's coffers are topped up, the company plans to partake in a loan guarantee program offered by the U.S. Department of Energy for up to $200 million.
With a potential $300 million in the bank, not including the initial public offering, Tesla could get serious work done on the Whitestar sedan. Tesla hopes to have the sedan in production by 2010. If you're liking the sound of all this and want to know how you can get some Tesla stock, we recommend buying a Tesla. Musk wants to reward believers, and is trying to figure out how the company can offer customers the chance to legally buy in before the IPO.
Click above for more Fisker-supplied spy shots of the Karma
Isn't it fitting that Fisker Automotive's upcoming series-hybrid sports sedan is named Karma?. After having commissioned Fisker to help design its second product, the Whitestar sedan, Tesla Motors sued Fisker claiming it stole trade secrets that were then used on the Karma. Following that lawsuit, Tesla was then sued by Magna, one of its former transmission suppliers, Tesla's suit against Fisker came several weeks after Tesla themselves were sued by Magna Powetrain who had been contracted to develop a new transmission for the Roadster and now Fisker is slapping the upstart electric car company with its own arbitration suit. That's karma for you, right there.
Fisker will attempt to first derail Tesla's original lawsuit by seeking to have it moved from San Mateo, CA to Orange County, after which it will then try to prove that Tesla is attempting to divert attention away from its delayed all-electric Roadster by suing Fisker. To that end, Henrik Fisker himself called the whole mess "ridiculous" and referred to Tesla's behaviour as "sour grapes". An arbitrator will likely determine whether he's right or not, but until then we lowly consumers must await ramped up production of the Tesla Roadster and the eventual arrival of the Fisker Karma. Thanks for the tip, Doug!
Martin Eberhard first conceived of what ultimately became Tesla Motors and the Tesla Roadster when he couldn't get AC Propulsion to build him a TZero. Since he wanted a battery-powered sports car, Eberhard set out to bring together a team that would build his dream car. Of course, it was always his intention to buy the first car for himself, but creating a car company from scratch is not a low budget proposition. Hence Eberhard had to bring in some investors to fund the program. PayPal founder Elon Musk came in big with a pile of cash in return for which he requested the first car. After some haggling, Eberhard agreed to take Roadster number 2 and things moved along.
As we now know, Tesla encountered some speed bumps along the way and production got delayed by many months. The first production model was completed in December 2007, and delivered to Musk in February. Series production officially kicked off on March 17 of this year with the car with serial number 2 starting down the line. That car destined for Eberhard has yet to leave the Lotus factory in England. Meanwhile two other cars have been completed and one has been delivered to a customer in the U.S. while the other has been touring Europe for the last couple of weeks. Needless to say, Martin Eberhard is not pleased about other people getting their Roadsters before him. The problem is that automotive build sequences are a very complicated matter, which are only made worse when you blend big egos into the mix. The matter comes down to the difference between what the VIN numbers say and which cars we're actually built when. AutoblogGreen has a detailed report on what was "promised" to Eberhard, and what is being delivered, including documents provided by Eberhard.
Click above for high-res gallery from Tesla's Flagship Store grand opening
Tesla Motors has found enough time in between suing and getting sued by its suppliers to open its first dealership in Los Angeles, CA today. Located on the corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda boulevards, the $2 million dealership sprawls 10,000 square feet and features poured concrete floors, an exposed ceiling of ductwork and beams, mirrors and potted plants. This is no Chipotle, however, as the first Tesla dealership will be staffed by salaried Tesla employees, not traditional salespeople who work on commission. Another dealership is in the works near Silicon Valley closer to the company's HQ, but we're not sure when that one will open.
