Tesla Motors is planning an IPO soon according to a Reuter’s report. However at this point it’s still not clear when that will be although the company had previously stated it won’t happen in 2009. In fact, this rumor has been around for sometime, but in case you didn’t notice, the stock market wasn’t doing that well until recently.

Tesla has been ramping up development of its all-electric Model S sports sedan and building selling Tesla Roadsters as quick as they can make ‘em. Of course the $597.5 million in funding that the company raised this year probably helps.

For the last 20 years I’ve been playing racing games here and there, and when they started becoming realistic (i.e. the cars weren’t square and the engine noises weren’t square waves), the enormity of the sound challenge never really struck me. Engine, road, and tire noise, plus accurate doppler effects, different crunches and thunks for impacts… the list goes on. As if that wasn’t enough, you have to worry about engine noise contaminating your samples.

So it’s no wonder that some game designers from Microsoft jumped at the chance to use a Tesla for recording game audio. No engine noise and careful mic placement means you can get tire squeal, or any other audio component of driving, almost completely isolated. Now, I know you guys aren’t really that hot for the details of audio production, but I know you like fast cars. And it actually is pretty entertaining to see a Tesla with so many big hairy mics on it that it looks like a pussy willow.

This fun little DIY device is labeled as a “crystal radio circuit in a jam-jar.” But that description doesn’t even to begin to do it justice. According to Tesla, this electronic wonder allows you to hear the disembodied, ethereal voices, of the, well, ether, I guess.

I can’t be the only one that thought Tesla was going to be a money pit. I foresaw greed, mismanagement, delays, so on and etc, but they seem to have delivered and are now on their way to full-fledged “successful business” status. A million dollars’ profit on 20 million in business is small potatoes in the car industry, of course, but the other guys in the game are all wallowing in debt, so anything less than total self-annihilation would have put Tesla ahead of them.

Maybe the 0-60 mph in 3.9-second Tesla Roadster isn’t quick enough for some folks. Maybe some trust fund babies want to spend an extra $20k to improve that time to only 3.7-seconds. Well, Tesla unvealed the Roadster Sport today at the companies first NYC dealership just for them. This model will cost $128k. We already knew that this model was coming – along with the NYC dealership – but how about a quick recap?

The U.S. Government created a requirement that by 2020, the majority of cars sold here must get at least 35 miles per gallon. This requires a big commitment on the part of auto makers and so the Energy Department was authorized last year to lend $25 billion dollars. The first round of financing is expected to be announced today with Ford, Nissan, and Tesla getting all getting a sizable chunk during this first round. GM and Chrysler both wanted a bunch of money too, but neither fit the criteria of being a “financial viable” so they were disqualified for this first round.

Nissan hasn’t announced how much the Japanese automaker has requested from the U.S. Government, but we know that Michigan-based Ford and California-based Tesla Motors Inc. are expected to get $5 billion and $450 million respectively.

This $25 billion fund was approved by Congress in 2008 to help auto makers retool facilities and speed up development of more energy efficient vehicles. It was the Government after all that decided that vehicles needed to reach an average of 35 miles per gallon by a random date instead of the natural evolution of development and technology.

Looking to take a Tesla electric car for a spin, are ya? Lucky you, as the company will be opening seven sales centers this summer — four in the US and three abroad. You’ll be able to take a test drive in New York, Seattle, Chicago, and Miami, along with London, Monaco, and Munich.

Silicon Valley electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors got another shot in the arm today from German auto giant Daimler, which took a 10 percent stake in the company and expanded its partnership with Tesla to equip future Mercedes-Benz vehicles with electric lithium-ion batteries. Mercedes has been testing Tesla’s batteries in a fleet of 100 smart cars, and is already moving into limited production. But with this agreement, Mercedes now expects to roll out its first battery-powered Mercedes-Benz in 2010, and offer battery-powered vehicles for all of its models by 2012.

The amount invested was not disclosed, but even more valuable to Tesla is the vote of confidence from one of the world’s leading auto companies. In a press release, Daimler proclaims: “Tesla is the only production automaker selling a highway capable electric vehicle in North America and Europe.”

Tesla says that 520 S Model all electric sedans have been reserved by customers in first week since it was announced. Each customer must pay a $5,000 reservation fee, which is refundable if they choose not to buy the car. The base price for the Model S, which will be available starting in 2010, is $49,900 after a federal tax credit of $7,500. A limited editon of the Model S is available for a $40,000 reservation fee.

The Model S is the second car unveiled by Tesla after the sportier Roadster, and it’s half the price. But it’s no slouch on performance. The car will do 0-60 in 5.6 seconds (the Roadster is 3.9 seconds) and has an electronically limited top speed of 130 mph. The car should go up to 300 miles between charges. Best of all, I believe I may actually fit in the Model S. The Roadster isn’t fully compatible with people my size.

If you want one, you can reserve it here. You should get it by late 2011.

Tesla says they delivered 104 Roadsters in March and about 320 all time. The company has raised $186 million in capital to date, and has applied for $350 million in federal loans.

Innovative electric-car startup Tesla is unveiling the latest addition to its lineup this afternoon in Southern California. The sedan is meant to serve as a more affordable entry to the Tesla lineup that will appeal to the mainstream, with a ticket price of around $50,000 (as opposed to well over $100,000 for the Tesla Roadster). Current estimates for release of the car are late in 2011.

Here’s the video link…

Apparently Bill Clinton was mere moments away from picking up chicks experiencing the finest in green transportation all over Burbank, California in a Telsa Roadster. Jeremy Snyder, general manager of the Los Angeles Tesla Store, handed a set of keys to Mr. Clinton at the end of a President’s Day luncheon after the former president expressed interest in driving a Roadster.

Despite some early worries, bad press, and several crashed prototypes, it looks like Tesla isn’t going to go down in flames, zeppelin-like, a warning to those who would challenge big oil. No, actually it seems they may turn a profit by midyear, and they say they’re selling the $100K Roadster as fast as they can make them.

Bad news for treehugging gearheads this morning. Tesla had originally planned on opening a new facility in San Jose to build the Model S electric sports sedan, but the financing fell through. (Welcome to America, Tesla) So as it stands now, the company is going to redirect a $450 million government loan that was originally going to help build the facility into the general budget which will help with the Roadster development.

Tesla Roadster is a quick car and can beat most Porsche’s down the quarter mile. That $100k+ ride doesn’t have anything on this Datsun powered by lightweight lithium ion batteries dubbed White Zombie. This little guy can scoot down the strip in under 11.5 seconds at a speed of 114mph sounding beating the Tesla’s advertised quarter mile time of 12.75 @ 104.74. According to peeps in the know, that makes this electric car the 2nd quickest electric street legal car. Bets on this car vs the recently announced Shelby Ultimate Aero EV electric supercar? My money is on the Nissan.

Tesla might be in bigger trouble than we first thought. The company has redone the options sheet for the upcoming year and took what was previously standard equipment, and slapped heft price tags on ‘em. For instance, the High Performance Charger which replenishes most of the battery in 3.5 hours now costs $3,000. Plus, the alloy wheels now add $3,200 to the invoice; is the standard hub caps? Tesla claims that the changes were needed to turn a profit but it seems that the company is reneging on customers that placed deposits on Roadsters.

In case you missed it, British auto show Top Gear took a Tesla Roadster for a drive and found it exciting but unreliable, as both cars appeared to fail on the track. Tesla alleges that the BBC either misrepresented or actually made up one or both of the problems in an effort to play on viewer expectations for an all-electric sports car.