According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the long-anticipated right-hand-drive Roadster is coming in the first quarter of 2010 and will be available in both standard and Sport guise. The first market that's slated for electrification is, as you would expect, the United Kingdom, and Tesla's first European showroom has already opened up in Knightsbridge.

In addition to the UK, Musk has also indicated that Japan, Australia and India are seen as important right-hand-drive markets for the automaker to pursue in short order. The switch from LHD to RHD is surely made easier by the fact that the Lotus Elise, which shares a large portion of its chassis with the Roadster, was initially designed as a wrong right-hand vehicle.

Interestingly, there's already a lone Tesla Roadster in Australia, but that left-hand-drive car was imported by a man named Simon Hackett for his own personal use at a cost of about $200,000 Australian dollars – nearly twice what a Roadster costs in the States. Click past the break to watch a short video segment featuring that car.


Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Go Auto]

Since Tesla doesn't release the names of most of the people who purchase one of its electric Roadsters, we can only speculate about the financial wherewithal of most of them. However, it's probably reasonably safe to assume that most of them have considerable means and are mostly paying in cash. After all, the average working stiff can't afford a $100,000+ sports car no matter how low the operating costs might be. For those that can't quite swing an upfront cash payment, Tesla is now teaming up with Bank of America to offer financing on the Roadster.

Of course, being able to get a monthly payment plan on the Roadster still doesn't make it inexpensive. Assuming an absolutely baseline Roadster at $109K, the $7,500 federal tax credit, a substantial $20,000 down payment and 7.7 percent financing, the payments on a 60-month loan would amount to $1,650 every month. Bank of America isn't specifying any terms, but you can apply online or at a Tesla store.


[Source: Tesla]

For a guy who allegedly wants a lot of the credit for creating Tesla Motors, Elon Musk certainly doesn't seem to like the job of being its CEO. As part of Daimler's investment deal with Tesla, Musk needed to commit to staying on as Tesla's CEO at least until the Model S launches in 2011. Musk told Reuters:

I didn't really have a choice. This was a requirement of Daimler that I remain CEO of Tesla through the Model S launch and then continue to be part of Tesla in a chairman role beyond that. It's flattering, but at the same time it's golden handcuffs.

Well, that sure makes it sound like fun, doesn't it? It's clear that Musk has always been interested in projects other than EVs (e.g.: electric planes and SpaceX), but does he have to make running one of the hippest electric car companies around sound like a drag?

Another nugget from the article: one of the reasons the price on the Roadster was raised was to help qualify Tesla Motors for the DOE loan it later received. Musk said, "We did the minimum we needed to do to make the business work."


[Source: Reuters]

While things have been quiet on the official legal front in the battle for recognition between Martin Eberhard and Elon Musk, some of the bystanders in the saga are continuing to come forward with their takes of the story. Earlier this week we heard from Tesla's former SVP for marketing Darryl Siry in a piece that ran on Wired. Now, former communications director David Vespremi is responding with a counterpoint to Siry's article.

The heart of the legal argument revolves around who did what in the very earliest days of Tesla's existence in 2003-4 and then what happened in 2006-7 as Tesla approached Job 1 for the Roadster. The two men have their own versions of those events and how that relates to what has been said by and about Musk over the past 18 months.

Keep in mind that neither Vespremi or Siry were there in the earliest days of Tesla. Instead Siry's piece looks at the Roadster's evolution from the AC Propulsion tZero. Vespremi's response goes way beyond that and places Tesla in some historical context in the progression from the EVs of a century ago as they "cross the chasm" to mainstream acceptability. You can find Vespremi's entire response after the jump and it's a worthwhile read.


[Source: David Vespremi]

What sort of location is fitting for a new dealership for a new iconic electric car in London? One good choice would be in the Knightsbridge. Specifically, on Cheval Place, within walking distance from the high-class department store Harrods and in a building was, until recently, used by the Segrave Supercar Club (sort of a ZipCar for the rich). This is the location of Tesla Motor's new showroom in the UK. Tesla will also soon open regional sales and service centers in Monaco, Munich and Zurich, and four new stores in the United States. Britons can purchase their Tesla Roadsters at prices starting at £94,000 on the road and, since these are pure EVs, the cars quality for a lot of tax exemptions, such as VAT (sales tax) reduction, no Congestion Charge, no Luxury Tax, free parking and free charging. Even better, for Britons at least, is that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmet right-hand drive Roadsters for early 2010.

"Thanks to an abundance of discriminating drivers and progressive public policy, Tesla is already well known in Europe," Musk said. "We expect the London store to dramatically increase our brand identity throughout the continent, and with right hand drive models now due at the beginning of next year, the UK market will provide a solid foundation on which to build this."

[Source: Tesla]

Following the announcement that Tesla had been approved for $465 million in loans from the Department of Energy, CEO Elon Musk held a conference call. Most of what was said wasn't especially newsworthy and he didn't discuss the legal proceedings that have been going on around him and the company recently. He did however, discuss some issues relating to batteries and the Roadster.

