Autoblog

Report: Tesla CTO confirms building two mules for Toyota

Sam Abuelsamid — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:35:00 EST

AutoblogGreen had the rare opportunity on Friday to chat with Toyota CEO and president Akio Toyoda. During the conversation, he revealed that a prototype vehicle with a Tesla electric drive unit was under construction. Tesla's Chief Technology Officer, J.B. Straubel, has confirmed this to CNN Money, saying that the Silicon Valley company is indeed preparing two mule vehicles for Toyota. Tesla battery packs, power electronics and motors are being installed into Toyota bodies.

Straubel expects to deliver the vehicles to Toyota by the end of of this month. Toyota officials told ABG that the initial plan is to just test the performance and durability of the Tesla packs to determine whether they meet Toyota standards. If Toyota proceeds with a production program using a Tesla-style battery (employing small laptop-type cells) it will be for a new vehicle, not the iQ-based EV arriving in 2012.

[Source: CNN Money]

Report: Tesla CTO confirms building two mules for Toyota originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tesla shares in freefall, now below IPO price

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 08:39:00 EST

Filed under: Earnings/Financials, Tesla, Electric

After rising 41 percent on the first day of trading, stock in Tesla Motors has been in an alarming freefall. Yesterday, shares of Tesla Motors fell another 16 percent, landing below their initial offering price of $17 each. For those keeping track of such things, company head and largest shareholder Elon Musk's shares are now worth $433 million, a good bit less than their $457 million value after the IPO.

We're clearly not experts on the subject, so we'll tell you what more qualified people have to say. According to Josef Schuster, the Chicago-based founder of IPOX Capital Management LLC, "The company is a great concept with relatively weak fundamentals. Markets are weak and in a weak market right now this is hurting the company even more."

Financial expert Michael Holland explains, "They brought this thing into a market that was not rewarding hype... The stock did get its pop, and now it's plagued by the reality of the marketplace. The reality of the marketplace is that people aren't paying for dreams and visions."

[Source: Business Week, MarketWatch]

Tesla shares in freefall, now below IPO price originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 08:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BREAKING: Tesla shows future products in IPO road show, liquid-cooled motor and electronics

Autoblog Staff — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:40:00 EST

Filed under: Convertible, Minivan/Van, Sedan, Performance, Crossover, Hatchback, Earnings/Financials, Tesla, Electric, Luxury

Tesla future models - Click above for more slides from the road show

The long-delayed initial public offering for Tesla Motors is expected to happen as early as next week. Naturally, then, company CEO Elon Musk now has to go out and sell it. One of the last steps before the stock's on-sale date is the Road Show, where executives go before the mavens of Wall Street to convince them of the value of the company.

Slide #19 of Musk's Powerpoint gives us the first glimpse of what might come after the Model S, which includes a cabriolet, van and crossover. All will be built on a common platform with the Model S and will mount the battery pack under the floor in a similar manner to the Nissan Leaf. The cabriolet, in particular, is quite the stunner and should provide a real competitor to the Fisker Karma Sunset.

Among the other changes that Musk revealed are liquid-cooled power electronics and motor starting with the Model S. While this will add to the cost and complexity of the powertrain, it should help improve the overall efficiency and overcome some of the limiting factors that were found late in the development of the Roadster. The full Tesla prospectus is available here and you can watch the Road Show here.

Gallery: Tesla future models

[Source: Retail Road Show]

BREAKING: Tesla shows future products in IPO road show, liquid-cooled motor and electronics originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Tesla IPO to happen week of June 28

Sam Abuelsamid — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:01:00 EST

Filed under: Toyota, Earnings/Financials, Tesla

Tesla Model S - Click above for high-res image

It looks like Tesla Motors will finally be going public the week of June 28, if a report in the Wall Street Journal is correct. The long anticipated stock offering was originally planned for the fall of 2008, but the global financial melt-down made that impossible. Tesla is hoping to sell 11.1 million shares at a price of $14 to $16 a share for a total take of up to $178 million.

The share offering must happen sometime this year under the terms of the recent agreement between Tesla and Toyota if the Japanese automaker is to proceed with its plan to invest $50 million in the California-based electric car maker. At $15 per share, Toyota would get about 3.3 percent of the company or about one-third of what Daimler got last year for a similar investment.

Aside from a single month in July 2009, Tesla has never turned a profit in its seven-year existence and is unlikely to do so until after the Model S goes on sale, now expected to happen in 2012. As of March 31, 2010, Tesla sold 1,063 Roadsters and there is no longer a waiting list for the electric sports car. Tesla officials have declined comment on the IPO report.

