Tesla CEO Elon Musk's presentation got all "frunked" up Thursday night at the unveiling of the 2014 Tesla model X crossover electric vehicle.
The stubbly-bearded entrepreneur was happily explaining the newest Tesla EV's copious cargo space to an invitation-oly audience of close to 1,000 friends, employees, customers, potential customers and the usual handful of scruffy media types when the latch locking down the front hood got stuck.
What's a hood latch got do do with cargo space? Isn't that behind the seats? Well, yeah.
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Categories: Crossovers,Electric Vehicles,Tesla Motors
Tesla is in the final throes of launching the Model S. The all-new, all-electric sedan starts at $57,400, has a 160-mile range and has features like a 17-inch touchscreen display, 19-inch wheels, an optional all glass panoramic roof and a microfiber interior. You can, of course, upgrade to a $97,900 Model S Signature Performance that has twice the battery life, a 4.4-second 0-60 time, carbon-fiber accents, Nappa leather interior, a 300-mile range with a top speed of 130 and standard 21s with high performance tires.
But is it the best sedan, nay, the best car in the world? Tesla thinks so...
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Categories: Electric Vehicles,Tesla Motors
Peter Rawlinson and Nick Sampson, prominent engineers on Tesla's 160-to-300 mile range electric sedan have left Tesla before seeing their baby to launch.
Rawlinson was Tesla's vice president and Chief Engineer while Sampson supervised the company's chassis engineering. The two left earlier this month. "Having completed conceptual and design engineering work on Model S, Peter has decided to step away to tend to personal matters in the U.K." said an emailed statement by Ricardo Reyes, Tesla spokesman. Sampson was noted as having already fully transitioned off of Model S when he left. Jerome Guillen (formerly of Daimler AG) and Eric Bach (formerly on VW small cars) have filled the open positions.
The market was not convinced by the words or actions of Tesla, shares in Tesla's stock fell 20 percent.
Is this just a case of businesses doing what they do? Or is the departure of two key executives in the final stretch of a huge launch indicative of things to come from the Model S?
(Bloomberg)
Categories: Auto Industry,Electric Vehicles,Sedans,Tesla Motors
With all due respect to Kermit the frog, these days it's easier than ever to be green, at least when you're talking cars. The reason for this concerns choice: The selection of green transportation keeps growing by leaps and bounds, and buyers have their pick of several pretty satisfactory options.
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Categories: Ford,Mitsubishi,Tesla Motors
Following a second-quarter loss of $52 million, Tesla has just posted a Q3 loss of $65 million.
According to Tesla's shareholder release, this is good news.
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Categories: Auto Industry,Electric Vehicles,Tesla Motors
At a Model S reservation holder event in Silcon Valley this weekend, Tesla CEO Elon Musk made two announcements about the company's new electric sedan.
The first is that the seven seat Model S (five normal seats, two jump seats) would, thanks to some aerodynamic wheels, have an EPA-verified range of 320 miles. 20 miles more than without the aero wheels.
The next bit was the more interesting one, though: For $80,000 you can order up a high-performance version of the Tesla Model S that will hit 60 in just 4.6 seconds. The standard Model S manages the task in 5.6 seconds. There was no word on other handling modifications or what the range is when you drive it like an M5.
Tesla, of course, has built itself on the back of a small sports car and have an owner base a) willing to spend $100K on a car that's not terribly practical and b) interested in sporty driving characteristics so this was pretty much a formality. "It'll be better than anyone thinks a car like this can be. The goal with the Model S was to build the best car, not just the best electric vehicle," said Musk to his future Model S owners, "I'm proud of this car and it's a revolution that I hope the rest of the industry will follow."
(AutoCar)
Categories: Electric Vehicles,Sedans,Tesla Motors
This morning we recieved spy photos of the 2013 Tesla Model S testing in Michigan under circumstances we're certain no range-anxiety-dismissing Tesla owner will ever find themselves: Hooked up to a flat bed tow truck.
These spy shots virtually the same Tesla Model S we saw in earlier photos released from the company. This is the version without the LED driving lights, but the vents on the pre-production photos have been filled with fog lights. All of the chrome surrounds have been removed, but the general shape of the grille does appear to mirror the teaser shots.
The Tesla model S will be priced from $77,400 to start with lower cost versions coming in at $57,400 and $67,400. These each feature their own range rating; 300 miles, 160 miles and 230 miles respectively.
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Categories: Electric Vehicles,Sedans,Tesla Motors
With all of the bickering with Top Gear and the constant delays and promises over the Model S electric sedan, it's forgivable to forget the $50 million investment Toyota made in the California startup.
