Tesla Motors’ family is growing. The company just unveiled its first crossover, the Model X. Like the Roadster and Model S, the Model X is a purely electric vehicle, built on the same platform as the Model S. Tesla says pricing will be similar to that of the Model S, making the base model around $50k after tax credits. But, if all the available options are checked including the largest battery pack and performance drivetrain, the price could close in on $90k. But who cares about the price when the vehicle packs gullwing-like doors — Tesla calls them Falcon Wings, but you can call them awesome.

The Model X is built on the same skateboard platform as the Model S. This shared design allows the for the relatively affordable price. The CUV will come in both rear- and four-wheel-drive flavors with the 4-wheel drive model packing independent electric motors at each axle. Since the larger Model X will use the battery system as the Model S, Tesla says the range on the 40-, 60- and 85-kWh battery packs will be about 10% less.

If the Falcon Wings didn’t convince you the Model X was from the future, just look at the center console. Like the Model S, the Model X employes a massive touchscreen for the infotainment display and climate controls.

Space is abundant in the Model X. Since there isn’t a traditional engine, the Model X has a front and rear storage space. Elon Musk bragged at the unveiling that there’s enough room in the front storage compartment as the Audi Q7 has in the rear.

Tesla is now taking reservations for the Model X. But you’re going to be waiting a while. Tesla doesn’t expect production to begin until 2014.

Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal and founder of Tesla Motors and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), sat down with Erick Schonfeld tonight just before TechCrunch Disrupt’s closing ceremony. During the brief conversation, Musk provided insight into how entrepreneurs can get started disrupting major industries like energy, transportation and space.

It’s not an easy route to success, he warns. Musk described starting a company like “staring into the face of death.”

“If that sounds appealing, go ahead.”

The concept was appealing to him, however, because he wanted to have a significant impact on the future of the world. It wasn’t just about making money. It’s about the important problems that have to be solved for humanity to have a bright future, Musk said. Had it been only about money, that would have ruled out space exploration and electric cars.

For entrepreneurs who feel the same sort of passion and drive to tackle the world’s most pressing problems, Musk recommends beginning an Internet company. “It would have been impossible for me to do electric cars and rockets right from the start,” he said. Unless you have a lot of capital, it’s difficult to convince VC’s to give you the amount of funding you would need for the bigger ideas.

Higher capital means higher barriers to entry. It’s why there’s not more innovation in space exploration, a business mainly funded by governments. For entrepreneurs, a better way to get into these sorts of industries is to have a successful, but smaller-scale, company first, then apply the success of the first company to a second one (and so on).

Musk, of course, would know about how difficult it is to have successful companies. He currently runs more than one, having founded both Tesla Motors and SpaceX. How does that work, Erick wanted to know? “I do it with great difficulty, it’s quite hard,” Musk said. “I don’t recommend it.”

Because Musk is considered a tech visionary, Erick (and the audience, through Q&A’s) asked for his thoughts on the future.

On energy side, by the mid-point of century, Musk said that solar power will be the single largest source of energy, if not the majority of energy. In 20 years, the majority of new cars manufactured will be electric, and 20 years after that, the vast majority of the cars on the road will be electric. (The “install base” for cars turns over around every 20 years, he explained).

Musk also shared his vision for the future of education, painting a picture of a future where teachers don’t lecture in front of the classroom, like a “boring vaudeville act,” but where education itself is “more like an interactive game.” Teachers’ role should be to help you when you get stuck, he said.

As for Musk’s own companies, they’re doing well. Although Tesla was hit hard by the economic downturn, he now feels positive about its future. And SpaceX will begin docking with space stations in the next three to six months, delivering cargo and bringing experiments back to Earth. In three years, it will be carrying astronauts.

Is he worried about that?

No. “It’s just biological cargo.”

Tesla has released their shareholder statement for Q2 2011, and while it doesn’t make for the most exciting reading, it’s at least full of fairly good news. They’ve been on cruise control for quite a while now, if you will, designing and testing their Model S sedan, but there are plenty of pitfalls that could have afflicted the process, techniques and technologies that could have failed to pan out, and cost overruns that could have piled up. But no, things are going as expected and barring any major upsets, they should have the Model S rolling out in mid-2012 as planned.

