Silicon Valley automaker Tesla Motors is preparing to go public soon, two people familiar with the situation said, outlining plans to sell stock and cash in on investor appetite for green technology and interest in battery-powered vehicles.

The six-year-old start-up’s investors include Google Inc founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

An IPO filing from Tesla, best known for its $109,000 all-electric Roadster, is expected any day, said one of the sources. The person did not give a specific time frame.

Tesla spokesman Ricardo Reyes declined to comment on what he called “rumor or speculation.”
Source: Reuters

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Tesla Motors stunned naysayers on Friday; announcing that the automaker has achieved profitability in the month of July with $1 million in earnings on revenue of $20 million. Thanks to 109 deliveries of the Roadster model in July and a surge in new orders for the electricsports car. …click here to read more

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Martin Eberhard, founder and former CEO of Tesla Motors, is suing the company and current CEO Elon Musk for breach of contract, opening up yet another lawsuit at the automaker. The suit alleges that Musk sought to “rewrite history” by taking credit for the accomplishments and the very idea behind Tesla Motors, resulting in a damaged reputation for Eberhard.

It’s no surprise that there’s no love lost between Musk and Eberhard. Musk, who became an investor in Tesla in 2004, removed Eberhard from the CEO position in 2007 and eventually took over the position himself. In media interviews, Musk said that he needed to take the helm of the company after poor management resulted in production delays and technical problems. …click here to read more

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Ed Begley, Jr. will soon have more options should he be in need of a new electric car. Daimler AG has announced the acquisition of an equity stake of nearly 10% in Tesla Motors.

The German-based automaker is teaming up with the California company to work on making electric cars “a reality.” Tesla is a visionary on the electric-car front; its Roadster, which runs on battery power, is the only electric vehicle approved for highway use in both Europe and North America.

Thomas Weber, Board Member of Daimler AG, told the press: “Our strategic partnership is an important step to accelerate the commercialization of electric drives globally.” This news is certainly timely, as the Obama administration is pushing to enforce higher fuel economy standards.

Tesla will effectively become the German giant’s go-to battery and electric powertrain developer. …click here to read more

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Tesla Motors delivered its 250th Roadster electric sports car to Dr. Rob Wilder of Encinitas, Calif this past weekend. To add to the great news, CEO Elon Musk also indicated Tesla has accelerated production to 20 cars per week, up from 15 just over a month ago. The new automaker expects to see a rate of 30 units per week by this summer, at which point it will become profitable.

Dr. Wilder, Lucky owner of No. 250, is CEO of WilderShares LLC and manager of the WilderHill Clean Energy Index. Wilder previously made a point of spending no more than $13,000 on a car, often opting for a used set of wheels.

“I took a big, big gulp and sent in my check – and although this car may not seem like a bargain, I can now say it’s a great value. This is exactly the type of car I’d design for myself.”

The $109,000 Roadster is more expensive than all of Wilder’s previous cars put together. That being said, the roadster offers some pretty competitive performance at this price point. Wilder also went on to mention that he plans to charge the car via his home’s array of solar panels.

With a backlog of over 1000 orders, that is to be completed by October, and a new store opening in Chicago, London, Munich, Washington, Miami, Seattle, and Manhattan the demand is likely to continue to oversee production. Earlier this month, Tesla also announced sales to Canadian customers will begin in the fourth quarter.

Tesla Motors also plans to unveil its Model S sedan prototype next week. This is the vehicle that everyone is talking about and is expected to go into production in late 2011. It will have a base price of $57,400, plus a tax credit of $7,500, dropping the total to $49,900.

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The long awaited Model S from Tesla is the companies first original model, a prototype will be previewed next month at the firms design studio. A production model is expected to unveiled in or around 18 months.

This above teaser image was released in an official brochure sent to the first 100 pre-order customers that have placed deposit for the special-edition Signature Series.

The electric car company says it’s doing well, and that all should be on schedule for Model S production now that government funding is on the way. The $40 million round of financing secured last year is twice what Tesla needed to achieve profitability, says the company, though it’s still well short of the money it needs to build a new manufacturing facility for the Model S.

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Tesla Motors has had its fair share of successes on its route to its position at the leading edge of the automotive industry, but last week it suffered a setback that threatened to kill its forward momentum. The planned construction of a new manufacturing facility and headquarters in San Jose, California, was delayed indefinitely due to a lack of venture capital funding, but now sources say that progress is being made on a new ‘brownfield’ facility at another location. …click here to read more

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