Tesla Motors is discovering that it cannot build cars on hopes and dreams alone; real capital is required, too. The forward-thinking company is stating that they will not be able to produce their 4-door, Model S electric car without a $350 million dollar US government loan. Remember, the founder stated a while ago that all the pre-orders for the Roadster will be fulfilled, but without this new loan, the company will have to wait until the credit markets unfreeze to build the Model S’s manufacturing facility. It’s too bad that the credit crisis hit when vehicle technology almost reached a new stage in their evolution.
by
Matt Burns
on
December 10, 2008
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The auto bailout is a bad idea as it is. Tesla doesn’t deserve anything either–they are manufacturing cars to a niche community. Find a better business model, appeal to a larger market, and make money the good ole fashion way.
Maybe Tesla shouldn’t have fired all the brains of the operation…
“It’s too bad that the credit crisis hit when vehicle technology almost reached a new stage in their evolution.”
More like using the crisis for either getting free money or as a built-in excuse for their future fail-whaling. I would have a lot more sympathy were they trying to build affordable small cars for families instead of four-wheeled penis-substitutes for the spoiled rich. Seriously: are any of the owners/pending owners of the Tesla Roadseter female?
Wait are we talking about Tesla, or Telsa like the title says. WTF is Telsa?
Telsa built the roadster first not because it thought the world need another sports car, but because it was the best entry point for the market. At first they are producing this high cost small production vehicle to get off the ground. They have a phase 2 planned which includes the Model S sedan. It’s around $50,000 and will reach a broader market. It’s slated to start production in 2011. After that their phase 3 will start. This includes a $30,000 smaller 4 door style car and will be the first all electric vehicle with a range of over 100 miles that is really in the reach of the “average” American.
I’m not all together convinced that we should bail out the failing auto industry either. They have been making crappy cars for years now and the free market has spoken by not buying them.
I think Tesla is different. They are the first manufacturing company that has show that you can make an all electric vehicle that meets the needs of 95% of Americans (who drive less then 40 miles a day). Since the technology is new it will take 5 years or so for the cost to come down, but with a relatively small government investment it could go a long way.
It would be great for once to:
- Reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
- Operate a vehicle that has relatively little moving parts, requires no replacements of fluids, has no exhaust system, no belts or hoses, no spark plugs or wires, no cams or valves.
- Costs penny’s per mile to fuel.
- Is one important step in closing the loop. Once we have all electric cars all we have to do is to generate that electricity with any number of clean alternatives (solar thermal, wind, geothermal, wave power, bio-gas, etc.)