Here are a few Q2 takeaways from the letter:

• Total revenue for Q2: $58m ($27m in Roadster revenue, $19m from Toyota for RAV4 EV development, $11m from powertrain sales)
• Projected 2011 revenue: $180-190m (up slightly from previous estimates)
• Operating expenses for Q2: $77m
• Projected 2011 operating expenses: $220-245m (up from <$200m in previous estimates)
• Cash on hand: $331m
• Remaining in Dept of Energy loan: $331m
• Final Roadsters should be built by January (total of 2500 vehicles)
• RAV4 EV development should be finished in early 2012, vehicle shipping that year (more from Toyota soon)
• Model S should be shipping in “mid-2012,” Model X crossover in late 2013 at the earliest
• Over 5600 Model S reservations with accelerating growth
• Model S currently in “beta” form with prototype tooling and processes, should enter “release candidate” form in Q1 2012
• 150 hires this quarter, total team ~1400 now

And that’s that. The full letter, with cost and sales breakdowns, can be read here (PDF), and more information, including a link to the investors’ conference call and Q&A, can be found at their investor relations page.

Basically we’re not going to hear much news until the production Model S starts hitting car mags (we’ll try to get one too), the Model X gets leaked or previewed, and the RAV4 gets priced and dated — all of which will be happening in 2012, most likely. That means a few more quiet quarters. With so many pre-orders for the Model S, they’re sure to have plenty of revenue as soon as they start charging their customers — with a few hundred million dollars locked down for the next few years, they’re feeling confident and I’m guessing their investors are as well.

Update: Elon Musk mentioned in the conference call that they plan to unveil the Model X prototype in mid-December.

This money is primarily going towards the development of its Model X crossover vehicle, says Tesla The Model X will be Tesla’s first SUV, and will cost around $30,000. Musk has said that this car, which is expected to become available in 2013, will be appeal to mainstream car buyers because of its lower price point.

Currently Tesla offers a sports car, the Roadster, and in 2012 its sedan vehicle, the Model S, will go on sale to the public.

Tesla shares started trading on the NASDAQ last June at around $19 per share. Shares over the past year have performed moderately well of late—the high has been around $36.42 and currently Tesla is trading at $28.76.

While secondary offerings take place often with public companies, there are a few questions that are raised with this offering. First, will Tesla tap the public markets every time they want to develop a new vehicle? Second, Musk continues to bankroll Tesla. Through the private placement, he’s putting nearly $41 million towards the development of the Model X.

There are two more scheduled spaceflights for the remaining shuttles.

NASA already works with Russia’s space program and has booked 12 flights between now and 2016. These “commercial” flights will replace the regular shuttle missions and hopefully bring the commercialization of space flight closer to a common reality.

“The next American-flagged vehicle to carry our astronauts into space is going to be a U.S. commercial provider,” Ed Mango, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, said in a statement. “The partnerships NASA is forming with industry will support the development of multiple American systems capable of providing future access to low-Earth orbit.”

via CNET

Unlike other automakers, Tesla is headquartered in the hills of Palo Alto next to beautiful rolling hills with lush green scenery and horse crossing signs. As you can imagine, a place like this would have some of the best driving roads in the country. We were slightly disappointed that the man behind it all, Elon Musk, was out of town. But coincidentally this gave us the perfect opportunity to borrow his personal Roadster Sport while he was gone.

The CEO’s Roadster came fully loaded with all the carbon fiber you could dream of — which it needs to keep weight around 2,700 lbs. The fully electric car has a 990 lb battery that delivers 215 kW of power. It’s capable of propelling the Roadster to a supercar-fast 0-60 mph in only 3.7 sec. Not only is the Roadster fast, but it also has an enormous range of 245 miles. A fully charged battery stores 56 kWh of electric energy (the Volt’s battery stores 16 kWh).