Gallery: Tesla Model S in motion

[Source: Wall Street Journal]

Report: Tesla IPO to happen week of June 28 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Honda buys $13.8 million worth of plug-in credits from Tesla

Autoblog Staff — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:58:00 EST

One advantage of being an automaker that produces nothing but plug-in vehicles is earning zero-emissions credits. It's long been thought that those credits would at some point become a valuable commodity. Back in 2007 when Phoenix Motorcars was still around, a big chunk of its business plan revolved around revenue from those credits. Phoenix went bust before they were ever able to deliver any vehicles, but Tesla Motors has picked up the idea.

Buried in an updated S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week, Tesla revealed that it has sold $13.8 million worth of zero emissions vehicle credits, representing 368 cars, to Honda over the last two years. Honda and Tesla also have an agreement to exchange credits for another 287 vehicles. Unfortunately for Tesla, the market for its credits will soon largely dry up as Roadster sales have slowed to a trickle and the Model S won't come to market for at least two more years. For Honda, there will be plenty of other sources for these credits - including Nissan, General Motors, Ford and others - beginning later this year.

[Source: Securities and Exchange Commission via Green Car Advisor]

Report: Honda buys $13.8 million worth of plug-in credits from Tesla originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BREAKING: Toyota and Tesla to partner on EV production in California

Sam Abuelsamid — Thu, 20 May 2010 20:27:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota, Tesla, Electric

Tesla Model S - Click above for high-res image

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda held a joint press in Palo Alto, California to announce that the two companies would be collaborating on electric vehicle development and production, with Tesla will taking over the recently closed NUMMI factory in Fremont, CA to produce the Model S sedan.

Toyota will invest $50 million for a private placement of Tesla common stock and the state of California will provide a sales tax abatement to Tesla for capital equipment expenditures to tool up the plant. Musk estimated that the abatement will amount to about $20 million over the next several years.

According to Musk, production of the Model S will bring about 1,000 employees back to the NUMMI plant to produce about 20,000 cars a year at first, and as the facility expands - possibly to include the production of more models - it could employ up to 10,000 workers. Musk revealed that some employees have already been rehired, but was non-committal on the subject of union representation. NUMMI was the only Toyota plant in North America that was unionized.

An additional benefit to Tesla from this deal is that it will be able to take advantage of the Toyota production system and possibly some of Toyota's suppliers. That's sure to help Tesla avoid many of the logistical problems that hampered early Roadster production and costs.

Production of the Model S is still planned to start in 2012 and Musk said more advanced prototypes would be revealed later this year. No decisions have been made yet about additional vehicles to be produced at the plant which previously had a capacity of more than 300,000 vehicles a year.

The deal for the NUMMI plant leaves Downey, CA jilted at the altar with the city's mayor "feeling stabbed in the back by Tesla." The Toyota deal apparently came together very quickly and Musk acknowledged that he would still like to work with Downey, perhaps for a future Space-X facility. Hit the jump for all the details.

Gallery: Tesla Model S in motion

[Source: Toyota]

Continue reading BREAKING: Toyota and Tesla to partner on EV production in California

BREAKING: Toyota and Tesla to partner on EV production in California originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 20 May 2010 20:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wife of Tesla CEO demands 10-percent of his company stock and a Roadster in divorce

Eric Loveday — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:32:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Tesla

It's not all that often that a messy divorce pops up with a billionaire on one side and somebody who wants part of the money on the other, right? Actually, this occurs far too often and a divorce involving wealthy individuals can be downright messy and ultimately destructive to those involved. It appears as though the divorce between Tesla's chief executive officer Elon Musk and soon-to-be ex-wife Justine Musk is playing out as one of those mega-litigious affairs, and the impact may be extend well beyond just the two involved.

In case you haven't followed the Musk soap opera, here's what's going on. The divorce saga has been going on seemingly forever, as these things take lots of time. Justine Musk recently began blogging about the whole fiasco a couple of weeks ago on her Livejournal site. Justine is fighting the court battle to secure a few things that she feels entitled to. What does Justine want? Not much, just the house, alimony and child support, $6 million in cash, 10 percent of Elon's stock in Tesla, 5 percent of his stock in SpaceX, and throw in a Tesla Roadster as well.

Naturally, Elon is none too thrilled about the demands and has decided to fight this one in court. As the battle ensues, Elon stands a chance of losing much more than just the things listed above. If the divorce goes awry, Tesla could lose the $465 million in government funding that could delay its initial public offering. How does the divorce play into government funding? A stipulation in the paperwork states that government funds will be withdrawn if Musk doesn't hold enough stock in the company.

So is Justine being fair? Are her demands legit? As she said on her blog:

Is that what I deserve? I don't know. Who exactly deserves that kind of wealth? But based on our life and history together, is that reasonable? I think so.

