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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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Tesla's Elon Musk says he's broke

Sam Abuelsamid — Sun, 30 May 2010 09:31:00 EST

Filed under: Tesla

Diving into an extremely competitive and capital-intensive business in which customers generally don't appreciate having access to beta products is not a good way to enhance your personal fortune. In fact, if Elon Musk is being honest in the latest court filings related to his divorce proceedings, it looks like a great way to vaporize a fortune.

After selling Paypal to eBay in 2002, Musk and his partners netted $1.5 billion. An unknown portion of that went to Musk, who promptly turned around and invested several hundred million into not one, but three enterprises: Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity. Neither Tesla nor SpaceX are generating enough revenue yet to be self-sustaining. The last we heard from someone inside Tesla, the company was selling about 20-30 Roadsters a month for likely revenue of under $4 million, plus whatever it's getting from Daimler for Smart ED battery packs.

Apparently Musk isn't personally self-sustaining either, claiming that he has $200,000 per month in expenses and $8,255 in income, presumably from his CEO salaries at Tesla and SpaceX. Musk's filings also list only $650,000 in liquid assets. Given that disparity, it seems like there might be at least a bit of leeway to cut back a bit. At any rate, Musk claims that he has had to start taking personal loans from friends to make ends meet.

Needless to say, Musk's estranged wife Justine sees the family finances a bit differently, and the reality is likely somewhere in between. If Musk's financial position is, in fact, as strained as he says, he'll want to complete the Tesla IPO as soon as possible just so that he can cash out some of his position.

[Source: CNN Money, Forbes]

Tesla's Elon Musk says he's broke originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 30 May 2010 09:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tesla files update with SEC, confirms Roadster production for 2012, draws from DOE loans

Eric Loveday — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 07:57:00 EST

Filed under: Convertible, Performance, Government/Legal, Earnings/Financials, Tesla, Electric

2010 Tesla Roadster Sport - Click above for high-res image gallery

Registering for an initial public offering, like Tesla Motors has done, requires that certain documents are filed regarding company actions. Since first filing for its IPO back in January, Tesla has had a few new developments surface that required the company to amend its S-1 filing.

The S-1 filing lays out details about the company's financial situation, including future plans, current risks and funding status. In the amendment, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 26, two important developments were noted. One, Tesla has begun to draw funds from its $465 million in Department of Energy loan. Two, Tesla has secured all suppliers necessary to continue the Roadster production into the 2012 model year. The suppliers' agreement will provide Tesla with 700 additional Roadsters to sell during the 2012 year, before the production of the next-gen Roadster gets underway.

A recent Tesla newsletter stated that the company, "negotiated agreements with key suppliers that will increase total Roadster production by 40 percent and extend sales into 2012." The actual supplier agreement with Lotus, which builds partially assembled vehicles (gliders) for Tesla, is laid out as follows: Lotus will continue to build gliders for Tesla until December of 2011, a change from the previous cut-off of March 2011. Lotus will supply at least 2,400 total gliders to Tesla by December 2011, an increase over the previous 1,700 units committed to by Lotus.

With Roadster production confirmed for 2012 and the Model S on the way soon, Tesla supporters can think about rejoicing, the company might be doing just fine. Hat tip to Dean!

Gallery: Review: 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport

Photos by Damon Lavrinc / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Securities and Exchange Commission via Earth2Tech]

Tesla files update with SEC, confirms Roadster production for 2012, draws from DOE loans originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 07:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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REPORT: Tesla Motors planning IPO "soon"

Sebastian Blanco — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Earnings/Financials, Tesla, Electric

Tesla Roadster - Click above for high-res image gallery

Rumors about Tesla's plan to go public have been circulating since 2008, but a down stock market seemed to put a damper on the start-up's IPO. Now, the word ~~on the street~~ from Reuters is that Tesla is planning to go public "soon." When might that be, exactly? Who knows. A source told Reuters it could happen "any day," but Stephan Dolezalek, managing director of VantagePoint Venture Partners and a Tesla investor, said in September that it's unlikely to happen in 2009.

For its part, Tesla continues to offer little guidance on the report other than to dismiss it as "rumor or speculation." We shall see...

Gallery: First Drive: Tesla Roadster

[Source: Reuters]

REPORT: Tesla Motors planning IPO "soon" originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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