During hard testing in the mountains we clocked 165 miles before the low battery warning light came on. Considering our driving, it’s hard to believe Top Gear only made it 55 miles.

There is something very magical about driving the Tesla Roadster. It’s the realization that the future is truly here. Not only is the Tesla an electric car, it’s also engineered to perform. You can see that in every sharp turn or long straightaway. The Tesla Roadster pulls forever as if powered by smiles, a childhood dream come true.

Being called “America’s fourth automaker” is good for stock prices. That’s what Tesla was recently labeled in a report from Morgan Stanley and it caused their stock to shoot up nearly 20% to close at $27.75. It also doesn’t hurt that they’re projected to hit $70 by the end of the year.

Morgan Stanley sites increasing fuel costs and major government backing as reasons that Tesla could break into the top US automaker bracket normally reserved for Ford, GM, and Chrysler.

Many are still skeptical of EVs because they aren’t yet cost effective over gasoline and a large-scale charging infrastructure hasn’t been set up. “As long as we’re still in a world where we don’t have a vastly expanded infrastructure, in a world where gasoline is still cheap enough, the mainstream is not going to embrace them. Consumer behavior is affected first and foremost by price.” said Ed Kim, director of industry analysis with AutoPacific.

If gas prices continue to rise, it’s likely that Tesla’s stock will continue along with it.

[via The Huffington Post]

The first car’s battery’s ran out only after 55 miles. Then another car’s motor overheated. When they went back to the original car, something was up with the brakes. So yeah, one of the most watched TV programs in the entire world didn’t exactly portray the Tesla Roadster favorably. Enter the libel lawsuit.

Tesla’s VP of Communication Ricardo Reyes lays it out on the official Tesla blog. In short he says that back in 2008 when the episode ran, Tesla was a young start-up and “we were good sports.” But now Tesla is a serious contender with several high-profile investments and partnerships. Apparently they feel that they need to set the record straight hence the lawsuit.

Over the last several months, we have written to the BBC, asking them to stop repeating the serious and damaging lies on the show. Specifically:

• The Roadster’s true range is only 55 miles per charge. Clarkson says: “Although Tesla say it will do 200 miles we worked out that on our track it would run out after just 55 miles.”

Fact: The Roadster has been certified under UN ECE R101, the EU regulation for measuring electric vehicle range, at 211 miles. All ECE R101 tests are witnessed and certified by a neutral third party approved by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, in Tesla’s case, the Department of Road Transport – Netherlands. Of course, a car driven aggressively will get reduced mileage, regardless of whether its fueled by petrol or electricity, as Top Gear found. At the other end of the spectrum, through mindful driving, a Tesla owner achieved an astounding 313 miles on a single charge. To let either of these extremes represent real-world range is an incomplete analysis.

• One of the Roadsters ran out of charge and had to be pushed into the Top Gear hangar by four men.

Fact: Neither Roadster ran out of charge during Top Gear’s tests, or even came close. We know because the Roadster records basic operating information. The show fails to mention that neither Roadster ever went below twenty-five percent charge. Why stage the stunt of pushing it into the hangar?

• The Roadster’s brakes broke, rendering the car not drivable.

Fact: During Top Gear’s drive on the test track, the fuse for the braking system’s electric vacuum pump failed. But the brakes were operational and safe. The result was like driving a car without the convenient power brakes to which we’ve grown accustomed. Tesla’s brakes, both with and without the fuse, must pass all UN ECE safety tests, and they do.

• Neither Roadster provided to Top Gear was available for test driving due to these problems.

Fact: At all times, there was at least one Roadster at the ready.

The blog posts states that Tesla is not “doing this for money” although it’s not exactly clear if that means the car company is not seeking financial reparations. Tesla claims they’re doing this because the episode they feel contains blatant lies has been re-broadcasted and is widely available. Unfortunately for Tesla, this lawsuit will likely not change anything. Google “Tesla Top Gear” and the top video hits are not from the BBC but rather user uploads. Clearing the Internet of all things Tesla Top Gear will involve a fair amount of takedown letters. Good luck with that.

