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tesla motors
Tesla Gets $465 Million from Feds
The Department of Energy has made it official: Tesla Motors will, in fact, get $465 million in government loans to fund its Model S sedan. Chalk another one up for founder Elon Musk's improbable dream of a mass-market electric car. More » -
tesla motors
Tesla CEO Elon Musk Wants $10 Gas, To Build A Kabillion Cars
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is speaking right now at Wired Live. What's he saying? For starters, he wants to buy a car factory from a Detroit automaker so he can produce 100,000 cars per year. More craziness below. [Jalopnik] -
nerdfight
Tesla Executives Squabbled Over Their Cars Like Customers
California's liberal millionaires have turned the Tesla Motors waiting list into a thing of wonder. It's thousands of dollars just to sign up. But company bigwigs fetishize their electric vehicle just as irrationally, a lawsuit reveals. Heartening. More » -
tesla motors
Tesla Co-Founder Eberhard Sues Elon Musk, Tesla
Tesla Motors co-founder Martin Eberhard, ousted from the company in November 2007 by then-chairman Elon Musk, has now filed suit in Califonria Superior Court against both Musk and Tesla Motors alleging slander, libel and breach of contract. [Jalopnik] -
electric cars
No Chevys For Old Men: Lutz Vs. Letterman
After Tesla fan-boy Dave Letterman brought Tesla's Elon Musk on the Late Show and both of them ripped into GM, CBS called Letterman, saying, "Hey, jackass, don't you know GM advertises with us?" The result: outgoing product czar Bob Lutz brought the Chevy Volt to last night's show. Blow-by-blow below. [Jalopnik] -
electric cars
Tesla Now Worth Less Than Twitter
Daimler's 10% stake in Tesla for "double digit millions" pegs Tesla's value at less than a billion dollars and probably closer to $100 million. That means Tesla's likely worth less than Twitter! [Jalopnik] -
leaks
Tesla Motors Moneyman Revs His Mouth on Camera
A mysterious video of a Tesla investor talking about a rumored investment in the company has popped up on YouTube. Valleywag has identified the blabbermouth: Victor Morgenstern, chairman of a Chicago private-equity fund. More » -
Space Cadet
Elon Musk Adds Mars to His Improbable Dreams
The Red Planet beckons electric-car entrepreneur Elon Musk. He's hoping to put a man on Mars by 2020. Space fanboys are placing their dreams of getting off this rock on a slender reed. More » -
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elon musk
Tesla Fanboy David Letterman Lets Motormouth CEO Off Easy
David Letterman loves his Tesla Roadster so much that he invited Tesla CEO Elon Musk onto the Late Show last night. The question he should have asked: How long will Musk keep his job? More » -
journalismism
Sarah Lacy Is the Interviewer Elon Musk Was Looking For
Uh oh! Silicon Valley journalist Sarah Lacy laughed when Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk called a New York Times writer a "douchebag." Now the Times is in a snit and she's calling the newspaper sexist! More » -
tesla
Tesla's Elon Musk Continues War Of Aggression Against Volt, REVs
We thought Tesla's Elon Musk decided to give up anti-Detroit not-so-Big-Three rhetoric, but he's gone on the attack again against GM's Chevy Volt and Range-Extended Vehicles. Oh, that rapscallion! [Jalopnik] -
deathwatch
Tesla CEO Says GE's an Investor, but GE Says No
Yesterday, we noted an upcoming Car & Driver interview with Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk in which he claims GE Capital is investing in the electric-car maker. Today, GE told us nuh-uh. More » -
deathwatch
Is Elon Musk Guaranteeing Tesla Buyers' Deposits? Yes and No
Tesla Motors, the cash-poor electric-car startup which just unveiled a new sedan prototype, may have gotten money from General Electric. But it's really hoping to trick car buyers into investing on the sly. More » -
flackery
Tesla Praises Leaked Car Photos It Wants Erased from the Internet
Is Tesla Motors mad that Digg founder Kevin Rose spoiled the launch of its Model S sedan by leaking photos on Flickr? Yes and no, depending on who you ask at the ailing electric-car startup. More » -
great moments in pr
Tesla Flack Bitches About 'Silicon Valley Gossip Blog'
Tesla Motors, once Silicon Valley's hottest electric-car startup, has a host of real problems, like a shortage of cash and a paranoid CEO. How is its top flack spending her time? Taking "umbrage" with bloggers! More » -
deathwatch
Schwarzenegger Wants to Terminate His Tesla Roadster
When Tesla Motors launched its all-electric Roadster sports car, celebrities lined up to order one — including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now we hear he's been trying to return it for months.
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tesla
Obama Drives Past Tesla Showroom, Doesn't Crack Automaker Special Olympics Joke
Yes, that is "Cadillac One" driving past Tesla's West Los Angeles showroom yesterday and no, President Obama did not stop in for a test drive. [Green Car Advisor] [Jalopnik] -
leaks
Tesla CEO in Digital Witch Hunt
Enraged by leaks at his troubled Silicon Valley electric carmaker, CEO Elon Musk cooked up a sophisticated electronic scheme to catch the blabbers. It backfired hilariously on the brilliant entrepreneur, who's a bit blabby himself.