And when you make an investment like that, you expect something in return. Since profit seems unlikely right now, the return in this case is Tesla's EV technology. Toyota has taken this and dumped it into a Rav4 and now John O'Dell over at Edmunds' AutoObserver has driven one of the 35 prototypes.
"A prototype it may be, but it is nicely balanced, well-finished, and pleasant to drive. Except for instrumentation and other uniquely EV aspects - the redesigned nose, electric motor torque and whine, regenerative braking drag, a tiny bit of compressor hum at low speeds and a push button gear selector on the center console - is pretty much indistinguishable from a "normal" RAV4." -- AutoObserver
Categories: Electric Vehicles,Tesla Motors,Toyota
So here's the short story for those just getting into this whole "Tesla suing Top Gear" thing: Top Gear did a story on the Tesla Roadster (vid after the jump) where they said that it didn't work in the real world and broke down. Tesla then got all upset that a show known more for being offensive and funny than for being accurate was, perhaps, less than accurate about its baby. So they sued TG for libel and malicious falsehood. (You've already got to prove malice for the libel thing so why not add this, right?)
After that, Andy Wilman posted on the TG website that there is "nothing malicious" going on and explained how a shoot works and discussed Tesla fixing the brakes mid-shoot.
Well, instead of, as Wilman put it "letting brainy people wearing wigs" sort it out, Tesla has jabbed back.
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Categories: Celebrities,Tesla Motors
Say what you will about Tesla, its business plan, the ETA for the Model S, its CEO Elon Musk (and we've said plenty), but this company is never boring. Now it's taking on the BBC.
Yesterday, the Palo Alto, California-based company sued the British network for libel -- because of Jeremy Clarkson's claim in a December 14, 2008, episode of Top Gear that a Tesla Roadster test vehicle ran out of juice after only 55 miles. The EV sportscar has a claimed range of over 200 miles.
You can read the lawsuit here, which has a partial transcript from the episode in question. Clarkson is quoted as saying, "although Tesla says it will do 200 miles we worked out on our test track that it would run out after just 55 miles and if it does run out it's not quick job to charge it up again."
In addition to modest financial compensation ("The Claimants expect to recover not more than 100,000 GBP" -- $160,700), Tesla is seeking to bar the BBC from any further broadcast or distribution of the episode.
Over on Auto Observer, our own John O'Dell offers more detail on the history of the Tesla-BBC dust-up.
The offending Top Gear episode is after the jump.
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Categories: Celebrities,Electric Vehicles,Tesla Motors
Notice anything new on Straightline today? Over there on the right? Under the ad box? Yep, it's the first of many incredibly thought provoking, excruciatingly relevant Straightline polls, in which we let you weigh in on The Automotive Industry.
Today we ask you to cast a vote on the future of Lotus and Tesla and their leaders, Dany Bahar and Elon Musk. Do you have more faith in Bahar, who must guide a company known for building myriad permutations of one streetable track car to a future of great prosperity and 5 discrete vehicle models? Or do you side with the always self-assured Musk and his plan to revolutionize the market with the Model S EV?
Vote now. Or... else.
Categories: Automaker Feedback,Lotus,Tesla Motors
When the Tesla Model S electric sedan goes on sale in 2012, it will carry a starting price of $77,400. If that sounds like more than initially advertised, well, it is. Part of it is that the $77,400 number does not include the $7,500 tax rebate. Next, the first Model S' to roll off the production line will be the uptown Model S Signature which will have a 300-mile range battery pack and, according to Tesla's FAQ, "Model S Signature will come very well-equipped, potentially with colors and options not available for Model S."
Ohhh, potential colors!
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Categories: Electric Vehicles,Tesla Motors
Eager to show progress on the company's second model, the Model S sedan, Tesla showed off a bare chassis of the battery-electric vehicle in all its aluminum-intensive glory. Comprised of castings, extrusions and stampings that are variously welded and riveted, the Model S is showing signs that it may not be vaporware after all. Maybe.
Details and video after the jump.
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Categories: Car Tech,Detroit Auto Show,Electric Vehicles,Future Vehicles,Sedans,Tesla Motors
Even automakers who aren't officially exhibiting at the Consumer Electronics Show still make it into the media spotlight focused on Las Vegas this week via their electronics suppliers. NVIDIA used CES to announce that it will provide new display technologies for BMW and Tesla.
The graphics processor supplier gained attention and booth traffic at last year's CES by featuring a dashboard buck to show off the 2011 Audi A8's Google Earth nav mapping capabilities. This year NVIDIA will show graphics processor units (GPUs) it will supply to power the infotainment displays of next-gen BMW and Mini models as well as the whopping 17-inch in-dash screen that makes up the entire center stack of the Telsa Model S.