Tesla’s claims were made public last night and the BBC has since released this statement. The best part? “The BBC stands by the programme and will be vigorously defending this claim.”
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1546306944

Considering that only 1,500 Tesla Roadsters are out on the roads, it’s amazing they’ve been able to clock up 10 million miles since 2008. Even more impressive is that the Roadsters have collectively saved 500,000 gallons of fuel and over 5.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, while maintaining supercar performance.

“We owe this achievement to Roadster drivers around the world and their pioneering adoption of electric vehicles,” said Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk. “The Roadster has proven to the world that electric cars can be incredibly fun and practical. Most importantly, these vehicles have provided Tesla with a real-world test fleet that allows us to stay on the cutting edge of electric powertrain engineering and technology.”

This is definitely good for Tesla. All that data they’ve collected from the Roadsters will lend itself to be very useful for Tesla’s next vehicle: the Model S.

When Tesla’s Elon Musk first came to Silicon Valley he was researching advanced, highly-energy-dense super-capacitors at Stanford. Coincidentally, when speaking at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco about the future of electric vehicles Musk said, “If I were to make a prediction, I’d think there’s a good chance that it is not batteries, but super-capacitors.”

Super-capacitors are similar to batteries in that they both store energy. But in electric vehicles, super-capacitors would be much more efficient at storing the massive amounts of energy taken in during regenerative braking. And when the time comes to accelerate, the super-caps would be able to deliver the that large amount of energy much faster than batteries, with less energy loss.

Currently, hybrid vehicles have batteries because super-caps cannot store the same amount of energy pound-for-pound. Super-capacitors require a large amount of surface area to store a large enough amount of electricity to be useful for electric cars. However, the introduction of nanotechnology could increase surface area exponentially, as recent experiments have shown. Picture infinitesimal conductive surfaces storing electrons for rapid use; no more chemical reactions requiring huge and expensive thermal management systems would be needed.

Seeing how Musk creates electric cars powered exclusively by lithium-ion batteries, his comment on batteries seems a bit out of place — unless his company is at work researching the next big thing.

[via AllCarsElectric]

The Model S, is the most hyped electric car due to come out soon. Everyone is waiting to see what the Model S will feature and whether or not it’ll be worth the wait. Today, at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the Model S will support third-party apps and text-to-speech, pretty much confirming many rumors.

“We want people to develop car-specific applications,” Musk told the audience during his keynote. “And text-to-speech technology can address some of the issues with driver distraction.”

I remember when word got out that the Model S would have a 17-inch touchscreen; I couldn’t help dreaming up third-party app ideas. Now that everyone is planning third-party apps of some sort, it’s logical that Tesla follows. This makes the Model S look even more convincing.

To those awaiting the most promising electric vehicles to ever enter the market (Tesla Model S), the company has given some more insight as to the Model S rollout. Today, on Tesla’s blog, George Blankenship, Vice President, Worldwide Sales & Ownership Experience, gave an update to the progress of the EV startup company:

Our recent Model S blog posts have focused on our advanced electric powertrain and the ingenuity of our vehicle engineering. The majority of questions in Milan concerned delivery timing, battery option availability and pricing. Although we have not yet finalized the information on all those fronts, here are a few progress updates that hopefully will answer some of the questions:

• Alpha testing is in full swing. The first Alpha hit the road in December 2010, and we continue to test as planned. Final assembly of the production-intent Beta vehicles will be done at the Tesla Factory this year and provide us with further testing and development opportunities.
• Deliveries for North America begin in mid-2012.
• The first 1000 cars off the line will be the North American Model S Signature Series. Those vehicles will be equipped with a 300 mile range battery. In the tradition of a limited-edition series, they will feature unique badging and an extensive complement of options.
• After the Model S Signature Series, deliveries for North America will continue with the 300 mile batteries, followed by 230 and 160 options later in 2012.
• Delivery of the European left-hand drive Model S is scheduled to begin in late 2012. In mid-2013 we plan to begin delivering the right-hand drive Model S for Europe and Asia. Each launch will begin with a limited edition Signature Series.
• We expect to produce approximately 5,000 units in 2012 as we ramp to full single shift production capacity of 20,000 units per year in 2013.
• The price of the US base Model S with a 160-mile battery is $49,900 after the $7,500 federal tax credit. The 230-mile range option is expected to price at about $10,000 more and the 300-mile option at about $20,000 more than the base.
• We are currently working on final pricing and options for Model S, including the Signature Series. We expect to have updates on Model S pricing worldwide this summer.

