Right off the heels of filing for a $100 million IPO, electric car company Tesla Motors this morning announced that it has hired former Toyota production engineering GM Gilbert Passin to lead the company’s vehicle manufacturing operations as Vice President of Manufacturing.
Passin has 23 years of international automotive experience under his belt, most recently serving as general manager of production engineering for Toyota in North America. Previously, Passin was vice president of manufacturing at Toyota’s plant in Cambridge, Ontario, which produces over 200,000 automobiles per year. → Read More
Electric car company Tesla Motors has filed for a $100 million IPO. There were rumors recently floating around that the company, which is led by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, would go public “soon.” One interesting tidbit from the filing: Musk only takes $1 in yearly salary. → Read More
Electric car company Tesla Motors has filed for a $100 million IPO. There were rumors recently floating around that the company, which is led by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, would go public “soon.” One interesting tidbit from the filing: Musk only takes $1 in yearly salary.
Another interesting factoid: In the filing, Tesla states that it has seen net losses in each quarter since inception. The company expects to continue on the same path until it starts to deliver larger quantities of its Model S sedan, which is not expected until 2010 or later. Tesla took a loss in the first three quarters of 2009 of $31.5 million which is less than its loss for the same period in 2008, which was $57.3 million. Gross profit for the first three quarters of 2009 was $7.8 million compared to $561K for the same period in 2008. Sales for the first three quarters of 2009 topped out at $93.4 million. As of last December Tesla had sold 937 Tesla Roadsters in 18 countries. The company also saw a total of $108.2 million in revenue since its inception in 2003 until September of last year. → Read More
I can see it now. Instead of putzing around in electric golf carts, retirees will soon be cruising in Tesla Roadsters. The car is essentially a gigantic and dramatically more powerful golf cart anyway. It’s not like they need to worry about the 244 mile range. The bingo hall and golf course is probably right around the corner from their retirement compound anyway. → Read More
Tesla Motors is planning an IPO soon according to a Reuter’s report. However at this point it’s still not clear when that will be although the company had previously stated it won’t happen in 2009. In fact, this rumor has been around for sometime, but in case you didn’t notice, the stock market wasn’t doing that well until recently.
Tesla has been ramping up development of its all-electric Model S sports sedan and building selling Tesla Roadsters as quick as they can make ‘em. Of course the $597.5 million in funding that the company raised this year probably helps. → Read More
For the last 20 years I’ve been playing racing games here and there, and when they started becoming realistic (i.e. the cars weren’t square and the engine noises weren’t square waves), the enormity of the sound challenge never really struck me. Engine, road, and tire noise, plus accurate doppler effects, different crunches and thunks for impacts… the list goes on. As if that wasn’t enough, you have to worry about engine noise contaminating your samples.
So it’s no wonder that some game designers from Microsoft jumped at the chance to use a Tesla for recording game audio. No engine noise and careful mic placement means you can get tire squeal, or any other audio component of driving, almost completely isolated. Now, I know you guys aren’t really that hot for the details of audio production, but I know you like fast cars. And it actually is pretty entertaining to see a Tesla with so many big hairy mics on it that it looks like a pussy willow. → Read More
This fun little DIY device is labeled as a “crystal radio circuit in a jam-jar.” But that description doesn’t even to begin to do it justice. According to Tesla, this electronic wonder allows you to hear the disembodied, ethereal voices, of the, well, ether, I guess. → Read More
Tesla has finalized an $82.5 million series F funding round, according to a spokeswoman for the company. Tesla raised $82.5 million in funding from Daimler, Fjord Capital Partners, Aabar and other undisclosed investors. We have been informed that Tesla CEO and PayPal founder Elon Musk was not an investor in this round. This adds to the $50 million Tesla received from Daimler in May, bringing the total amount invested in the electric car company to $783.5 million.
Telsa says the new funding will be used to accelerate Tesla’s retail expansion of the Model S. Tesla has already opened regional sales and service facilities in London, Munich, New York, Seattle and in California’s Silicon Valley and Los Angeles. It plans to open stores later this year in Monaco, Washington DC, South Florida and Toronto. → Read More
Remember that whole sour grapes law suit filed against Tesla Motors and Elon Musk by co-founder and former CEO Martin Eberhard? According to Eberhard’s lawyer, he has dropped the suit but doesn’t give any clarification as to why Eberhard dismissed the legal action, according to the San Jose Business Journal.