Clearly modeled on the highly successful Apple Store experiment, the Tesla factory store is as much about educating the public and building brand awareness as it is about selling Tesla Roadsters. And that's a good thing, as there are no Tesla Roadsters to sell right now. The fledgling automaker has already sold 600 cars and has a waiting list 400 strong, but to date only four have been built. The first car went to Tesla Motors chairman and chief financier Elon Musk, while car #2 is earmarked for forced-out co-founder Martin Eberhard who has delayed delivery of his Tesla Roadster until its custom pain job is ready. Car #4 has been spotted at the Top Marques Monaco show with U2 frontman Bono behind the wheel, while car #3 should be on its way to an actual customer's garage.
Gallery: Tesla Motors Flagship Store - L.A.
[Source: AutoblogGreen, Photos by Vince Bucci/Getty]
Click above for high-res gallery of the Fisker Karma
Fisker Automotive may be knee-deep in a legal battle with electric car pioneer Tesla Motors, but the fledgling automaker is still committed to producing its stunning Karma plug-in electric vehicle by Q4 2009. Henrik Fisker and crew have received so much negative press regarding the pending lawsuit that it issued a press release to ensure prospective buyers that that the Karma was on its way, but also to explain where its PHEV technology originates.
Fisker calls the lawsuit "nonsense," and points out that his design company, Fisker Coachbuild, has non-exlusive design contracts with many automakers. The press release, which is available after the jump, shows that Fisker is getting its PHEV tech from a company called Quantum Technologies, which has also created electric vehicles for the U.S. Armed Forces. The release doesn't specifically address Tesla's contention that Fisker stole electric vehicle design secrets, but then again it's probably not a good idea to discuss pending litigation in any real detail.
It seems as though Tesla Motors is just a little peeved that the Karma's design is superior to the one Fisker Coachbuild designed for its upcoming WhiteStar sedan, which we're hoping to see soon so we can know what all the fuss is about.
Birthing a car is always difficult, and Tesla has seen its share of problems. The biggest hurdle to getting its all-EV Roadsters in customers' garages has been the transmission. Initially the company wanted to have a two-speed unit, but the unit from its first supplier, X-Trac, wasn't durable enough. Tesla then contracted Magna to help build a tranny, before a final try at designing its own transmission also ended abortively. In the end, to get cars rolling out the door, changes were made to the motor so that a single-speed transmission could be fitted.
Magna doesn't seem upset that it was just a stepping stone – that's business. What the company would like, however, is to get paid for the work it performed. Magna is also telling Tesla "told you so" by claiming to have suggested a single-speed unit back in 2006. To recover its $5.6 million, Magna has filed suit in San Mateo to force the issue, which coincidentally comes not long after Tesla filed suit against Fisker, which it initially hired to designs its next product, the WhiteStar sedan. What goes around comes around, we guess. The legal wranglings haven't yet made a dent in Tesla's operations, but Magna's lawsuit could bolster the case of frustrated buyers who have yet to receive their cars, should those customers decide to also take to the courts.
Update: Tesla VP Darryl Siry contacted us to clarify the issue with the original X-Trac gearbox. Apparently the problem was not one of actual durability of the transmission itself. Tesla evidently spec'ed out a two speed unit with no clutches. The design intent was to do clutch-less shifting and manage the torque output of the motor during the shifts. Unfortunately the rotational inertia of the motor made this plan unworkable as the torque output couldn't be changed fast enough. According to Siry there were never actually any mechanical failures of the X-Trac transmission, it was simply a matter of Tesla not being able to get their control strategy to work adequately with the hardware. Subsequently Tesla contracted Magna to develop a dual clutch two speed gearbox. Unfortunately, this is the design that had durability issues leading to Tesla's ultimate decision to revise the motor for more power and go with a single speed unit for production. The vehicles running with the interim single speed gearbox are actually using the original X-Trac box with the lower gear locked out (for prototypes) or removed entirely (early production cars). - Sam
Their plate may be filled with churning out Tesla Roadsters and developing the Model S sedan, but Tesla Motors can't seem to get a break from the lawsuits. First there was the tiff with transmission supplier Magna, followed by potential development partner Fisker, and now Tesla is facing a 
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