On the battery front, Musk was pretty adamant about sticking with the current arrangement of several thousand laptop cells for the Model S. While larger format cells hold promise and Tesla is investigating them, Musk doesn't believe they have the economies of scale or energy density to make them worthwhile for the Model S. Of course with every other automaker and battery supplier going that direction, large packs will have the economies of scale before long. Musk expects to make the change for the third, higher volume, lower price car that's coming after the Model S.

The other, more worrying news was about Roadster sales, or rather the lack of them. For about a year, now Roadster sales have been stuck at about 1,300. Musk was asked what the current backlog of Roadsters was and he responded with "about 700-800." Added to the 500 delivered so far, that implies that even with new sales from Europe and Canada, cancellations are keeping pace with orders. That's going to make it awfully difficult to hit the 1,000 Roadsters-a-year target Musk talked about. Hopefully, revenues from powertrain sales like the Smart batteries will pick up the slack until the Model S arrives.


[Source: Green Fuels Forecast]
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

After many months of anxiously waiting, Tesla Motors officially got the word from the Department of Energy that it would the loan interest loans that it was seeking. Tesla and the DOE announced that the California EV maker will get two loans totaling $465 million from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program (ATVMP). $100 million will be used to set up an electric powertrain manufacturing plant to provide components such as motors and battery packs to other automakers.

The bulk of the cash, $365 million, is allocated for production engineering and a factory to build the Model S. Both factories are expected to be built in existing facilities and Tesla is in negotiations for locations in California. Tesla hopes to start production of the sedan by the end of 2011.

Update: Tesla spokeswoman Rachel Konrad let us know that the powertrain plant will produce motors, power electronics, chargers and battery packs for both Tesla branded cars and other customers.


[Source: Tesla Motors]
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

The U.S. Department of Energy will finally announce the first recipient of low interest loans under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Incentive Program. The first winner is Ford, and analysts expect the DoE to announce Nissan and Tesla Motors, as well. Ford applied for up to $11 billion in loans, but the amount it will get has not been disclosed and will likely only be a small fraction of that in this first round. The Dearborn-based automaker will use the money to fund its electric vehicle program that will launch a battery-powered version of the Transit Connect in 2010 followed by a C-segment car in 2011.

Nissan wants to add production of its upcoming electric car and lithium ion batteries at its assembly complex in Smyrna, Tennessee. Tesla, however, would be the big winner this round, as the money it may receive will allow the fledgeling EV maker to proceed with completing development and production of the Model S. Recent investment in the company by Daimler was probably a big help in getting the loan approved, since companies had to demonstrate viability. And since the ATVM program favors re-tooling of older existing plants, Tesla will probably look at acquiring a closed factory from another company. Recent rumors had the company possibly getting a former McDonnell-Douglas factory in Long Beach, although there are plenty of other properties available.

The current Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings at General Motors and Chrysler made those companies ineligible in the current round. It's not known if any announcements will be made about loans for battery makers like A123 or EnerDel.



Photos Copyright ©2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

Shortly after Tesla Motors co-founder Martin Eberhard filed a lawsuit against Tesla Motors and its Chairman, Product Architect and CEO Elon Musk, the Silicon Valley automaker had this to say:

This lawsuit is a fictionalized, inaccurate account of Tesla's early years -- it's twisted and wrong, and we welcome the opportunity to set the record straight. Incidentally, Tesla will also be filing counterclaims and in the process present an accurate account of the company's history.

The first bit of record resetting has shown up on the official Tesla blog. Not surprisingly, Elon Musk has lots to say in regards to the early years of the Roadster's development, and he seeks to offer his side of the story, along with a number of emails to back up his claims.

What does Musk say? Well, his initial response is a long, informative and extremely interesting read. Here are some choice lines:

• The facts are that when I requested through AC Propulsion to meet Eberhard, he had no technology of his own, he did not have a prototype car and he owned no intellectual property relating to electric cars.
• At the time [early 2004], "Tesla Motors, Inc." consisted of Eberhard, Tarpenning and Wright, plus an unfunded business plan and they were looking for an initial round of funding to create a more advanced prototype than the AC Propulsion Tzero. While there was a basic corporation in place, Tesla hadn't even registered or obtained the trademark to its name and had no formal offices or assets.

There's more after the jump.


[Source: Elon Musk / Tesla Motors]

Wondering how much Tesla Motors might be worth on the open market? It would seem the actual figure would depend you who you ask. Based on the assumption that Daimler paid $50 million for nine-percent of Tesla, the Silicon Valley automaker would theoretically be worth $550 million.

According to SharesPost, which bills itself as a community for private equity transactions and the central hub for private company research and valuation data, Tesla's value is actually much higher: roughly $1 billion. To come up with that figure, SharesPost contracted Next Up Research to create a report that supposedly takes into account current revenue from Roadster sales as well as expected revenue from the Tesla Model S and a future electric vehicle, codenamed Blue Star, which will be smaller and cost less than the S.

Next Up outlines the potential risks in investing in a startup automaker like Tesla, such as a "lack of significant cost or performance advantage" over conventional sports cars, the vast number of expected competitors and possible safety issues with using advanced lithium ion batteries. Clearly, there are some major assumptions at work here.


[Source: Earth2Tech]