It’s a bummer that the mainstream release is 2012, rather than 2011. But, it’s totally going to be worth the wait because this car has everything a sport EV should: sexy looks, great range, 17-inch touchscreen IP stack, and a decent price. The Volt will have to undergo serious price cuts if it plans to compete with the Model S.

Xatori co-founder and chief executive Forrest North —who previously worked as an engineer at Tesla Motors, and founded and was CEO of Mission Motors, a company that makes electric motorcycles and their components— explained Xatori’s mission with PlugShare:

“We want to build and support a community that’s creating a paradigm shift to a massively cleaner type of transportation. The reality is that most people will charge their electric vehicles at home and not exceed the range of their vehicle very often. This [app] provides a kind of backup plan, and lets you feel comfortable. If you did miscalculate, you’d be ok.”

With oil and gas prices soaring, and with President Obama’s stated goal, from his January 2011 State of the Union address, to “break our dependence on oil…and becom[ing] the first country to have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015,” North sees the market for apps to serve EV and plug-in hybrid drivers as potentially massive, but declined to quantify that in dollars.

Why would anyone offer their outlet and electricity to EV drivers, for free, though? North said they might be motivated by environmental objectives. He sees other reasons to participate, too, for example:

“Mom and pop shops along a route where there are a lot of people [driving] and not a lot of places to charge could say we want to support EVs, become part of the charging network and draw customers. Electricity costs about 15 cents an hour in most of the U.S. now, so it’s not much of an expense to do this.”

Since PlugShare relies on volunteer providers of electrical outlets, and is free to download, it is reminiscent of CouchSurfing.org, a global network of travelers and people with accommodations to offer them, free. Over time, it could come to look more like an AirBnB for EV drivers and anyone offering them power.

Armen Petrosian the co-founder and chief technology officer of Xatori, noted: “Our mission right now is to have this be free and very simple and get as many people to sign up as we can.”

Xatori tested the PlugShare application with a small group of about twenty users in California’s Bay Area prior to launch. As its user base grows, the company hopes to launch a study of the app’s impact on the environment, including how well it encourages and enables the use of electric vehicles over others, the co-founders said.

The company will compete, if not directly, with the likes of Coulomb Technologies and Ecotality, companies that build and install EV charging station networks, and which both offer apps mapping their installed base of charging stations, The EV Project and MyChargePoint.net, respectively.

Today, Tesla opens its new Washington, D.C. showroom and starting tomorrow, February 11, Tesla will begin offering test drives of the Tesla Roadster. The showroom, located a few blocks from the White House at 1050 K St. N.W., is Tesla’s 16th store to open globally. Not only will customers be able to purchase Tesla Roadsters – and soon the Model S — but they will also be able to learn about Tesla’s technology and electric powertrain.

The D.C. site will also be home to a service department for those needing work done on their car — don’t expect them to do oil changes though. Further to the service department, the showroom will act as a regional hub for technicians, known as Tesla Rangers. The Tesla Rangers will travel to customer’s homes to perform inspections, upgrades and other services on their customer’s annual checkups.

Press Release

If you’re looking for more Model S love, we got a bunch of shots of a nice red one at CES. I actually like the silver color better, though.

The Model S is set to be Tesla’s break-out vehicle; despite lots of media attention, limited production facilities (read: every one made by hand) have limited Roadster sales to around 1500. But Tesla hopes to sell a hundred times that number of the far more practical four-door sedan you see here. Availability isn’t really announced, though. There’s a bit more info at the Tesla blog.

