Tesla Motors may have an IPO within a year

If Tesla Motors is to move forward with building an assembly plant of their own to build the WhiteStar sedan and other future products they will need a lot more cash on hand. The current venture capital investors don't seem inclined to put up that kind of money so it looks like the company will be going to the stock market to raise additional funds. Speaking to Reuters, Chairman and investor Elon Musk indicated that an initial public offering is likely by the end of 2008 or early 2009. Partnering with other companies is also an option to develop lower cost EV's but when I spoke to Darryl Siry about the subject recently he indicated that that pathway is problematic. Any time multiple companies are involved, it gets harder to make decisions about strategic direction. Musk want the follow-on vehicle to WhiteStar, currently code named BlueStar, to be a more affordable mainstream vehicle with volumes approaching 100,000 annually.

[Source: Reuters, Tesla]