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Tesla Motors
Tesla Quarterly Loss Nearly Doubles to $65 Million
By Scott Doggett November 3, 2011Tesla Motors on Wednesday reported a third-quarter net loss of $65.1 million, or 63 cents a share, up from $34.9 million, or 38 cents a share, for the same quarter a year ago. The Palo Alto-based electric-car maker cited its continued investment in research and development and corporate infrastructure to support next year’s launch of the Model S sedan as primary reasons for the widening losses. Tesla reported revenue of $58 million, up 85 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Its revenue from auto sales rose from $23.4 million to $43.2 million. The company also announced receipt more
Tesla Plans New Roadster For 2014
By John O'Dell November 1, 2011Despite earlier reports that Tesla Motors would stop selling its electric Roadster in the United States around the end September, the company still has “a couple dozen” of the $109,000 two-seat EVs available for U.S. sales and expects to launch a replacement sports car sometime in 2014. Tesla had said in a regulatory filing in June that it was discontinuing U.S. sales of the Roadster (above) this year to focus its energies on production of the upcoming Tesla Model S all-electric sedan. The company said at the time that Roadster sales would continue in Europe and Asia until supplies more
Tesla Wows With Model S Rides, Factory Tour
By Scott Doggett October 4, 2011It was only a year ago that Tesla took over ownership of the former New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) factory jointly operated by General Motors and Toyota for a quarter-century. But today the old NUMMI plant is barely recognizable. Its surfaces are scrubbed clean. Countless windows have been added to let in natural light. A fresh coat of bright-white or Tesla-red paint covers seemingly everything. Plus 90 percent of the equipment needed to make the upcoming Model S (above) battery-electric sedan is installed. On Monday, the Silicon Valley electric-vehicle maker allowed a handful of journalists to tour the more
Tesla Lands $100 Million Toyota EV Supply Deal
By John O'Dell July 21, 2011EV-maker Tesla Motors, which will be losing the revenue from its iconic Roadster when the battery-powered two-seater is discontinued later this year, will pick up an additional $100 million from a new supply deal in its budding partnership with Toyota Motor Corp. The company revealed in a regulatory filing that it has secured the three-year, $100-million contract to supply Toyota with electric motors and battery packs for the RAV4 EV that is to be launched in the U.S. next year. The deal adds to a previously secured $60 million contract for Northern California-based Tesla to supply the motors and more
Tesla Seeks $200M In New Stock Offering
By John O'Dell May 25, 2011EV-maker Tesla Motors said it will launch a secondary stock offering of 5.3 million shares as it seeks to raise additional capital to fund development of its third battery-electric vehicle, the "Model X" crossover. The company said it also will sell additional shares in a private offering to co-founder and chief executive Elon Musk and to an investment affiliate of Daimler AG. In all, Tesla is hoping to bring in more than $200 million. more
Tesla 1Q Loss Widens, Stock Rises on Record Sales
By Danny King May 6, 2011Tesla Motors' first-quarter loss widened 66 percent from a year earlier, because the high-end electric-vehicle maker's research and development costs surged as the company geared up for the 2012 debut of its Model S sedan (above) and invested more in its new Fremont, Calif., plant. Shares rose in after-hours trading Wednesday as Tesla's record quarterly revenue beat analyst estimates and the company boosted its 2011 sales forecast. more
Tesla S Charged With Generating Profit
By Scott Doggett March 23, 2011In a meeting with reporters last week, Tesla executives said the Model S must be profitable, and for the first time they said why they believe the battery-electric sedan will be. The Palo Alto, Calif., company — which has experienced a 52-week high of $36.42 a share since it went public in summer 2010 but has been trading around $22 recently — intends to launch its second model in mid-2012. Production of the new model is planned at 20,000 vehicles a year. Production of Tesla's first model, the Roadster, is slated to end in 2011. more
Green: Tesla's Musk Donates Solar Plant; Marines Buy Electric Trucks; Nissan, Mitsu Join in Venture
By Michelle Krebs December 14, 2010Edmunds.com's Green Car Advisor reports today that Tesla's Elon Musk is donating a solar generating station to the Hurricane Response Center in Alabama, the U.S. Marine Corps is purchasing Smith Newton electric trucks and Nissan and Mitsubishi have joined in an electric charger sharing venture. more
Daimler New-Business Exec to Lead Tesla Sedan Program
By John O'Dell December 3, 2010As if its 5 percent stake in the growing electric-vehicle maker Tesla Motors Inc. weren't enough, automotive giant Daimler AG now is sending one of its star execs to serve as program chief for Tesla's second car coming in 2012 - the Model S sport sedan. Jerome Guilllen, who most recently was director of Daimler's global business innovations unit and the brains behind the company's successful Car2Go car-sharing program has left the company to become program director for Tesla's Model S, scheduled to begin production in 2012. Guillen's job switch, first reported by the German business publication Manager Magazin more