One more thing to think about: by not agreeing to a settlement, Elon Musk risks losing even more as the post-marital agreement could be ruled illegal or fraudulent, and California law would then grant 50 percent of all communal property to Justine.

[Source: Livejournal, Reuters, Inside Line]

Wife of Tesla CEO demands 10-percent of his company stock and a Roadster in divorce originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 17 May 2010 15:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tesla employees going on 2,700 mile road trip from LA to Detroit

Sam Abuelsamid — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:32:00 EST

Filed under: Convertible, Performance, Electric

Tesla Roadster #750 - click above for high res image gallery

After delivering some 900 Tesla Roadsters, over a dozen employees are taking one on a road trip. Tesla will be back at the Detroit Auto Show next month and this time they're driving there. On Thursday, December 17, 16 Tesla employees will depart from Los Angeles and head across the Southeast toward Texas and then north east to Chicago and Detroit.

While the the 2,700 mile trip could be completed in a few days in conventional car, it will take two and a half weeks for the Roadster. According to Tesla's announcement, " We are out to prove the Roadster is tough and durable, and that range anxiety is for the weak." While the Roadster may be durable, part of the reason the trip is taking so long is the need to stop and spend several hours recharging every couple of hundred miles. Of course Telsa staff will be using those charging opportunities to show off the car and drum up a few sales.

Speaking of sales, an anonymous source claiming to have knowledge of the situation tells us that Tesla is currently selling about 20-30 Roadsters a month. New Tesla spokeperson Khobi Brooklyn says the company is currently building about 25 cars a week, but declines to comment on the sales figures.

Gallery: Tesla Roadster Road Trip

[Source: Tesla]

Tesla employees going on 2,700 mile road trip from LA to Detroit originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tesla Roadster sets world EV record of 313 miles on single charge

Sam Abuelsamid — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:03:00 EST

Filed under: Tesla, Electric

Simon Hackett and co-driver Emilis Prelgauskas with the record setting Roadster - click above for high-res image gallery

It's no secret that how you drive influences a vehicle's efficiency. Case in point: This week's Global Green Challenge in Australia where Simon Hackett shipped his 2008 Tesla Roadster down under and proceeded to set a new world record for a production battery-powered vehicle. Hackett and co-driver Emilis Prelgauskas managed to squeeze 313 miles out of the lithium ion battery pack of the Roadster.

As the drivers crossed the finish line, approximately three miles was left on the charge at the end of the run south from Alice Springs. That easily topped the 241-mile run by another Roadster earlier this year in the Rallye Monte Carlo d'Energies Alternatives and the 244 miles the car achieves on the EPA test cycle.

Of course, achieving those kinds of range numbers means completely forgoing the performance capabilities of the Roadster, just as it would in any other sports car. The 0-60 in 3.9 seconds and 244 mile range is an either/or choice, you sadly can't have both. Tesla's press release is after the jump.

Gallery: Global Green Challenge Tesla Roadster goes 313 miles

[Source: Tesla]

Continue reading Tesla Roadster sets world EV record of 313 miles on single charge

Tesla Roadster sets world EV record of 313 miles on single charge originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tesla hires ex-Ford exec as new CFO

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:27:00 EST

Filed under: Green, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Tesla Roadster.

Tesla Motors continues its hiring spree by bringing on Deepak Ahuja to serve as the company's CFO. Ahuja comes by way of the Ford Motor Company, where he was heading up the project to bring small European Ford's to America. Prior to that, Ahuja carried various other important financial roles with Ford and Mazda. Tesla's goal of becoming "the next great American automobile company" is a brash one, but much more likely to pan out with the proper people at the helm. Considering the rate at which Tesla Motors has been bringing on talent, including the recent addition of Franz von Holzhausen as Design Director, it is clear that the budding automaker takes its goal rather seriously. See the full press release after the break.

Gallery: First Drive: Tesla Roadster

[Source: Tesla Motors]

Continue reading Tesla hires ex-Ford exec as new CFO

Tesla hires ex-Ford exec as new CFO originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tesla files suit against Fisker Automotive

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:28:00 EST

Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Government/Legal, Green

As we recently reported, rumors have been swirling regarding Henrik Fisker's involvement with Tesla Motors and its upcoming electric sedan prototype known as the WhiteStar. As is often the case, there's apparently some truth to the scuttlebutt, as Tesla has filed a lawsuit claiming that Fisker Automotive is using stolen design ideas from Tesla sourced when Fisker Coachbuild was employed by the young EV automaker for the styling of its sedan.