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geek love
'Lily' Wants $3 Million for Tales of Dating Tesla CEO
Sunny Huang, a California woman who goes by "Asian Beauty Lily" online, wants $3 million for the story of her "glamorous and loving relationship" with Elon Musk, the CEO of troubled electric automaker Tesla Motors. More » -
comebacks
Tesla's Motormouth Marketer Dodged Deposit Dilemma
What happened to Darryl Siry, the Tesla Motors marketing chief who left the electric-car startup abruptly last December? He's turned up as a cleantech analyst. And we've learned the real reason why he left. More » -
tesla motors
Elon Musk's Electric-Car Fantasy
Silicon Valley is the land of dreams. Here's Elon Musk's dream: His electric-car startup has hundreds of millions of dollars in government loans and a bright financial future. Too bad that's all in his head. More » -
deathwatch
Why Tesla's Elon Musk Could Be the New Preston Tucker
Tesla Motors, the best hope of Silicon Valley's nascent clean-transportation industry, is headed over a financial cliff. The only question is how many customers the electric sportscar maker will take for a ride. More » -
elon musk
Electric-Car Boss's Holiday Message of Cheer
In public, executives at Tesla Motors, Silicon Valley's highest-profile green-technology startup, are saying there's nothing wrong with their all-electric cars. In private, though, CEO Elon Musk has chastised employees to make vehicles that work. -
darryl siry
Electric carmaker's motormouth marketer
Tesla Motors, once the best hope of Silicon Valley's nascent electric-car industry, is getting better known for manufacturing drama than vehicles. The company just saw its top marketer, Darryl Siry leave — allegedly after running his mouth about ex-employees. More » -
nerdfight
Why Elon Musk could be the next Steve Jobs
When visionaries clash, whose vision do we believe? On newsstands this week, Newsweek's Dan Lyons savages Tesla Motors, the electric-car maker. Tesla was once the brightest hope of Silicon Valley's clean-transportation industry; now on its fourth CEO in less than two years, it's better known for manufacturing boardroom drama than actual vehicles. Lyons writes that Tesla's Roadster is a "classic Silicon Valley product — it's late and over budget, has gone through loads of redesigns, still has bugs and, at $109,000, costs more than originally planned. Company founder Martin Eberhard (left, at bottom) says that lead investor Elon Musk (left, at top), who recently installed himself as the company's fourth CEO, made costly changes to the car's design and is "a terrible CEO." Musk's retort: "Martin is the worst individual I've ever had the displeasure of working with." More » -
tesla roadster
Jason Calacanis to media: Please cover my sports-car purchase
Tough times, tough decisions: Which media outlet will cover the delivery of Jason Calacanis's $109,000 all-electric Tesla Roadster? Calacanis, the braggadocio-burdened CEO of Mahalo, an overgrown website directory, has called for camera crews from CNN, MSNBC, CBS, Fox, and, for good measure, the New York Times. He's also registered the domain name Tesla16.com. "16" is either the production number of his Roadster, or the number of employees he could have avoided laying off with the money he's spending on it. We're not sure which. Either way, we're looking forward to photos of Calacanis's bulldogs, Taurus and Fondue, with their tongues hanging out the window. -
geek love
Tesla chief's actress girlfriend into his "physics"
The liquored-up consensus at San Francisco watering hole Joey & Eddie's last night: Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk is actually kind of hot. Musk, who drove up in one of his electric car startup's Roadsters to speak to me yesterday, is divorcing sci-fi novelist wife Justine and has taken up with a British actress, Talulah Riley, whom he squired to a party earlier this year at Tesla's Silicon Valley showroom. More » -
tesla motors
My evening with Elon Musk
I confess: I completely missed the Tesla Roadster parked outside when I walked into Joey & Eddie's, the San Francisco watering hole where Valleywag used to hold weekly meetups with readers. But there was no mistaking the guy parked at the bar: It was Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors. He had driven up to surprise me at the behest of Adeo Ressi, the founder of VC-ratings site TheFunded.com, who was Musk's housemate in college. Matt Marshall, the editor of VentureBeat, also dropped by. Musk pressed a set of keys on me and offered a Tesla test drive; I turned them down. Honestly, I figured I'd crash the thing, and I didn't want to put a further dent in Tesla's already parlous cash balance. But I finally agreed to go for a ride with Marshall. How was it, you ask? More » -
nerdspotting
Whose Tesla is this at our favorite bar?
Owen snapped this photo of a new Tesla electric roadster rockstar-parked outside Joey & Eddie's. Too bad I'm not there. There are only so many tables in that restaurant, so I'm sure I'd find the owner before getting thrown out on my face. -
Craig Harding
Tesla Motors general counsel unlucky in court of love, too
Why did electric carmaker Tesla Motors lose its trade-secrets case against rival Fisker Automotive? We're no legal eagles, but a tipster suggests Tesla general counsel Craig Harding was distracted by his intramural extracurriculars: More » -
schemes
Is Elon Musk aiming to take over Tesla?