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Categories: BMW,Car Tech,Tesla Motors
See that drop right there above 'Mon Dec 27'? Well that would be what happens when a trade "lock up" period ends.
A lock up period is, in short, a period where early buyers -- majority shareholders and company insiders primarily -- are not allowed to sell their shares. This is done to avoid flooding the initial market. For Tesla, (NASDAQ: TSLA ) this period expired on December 25, 2010 and today, Monday the 27th, is the first day of trading since the deadline passed.
As you can see, when shares were made available, the price fell. Tesla's opening price was $28.02 and closed at $25.55.
Adding to the lockout sale is Carter Driscoll, Capstone Investments' Senior Clean Technologies and Alternative Energy Analyst's label of "sell" for Tesla and a price of $22. Driscoll noted that the EV market was unlikely to reach targets and that Tesla wouldn't be able to meet projected earnings.
We'll see if the Government's $465 cash infusion and Panasonic's $30 million and Toyota's $50 million can get them above water before loans (and interest) need to be paid back.
Categories: Tesla Motors
#LAAS
Toyota laid out its plans at the Los Angeles auto show today to bring to market a second-generation RAV4 electric vehicle by 2012. I know, Snoresville, and it was all I could do to keep from falling asleep standing up during the press conference. But it was amazing how many journalists seemed absolutely riveted, and pushed and shoved to grab photos, as Toyota execs waxed on about the company's grand future plans for electric vehicles.
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Categories: LA Auto Show,Tesla Motors,Toyota
How serious is Toyota about its *$50 million investment in Tesla? Serious enough to market it in the trip computer start-up message in the Toyota RAV4 EV. The electric RAV4 debuts November 17 at the 2010 Los Angeles auto show, and Toyota released two teaser images of the show car today.
Toyota announced it was testing protoypes of the RAV4 EV, co-developed with Tesla, last summer; the production vehicle isn't due to hit public roads until 2012.
*Fifty million dollars is kind of a drop in the bucket, of course, when you remember that Tesla just reported a loss of $35 million for the third quarter of 2010.
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Categories: Crossovers,Electric Vehicles,Future Vehicles,LA Auto Show,Tesla Motors,Toyota
Yes, yes. You have to spend money to make money and you can't make an omlet without cracking a few eggs, but just weeks after Panasonic invests $30 M into Tesla in a battery deal, the California-based electric car maker has just posted a $35 M loss.
This is $30.3 MILLION dollars more than they lost a year ago, and the reason is mostly due to investment in the Model S sedan. R&D spending was up to $26.7 M this quarter vs. $1.3 M the year before.
In a conference call, CEO Elon Musk said that short-term profitability "is not a particularly meaningful goal because we're spending on the order of half a billion dollars over the next nine quarters. So you can expect to see some fairly significant expenses there. It's really the only way to execute the business given that we're going from roughly 600 units a year to roughly 20,000 units a year."
Revenue this quarter has fallen 31.4% to $31.2 M
( AutoNews )
Categories: Auto Industry,Electric Vehicles,Tesla Motors
In what could be seen as a wise investment from a leading electronics company or a case of throwing good money after bad, depending on your view of Tesla motors (and, more broadly, the EV market I guess), Panasonic has invested $30 million in Palo Alto-based electric vehicle manufacturer, Tesla. The deal was done in a private purchase of Tesla common stock at a price of $21.15 per share. Tesla closed today at $21.77 /share. This investment gives Panasonic about 2% ownership.
Under the new arrangement, Tesla will continue to use Panasonic battery cells in its battery packs, and give them a preferred status over other battery suppliers. and the two companies will collaborate on advanced battery strategies to drive down the cost of future EVs.
The statement from Panasonic included this from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, "It is an honor and a powerful endorsement of our technology that Panasonic, the world's leading battery cell manufacturer, would choose to invest in and partner with Tesla. Panasonic offers the highest energy-density cells and industry-leading performance with cutting edge Nickel-type cathode technology. We believe our partnership with them will enable us to further improve our battery pack while reducing cost."
First Toyota, now Panasonic. This Tesla thing looks like it's going to work if it has to suck down all of the money on the planet to make it happen.
Categories: Electric Vehicles,Tesla Motors
...and the world issued a collective sigh. SEMA and Twitter, what could be better.
For those who don't remember the original Swagger Wagon rap, it's after the jump.
( Toyota's Twitter )
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Categories: Minivans,SEMA Show,Tesla Motors