According to Tesla chairman Elon Musk, "We could not use the Fisker styling. The styling was substandard compared to what he unveiled for his product. He gave us an inferior work product, and it's obvious why." In the process of working for Tesla, the lawsuit contends that Henrik Fisker and a few of his associates stole design ideas and confidential information related to the design of hybrid and electric cars. Fisker has since announced his upcoming Karma hybrid-electric sedan. Tesla seeks to have Fisker Automotive stop using any design ideas garnered from its relationship with Tesla, and any money paid to Fisker Coachbuild returned along with other unspecified damages.

Gallery: First Drive: Tesla Roadster

Gallery: Fisker Karma

[Source: The New York Times]

Tesla files suit against Fisker Automotive originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tesla Motors founder Martin Eberhard fired!

Sam Abuelsamid — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 20:43:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Green, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs

Late Friday evening, Tesla Motors issued a brief statement that company founder Martin Eberhard was transitioning from his management role as President to the company's advisory board. This announcement came barely a day after the announcement that Ze'ev Drori had been tapped to be the new CEO, taking the reins from interim boss Michael Marks. Drori is now also taking up Eberhard's title as President.

After the announcement it became clear that Eberhard did not relinquish his duties voluntarily. He is no longer even on the board of directors and the advisory board gig is at best ceremonial. The company isn't saying much, but in a posting on the Tesla Motors Club message board, Eberhard made it clear that it wasn't his choice to leave the company. A number of executives have apparently left the company in recent months as engineers have struggled to overcome transmission problems that have delayed the production launch of the Roadster. At the same time that they are trying to get their electric sports car into production, engineers are trying to finalize the specifications of their next product: the "WhiteStar" sedan.

While people are moving in and out of offices in San Carlos, Tesla is planning to have its first media drives with the print publications this week, while us on-line types will have to wait a few more weeks for our turn at the wheel.

[Source: Tesla Motors, Tesla Motors Club, via AutoblogGreen]

Tesla Motors founder Martin Eberhard fired! originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 02 Dec 2007 20:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EXCLUSIVE! AutoblogGreen experiences the Tesla Roadster in its natural habitat

Sam Abuelsamid — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:03:00 EST

Filed under: Convertible, Performance, Green, First Drives

click above image for a high-res gallery of the Tesla Roadster

Anyone familiar with English B-roads can understand why classic British sports cars evolved the way they did. These roads rarely seem to go in a straight line for more than a few yards at a time and are narrow with little or no runoff area. As a result, cars that came out of Morris Garages and Colin Chapman's shop were generally small, light and extremely nimble. They didn't have a lot of power, but when you follow Chapman's creed of "Add Lightness!", you don't really need a whole lot of power.

Some years after Chapman's death, the engineers at Lotus returned to the company's roots and created a small, lightweight minimalist descendant to the old Seven in the form of the Elise. Fast forward to this decade and a search for a small, quick sportster in the classic British mode, but with no emissions. Since none existed, Martin Eberhard and Elon Musk launched a company to create one, and Tesla Motors was born. AutoblogGreen experienced a short burst in the car on a runway when it debuted this past year, but that's like riding a horse at the petting zoo. You need to bareback that thoroughbred out on the plains to see what it's really like. We still haven't gotten behind the wheel, but are promised some wheel-time right after those old school print guys, which means we'll hopefully get to publish our review before they have a chance to print theirs. But we did get to experience the Roadster in perhaps the best American analog to an English B-road: storming up a California canyon road. For a full, drooling report on the experience, head over to AutoblogGreen and don't forget to check out the in-car video, as well.

[Source: AutoblogGreen]

Gallery: Riding in the Tesla Roadster

EXCLUSIVE! AutoblogGreen experiences the Tesla Roadster in its natural habitat originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tesla Roadster deliveries pushed back to 2008! 245 mile range confirmed

Sam Abuelsamid — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:56:00 EST

Filed under: Convertible, Performance, Green

click above image for more pics of the Tesla Roadster

New Tesla Motors CEO Michael Marks sent out a letter to all their customers yesterday confirming both some good and bad news. The good news is that the efforts of Tesla's engineers over the last several months have resulted in the recovery of most of the range that had been lost to weight increases and other engineering changes. The Roadster has now been validated on the EPA combined cycle with a range of 245 miles (252 city and 236 highway). Your mileage will of course vary. They have also made structural improvements and one of the validation prototypes has now passed the side impact test that caused problems for an earlier version.

On the downside, prospective buyers will have to wait longer for their cars. Tesla's revised production schedule now has them only building a small number of production cars by the end of this year with the first fifty being delivered in the first quarter of 2008. Once production ramps up a bit they plan to turn out another 600 cars by the end of the 2008 model year. You can read Marks' letter to buyers here.

Tesla Roadster deliveries pushed back to 2008! 245 mile range confirmed originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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