Tesla, all revved Up, but So Far to Go

[MSI]

July 25, 2010: New York Times article Tesla Electric Cars: All Revved Up, But Soooo Far to Go
Interesting article on Tesla and the colorful leader, Elon Musk, who's ambitions sometimes have him "mixing fiction with fact to spice up the story" as he tries to shape the narrative on Tesla Motors. Add to that that he is using deposits for the Model S for current operating expenses - despite the fact that there was no guarantee that the Model S will ever be built (originally to be built in 2011, it has been delayed until 2012 as federal loans took 11 months longer than anticipated to acquire and that the anticipated location of the factory fell through again (as is has two times before)). Throw on top of that an expensive divorce wherein Musk stated he's "run out of cash" (after which Tesla filed with the SEC reassurances that Tesla was no longer dependant on his finances)...It's an interesting saga with many twists and turns...
See Tesla Electric Cars: All Revved Up, But Soooo Far to Go

[MSI]

August 8, 2010: Tesla Reports Higher Losses in 2nd Quarter
Net loss for the quarter reached $38.5 million, compared to $29.5 million in the one before. The loss was on account of Tesla recent purchase of an automotive factory in Freemont Calif. for $42 million.
See the full article: Tesla Reports Higher Losses in 2nd Quarter

[MSI]

August 8, 2010: Colbert Report has Tesla's Elon Musk as guest and asks the question: Are you a Superhero or Super Villain?
See the video! Superhero or Super Villain?

[brian]

Sept 2010 magazine on Elon Musk entitled How Elon Musk Turned Tesla Into the Car Company of the Future which glosses over (or is it ignores) many of the issues pointed out in the earlier article on Musk in the NY Times reported earlier in this thread Tesla, all revved Up, but So Far to Go
Was Wired duped or has Musk in partnership with Toyota turned the company around since early August?

Some other related articles:

• Toyota Deal Not a Silver Bullet for Tesla's Mass Market Goals
  Here's a link to info on the stock TSLA

[brian]

Sept 29, 2010: LA Times: Empty NUMMI auto factory gets new life as Tesla moves in
The General Motors-Toyota auto plant in Fremont, Calif. shut down in April. But the former New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. facility, or NUMMI, is about to come to life. Electric-car maker Tesla Motors Inc., which surprised many when it announced plans to buy the plant in May, officially takes ownership Friday.
Tesla will use the Fremont factory to manufacture its Model S sedan. The all-electric car will seat five adults and have a battery range of up to 300 miles. So far, nearly 3,000 people have put down deposits to reserve the car. Tesla has promised the world that deliveries of the Model S will begin in 2012, an ambitious timeline that some say Tesla will be hard-pressed to meet.

[brian]

Nov 11, 2010: Tesla's electric dream: Roadster 2.5 hits 60 mph in 3.7 seconds…with zero emissions
Article in Chicago Tribune with information on the Tesla Roadster 2.5 which includes:

• The Roadster 2.5, which Tesla is marketing for delivery, is not a new car: It's the fourth iteration of the Tesla Roadster launched in 2008. The differences between the 2.5 and the 2.0 are largely cosmetic and convenience-related. But the idea that a car can run entirely on electricity yet run with the best gas-powered cars is still new to many people.

See the full article: Tesla's electric dream: Roadster 2.5 hits 60 mph in 3.7 seconds…with zero emissions

[brian]

Jan 2011: The Economist:Tesla's electric jitters
Which presents some of the challenges facing Tesla, including:

• Along with most carmakers, Tesla sees lithium-ion chemistry as the most efficient in terms of energy density for use in the batteries for its cars. But it has a difference of opinion about how best to assemble the batteries. Whereas Tesla uses thousands of small cylindrical cells to produce one of its battery packs, many other manufacturers prefer instead to use large-format cells which are laminated and shaped like tiles. The Leaf, for instance, uses 192 cells, each about the size of a magazine. Four of the cells are combined to form a module and the car's 24kWh battery pack, which is air-cooled, is assembled from 48 modules.

see the full article for more.

[MSI]

Sept 26, 2012: NY Times: An Electric Carmaker Struggles as its production Lags
Which includes:

• On Tuesday, Tesla announced plans to sell five million shares to raise cash. The federal government agreed earlier to waive some conditions of a $465 million loan. The moves raised questions about the long-term viability of the company. The company has fully drawn down the government loan, and shareholders may not be happy with additional stock offerings. Its share price fell $3, or 10 percent on Tuesday, to $27.66 a share, down from a 12-month high of $38.01 in April.
  Buyers are paying a hefty sum to reserve the Model S. The deposits have been a big source of cash for the company. At the end of June, Tesla was holding $133.4 million of reservation payments.
  If production delays worsen, customers may question the wisdom of making substantial reservation payments to Tesla.
  Tesla's long term fortunes will depend on the size of the market beyond the early enthusiastic buyers.

See the full article: An Electric Carmaker Struggles as its production Lags