In addition to producing electric vehicles, CODA manufactures power storage systems for transportation and utility businesses, through a joint venture with Chinese Lishen Power Battery, LIO Energy Systems. It is hoping to open a battery and power storage systems manufacturing facility in Ohio. According to a company press statement, “construction of [the] facility is contingent upon the approval and receipt of a Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan.”

In recent years, newcomers to the auto industry have focused on electric vehicles, from the sporty and luxurious (Tesla, Fisker) to the utilitarian (Smith, Smart USA). Targeting the market for environmentally sensible sedans, CODA faces significant competition from incumbents and peers alike. Toyota, Honda, Lexus, Mercedes, Ford and BMW offer hybrid sedans already. The all-electric sedan from Nissan (the Leaf) is now entering the market at a price lower than CODA has promised, and Tesla has announced plans to sell its Model S in 2012, too.

This fall, CODA won support from a major car rental business, Enterprise, which committed to purchase 100 of its all-electric vehicles in 2011, and to provide “courtesy transportation” loaners for early CODA customers when their EVs are in the shop for maintenance and service.

Coda’s executives have stated a goal to go public. Analysts and clean tech investors are divided on whether another EV company’s prospects look good for 2011, however. It’s crowded out there.

Palo Alto-based EV sports car and sedan makers, Tesla, successfully IPO’d in June 2010, drawing a large investment and eventually becoming partners with Toyota. In November 2010, General Motors pulled off the largest IPO in U.S. history raising $20.1 billion, recovering after a government bailout for the company. Last month at an auto show in China, GM revealed plans for its Chevrolet Sail Electric Vehicle.

Coda sedan image via: PRNewswire and Coda Holdings

Tesla Roadster owners get all the cool toys, don’t they? Not only do they hoon around in one of the hottest EVs ever made, but it seems the company is shipping special RC Tesla Roadsters to owners for the holidays. Bah! Humbug! Click through for one owner’s demo reel.

[Tesla Motors Club via Autoblog]

And this savvy maneuvering by Tesla, according to the Wall Street Journal, should earn the company something in the area of $60m.

It’s hard to say how much of their half-billion in funding they’ve spent, but if they’re sourcing out their tech, it probably indicates it’s going to be a close call, though they do expect profitability once they release the more marketable Model S.

In the meantime, deals like this should keep gas in the tank. Uh… just pretend I didn’t say that.

Meanwhile, a few other cleantech companies have filed S-1s and several more are waiting in the wings, watching to see what the market does. To continue the Netscape analogy, 2011 could even see Elon Musk emerge as the new Jim Clark if one of his other companies SolarCity files, as some in the industry expect.

Nat Goldhaber of the venture firm Claremont Creek Ventures argues that 2011 will be the year of the cleantech IPO, and it’s not just because of those handful of hot companies are finally ready for primetime and bankers are itching to take them out. Several factors are finally coming together including general improvement in the economy, soaring global demand for energy and a sense that more favorable cleantech regulation is inevitable, at least on a state level.

Goldhaber joined me by Skype to talk about what sectors and companies could lead next year’s IPO wave and which company in his portfolio has him the most excited. (There’s also talk of jetpacks and robot butlers…)

The Toyota RAV4 EV just debuted at the LA Auto show. It’s not much of a surprise, really. It’s been known for a while that Toyota and Tesla were working together on the CUV EV. Tesla was tasked with the developing the power train, battery, electronics, electric motor, gearbox and software — pretty much the heart of the vehicle. The first crop are already on the road and seeing a 100 mile range but engineers are working on improving that for the 2012 model.

Exact shipping estimates and such haven’t been announced, but there’s clearly a bigger market for the EV this time than when the first generation hit the streets in 1997. Consumers are aware of the technology, gas is dramatically more expensive, and the nerd stigma was replaced by an eco-hip look. The infrastructure still isn’t where it needs to be for mass adaption but Toyota should have no problem moving more than the 1,484 that it did back in the ’90s.