Tesla Motors, Silicon Valley's troubled electric carmaker, is still running on financial fumes, with $9 million or less in the bank. It's been widely misreported that the company has already raised $40 million. In fact, that's the amount it's hoping to raise, in the form of convertible debt, from current investors in a rights offering, which will take 30 days to complete. Musk made a fortune from PayPal, the online payments startup purchased by eBay, and other startups. He says he has enough money to take the entire round if other investors don't step up. And that may be exactly what he's hoping will happen. More » -
mine is greener
Jay Adelson pimps his ride
Will the CEO of Digg make up his mind on who he wants to be? I once asked him what car he drove, and he took pains to let me know he had a suburban-dad Honda minivan and an environmentalist-standard-issue Toyota Prius. Just a regular guy! But he later complained when I suggested he wasn't a "rock star." I'm thinking Adelson — who commutes from his actual suburban-dad life in upstate New York to his CEO gig in san Francisco — is working on sexing up his image. A tipster says Adelson has just gotten a $109,000 all-electric, obsidian black Tesla Roadster. Which, if you think about it, is exactly the racy kind of vehicle most suburban dads his age might want to buy, if only they could afford it. -
Peng Zhou
The martyr of Tesla Motors
Having laid off 75-some employees and run his electric carmaker's cash balance down to $9 million, what is Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk busying himself with? Conducting a witch hunt to find who leaked Tesla's financials to Valleywag. The Truth About Cars has published an email it claims is from Musk, which includes a letter apology from R&D director Peng Zhou. The only thing that's curious: Our tipster said he'd been at Tesla for four years. Zhou has only been there for two years. In Musk's haste to find someone to blame, did he extract a forced confession from the wrong man? More » -
higher education
Elon Musk discovers cause of poverty
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has strong opinions on what causes poverty: lack of education. For a Stanford dropout, that's remarkably self-reflective. We would add to Musk's list two other causes of poverty: funding a money-losing electric-car company and getting an expensive divorce. -
industry news
Tesla Motors Loses Arbitration Hearing To Fisker Over Stolen Model S Designs
According to Fisker Automotive, the company has emerged the victor in a lawsuit that pitted the niche hybrid automaker against Tesla Motors, the niche electric car automaker. The original lawsuit, brought by Tesla, alleged that Henrik Fisker stole designs for the Tesla Model S for his Fisker Karma Hybrid. Fisker claimed this was false and, using a clause in his contract with Tesla, sought arbitration. The arbitrator agreed with Fisker, essentially piling on more bad news for Tesla, which has had to cut staff, close an office and panhandle from investors. Fisker's statement below the jump. [Jalopnik] -
deathwatch
Tesla to borrow $40 million from investors
The slow-motion crash of Tesla Motors continues. Last week, an insider revealed the electric-car maker, once the best hope of Silicon Valley's nascent clean-transportation industry, had only $9 million in the bank. Now, Elon Musk, the investor who recently deposed the company's CEO, claims the company has commitments for another $40 million in financing from some of its current investors, a group which includes Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and former eBay president Jeff Skoll. But that money is debt, not equity. More » -
commenter of the day
imag
Commenter imag had a trenchant take on why Elon Musk's Tesla Motors is running short of cash: More » -
confirmed
Tesla CEO admits his carmaker's running out of cash
Tesla Motors, the automaker which is Silicon Valley's best hope to build an electric-car industry, will run out of cash in three months if it does not raise new financing. CEO Elon Musk has confirmed Valleywag's report that it has spent most of its customers' deposits and is running low on cash. In an interview with Reuters, CEO Elon Musk conceded that the company only has $9 million in the bank, as a concerned Tesla employee told us yesterday. Tesla's contract with customers specifies that deposits can be used for "working capital" — but last I checked, "working capital" means liquidity available to a company. It does not mean "money that has gone out the door." So Tesla may arguably be in breach of contract with the 1,200 customers who have put between $5,000 and $60,000 down for its Tesla Roadster. Tesla has only delivered 50 cars. More » -
deathwatch
Tesla Motors has $9 million in the bank, may not deliver cars
The Valley's hottest electric-car maker is running on fumes. Tesla Motors, the brightest hope of Silicon Valley's nascent clean-automotive industry, has only $9 million in the bank, a longtime employee tells us. The company, which recently laid off dozens of employees and announced the closing of its Detroit office, called an all-hands meeting yesterday evening to inform employees of its financial state. What makes the company's low cash balance especially scary, our tipster says, is that the company has taken "multiple tens of millions" of dollars in deposits from customers — anywhere from $5,000 to $60,000 per vehicle — and has only delivered 50 of them. The obvious conclusion: Having already spent its customers' deposits, it may run out of money before it delivers the cars they have paid for. Here's the Tesla insider's report: More » -
commenter of the day
thekevin
Tesla Motors is now weighed down with a big bag of problems. New CEO Elon Musk is dumping that bag on past CEOs' doorsteps. Lit on fire. Who can you blame? Today's featured commenter, thekevin, shares a parable about this situation: More »







