We reported earlier this summer that Eberhard filed a lawsuit against Tesla and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, citing allegations of slander, libel and breach of contract. Eberhard made many outrageous accusations, alleging that Musk “compromised Tesla Motors’ financial health.” Eberhard also said that Musk began a smear campaign against Eberhard on media outlets, accusing Musk of pushing him out of the company that he founded and taking full credit for developing the first electric car the company produced, the Roadster. Eberhard also claimed that Musk not only falsely said that he was the founder of the company, but has also misrepresented his past roles, including the extent of his involvement with the company he founded, PayPal. → Read More
I can’t be the only one that thought Tesla was going to be a money pit. I foresaw greed, mismanagement, delays, so on and etc, but they seem to have delivered and are now on their way to full-fledged “successful business” status. A million dollars’ profit on 20 million in business is small potatoes in the car industry, of course, but the other guys in the game are all wallowing in debt, so anything less than total self-annihilation would have put Tesla ahead of them. → Read More
Mercedes has an electric SLS AMG in development that will probably take the title away from Tesla as the must have plug-in sports car. The new SLS AMG recalls past iconic Mercs with a sweeping body and gullwing doors. Plus, the performance and power output is on par with a current generation SLS AMG 6.3-liter V8 but this puppy doesn’t make Al Gore cry.[PSGallery=8sef10dre4b] → Read More
Maybe the 0-60 mph in 3.9-second Tesla Roadster isn’t quick enough for some folks. Maybe some trust fund babies want to spend an extra $20k to improve that time to only 3.7-seconds. Well, Tesla unvealed the Roadster Sport today at the companies first NYC dealership just for them. This model will cost $128k. We already knew that this model was coming – along with the NYC dealership – but how about a quick recap? → Read More
The U.S. Government created a requirement that by 2020, the majority of cars sold here must get at least 35 miles per gallon. This requires a big commitment on the part of auto makers and so the Energy Department was authorized last year to lend $25 billion dollars. The first round of financing is expected to be announced today with Ford, Nissan, and Tesla getting all getting a sizable chunk during this first round. GM and Chrysler both wanted a bunch of money too, but neither fit the criteria of being a “financial viable” so they were disqualified for this first round.
Nissan hasn’t announced how much the Japanese automaker has requested from the U.S. Government, but we know that Michigan-based Ford and California-based Tesla Motors Inc. are expected to get $5 billion and $450 million respectively.
This $25 billion fund was approved by Congress in 2008 to help auto makers retool facilities and speed up development of more energy efficient vehicles. It was the Government after all that decided that vehicles needed to reach an average of 35 miles per gallon by a random date instead of the natural evolution of development and technology. → Read More
In an announcement today at Ford’s research center in Dearborn, Michigan, the U.S. Secretary of Energy will be giving details about the first loans to come out of the government’s $25 billion program to help auto manufacturers. Ford got a $5.9 billion loan, but Tesla Motors, Silicon Valley’s electric car manufacturer, is receiving $465 million from the program. The money will go towards completing the development of its Modern S sedan and its electric power trains, which are being licensed by other car makers such as Mercedes. Last month, Mercedes’ parent company Daimler also invested $50 million for a 10 percent stake in Tesla. That brought the total debt and equity invested in the company to more than $200 million. Now, with the government loan, that brings the total capital raised to $700 million. → Read More
We reported a few weeks ago that Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard filed a lawsuit against Tesla and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, citing allegations of slander, libel and breach of contract. Tesla issued a short statement when the lawsuit was filed, calling the lawsuit a “fictionalized account of Tesla’s early years.” Now Musk has taken to Tesla’s blog to give his own version of the messy situation. Unrelated to the lawsuit, Musk says that Tesla will be profitable by next month, thanks to lower material costs, and increased Roadster Sport sales.
Musk responded to several of Eberhard’s allegations that he lied about his background and fictionalized pieces of his resume to embellish the truth. Particularly, Musk addresses Eberhard’s complaints that the PayPal founder misrepresented his education. Musk maintains that he did his undergraduate studies in physics and business at UPenn/Wharton (we confirmed this with Wharton—Musk was an undergraduate alum and holds degrees from both Wharton and the College of Arts & Sciences) and despite dropping out of grad school at Stanford, maintained affiliations with the university by working with the Stanford Engineering Advisory Council. → Read More
Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard is suing CEO Elon Musk, citing allegations of slander, libel and breach of contract. Eberhard’s lawsuit, which is 22-pages long, was filed on May 26 in San Mateo County, Calif. Superior Court and seeks unspecified damages.
The suit surrounds Musk’s treatment of Eberhard as well as the CEO’s handling of Tesla, alleging that Musk “compromised Tesla Motors’ financial health.” Eberhard says that Musk began a smear campaign against Eberhard on media outlets, attaching pages of news articles where Musk made negative comments about Eberhard. Eberhard says Musk essentially pushed him out of the company that he founded and consequently took full credit for developing the first electric car the company produced, the Roadster. → Read More
Looking to take a Tesla electric car for a spin, are ya? Lucky you, as the company will be opening seven sales centers this summer — four in the US and three abroad. You’ll be able to take a test drive in New York, Seattle, Chicago, and Miami, along with London, Monaco, and Munich. → Read More
Daimler got that 10% stake in Tesla that was announced today for $50 million, says a source with knowledge of the deal. They’ve actually taken 9% (they announced “nearly 10 percent” and the post money valuation is $550 million. Our source also says that Tesla’s application for $350 million in federal loans has been informally approved and will also be announced shortly.
That’s not too shabby for a company that was down to just $9 million in cash late last year. The company has also recently said that 1,000 preorders for the new Model S sedan have been received. Over 500 were reserved in the first week after it was unveiled. → Read More
Silicon Valley electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors got another shot in the arm today from German auto giant Daimler, which took a 10 percent stake in the company and expanded its partnership with Tesla to equip future Mercedes-Benz vehicles with electric lithium-ion batteries. Mercedes has been testing Tesla’s batteries in a fleet of 100 smart cars, and is already moving into limited production. But with this agreement, Mercedes now expects to roll out its first battery-powered Mercedes-Benz in 2010, and offer battery-powered vehicles for all of its models by 2012.
The amount invested was not disclosed, but even more valuable to Tesla is the vote of confidence from one of the world’s leading auto companies. In a press release, Daimler proclaims: “Tesla is the only production automaker selling a highway capable electric vehicle in North America and Europe.” → Read More
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