Tesla Birth Watch 42: “It depends what you call production”
By Robert FaragoMarch 27, 2008 - 10,761 views
Those of you familiar with our coverage of Tesla Motors' struggle to produce a lithium-ion powered sports car know that we believe that they believe every word they're saying, regardless of which side of their mouth their words emanate. But you've got to wonder when the erstwhile automaker's VP of Vehicle Integration [via Just-auto, sub] answers the straightforward question "So when does series production start then?" with the above. (And there I was thinking production meant building cars for customers.) And what about this quote? "There is a danger when you ramp that you keep an eye on the big balls," Malcom Powell proclaims. "But it needs all the balls to build the car; it's no good having just 99% of the parts because you can't build it. So we will control our ramp rate carefully. We will start producing the cars this quarter and we will monitor and ramp as quickly as we can, but under control." So, uh, how many cars, then? "It will be some hundreds of cars this calendar year - we should be running at around 600 for the Model Year." You heard it here, folks: Tesla is [not] fully committed to producing 600 '08 Roadsters– whatever that means.
Posted in News Blog | Tesla Birth Watch | 15 comments 
Tesla Birth Watch 40: European Sales! Customer Deliveries! Maybe.
By Robert FaragoMarch 23, 2008 - 9,129 views
Whatever else you can say about the aspiring electric vehicle (EV) maker– and we've said plenty during the previous thirty-nine installments– you can never accuse Tesla Motors of humility. Before they've delivered a single car to a single paying customer, Tesla is now talking about European sales. Innovation Beat carries the glad tidings. "We have always wanted to distribute in Europe, but with the low dollar we are going to move quicker,” says Darryl Siry, Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Service at Tesla. “The introduction date for the Roadster in Europe will be announced in a couple of months.” Will that be that before or after the White Star sedan EV prototype hits the streets? Meanwhile, Wired reports that Siry was equally vague about the delivery date for the second "production" Tesla Roadster. "The factory turns out 'gliders,' or rolling chassis without drivetrains. The cars will be shipped — Siry said he imagines [Tesla founder Martin] Eberhard's car will be flown — to San Francisco for final assembly. Every Roadster will have its battery pack, transmission and motor installed in San Carlos. 'The whole process before they're passed to sales takes a couple of weeks,' Siry said, and Eberhard will probably get his car in April.'" Probably?
Posted in News Blog | Tesla Birth Watch | 12 comments
Tesla Birth Watch 39: Boil Some Hot Water
By Frank WilliamsMarch 18, 2008 - 5,146 views
"Tesla Starts Full-Scale Production!" "Stop the Presses, The Tesla Factory is Cranking" "Tesla Begins 'Regular' Production of Roadsters" Reading the ever-credulous press, you'd be forgiven for thinking investors who've been waiting two years for their $98k battery-powered Roadster will have one in their garage in the next few weeks. Not so fast (literally). First, we await independent confirmation that Tesla hit the "start" button on the production line. Second, there's many a slip between the cup and the lip. We await the first customer delivery (real customers, not Tesla execs). And third, by its own admission, Tesla will build Roadsters at the rate of "one or two per week." On Tesla's blog, CEO Ze'ev Drori stated his employer would gradually ramp-up production, heading for "over 100 Roadsters per month early next year." Ignoring the existence of the REVA, the ZAP Xebra and several million golf carts, Drori also proudly proclaims "the Tesla Roadster is the only zero emission electric vehicle in production today." At least the Tesla hype factory is [still] in full swing.
Posted in Electric Vehicles | Green | News Blog | Tesla Birth Watch | 5 comments
Tesla Birth Watch 38: PR Assault on Battery Recyling
By Frank WilliamsMarch 13, 2008 - 4,059 views
In the latest installment of Tesla Motor's Mythbusters, the erstwhile EV maker's Director of Energy Storage Technologies says that Tesla's lithium-ion batteries are eco-friendly. That's because they're "manufactured in Japan, a country with very strict environmental laws." Kelty then lists all the nasty stuff their battery pack doesn't contain (leaving out dead kittens and powdered rhinoceros horn). In short, Tesla's Li-ion cells contain no toxic materials and "by law, could be disposed of by putting them in a landfill." Before that, Kelty recommends using the efficiency-challenged batteries "as a power source for off-grid backup or load leveling." Once the cells die, they'll be shipped off to Toxco's recycling plant in British Columbia. The copper cobalt will be sold for recovery, the slurry "sent off as non hazardous effluent for proper disposal" and the "fluff" (mostly plastic) "trucked back to the U.S. border and properly disposed" (in landfills). Kelty proudly points out that Tesla's disposal process "does not involve any smelters." He doesn't say how much smelting is needed to produce the battery pack but hey, we appreciate the info.
Posted in Electric Vehicles | Green | News Blog | Tesla Birth Watch | 10 comments
Tesla Birth Watch 37: We Ain’t Afraid of No Myths
By Frank WilliamsMarch 4, 2008 - 9,485 views
Tesla's Spitfire Spinmeister wants to set the record straight on all the "myths" surrounding the Tesla Roadster. To that end, Daryl Siry has started a "Mythbusters" section on the company's web site blogs (no word on what Discovery Channel thinks about this). The first myth exposed: the Roadster won't have airbags. The second myth: the Roadster is a converted Elise. Daryl points out that the Roadster shares about seven percent of its parts with the Elise, while Lamborghinis share up to 10 percent with Audi. [NB: Lambo and Audi are all part of the same company, while Lotus and Tesla are separate entities.] The third myth is… wait a minute… there is no third myth. So Siry would "love to hear your thoughts on other myths to address in future installments." How about it, folks? Since we know Daryl reads us, he'll see any Tesla myths you list here. Hell, he might even respond (in his own special way). And just to show how fair-minded we are, we won't mention the myth that TTAC would get a test drive (started by Siry on this very site, posted March 26, 2007 at 3:56 ) or The Mother of All Tesla myths: production will start in summer 2007.
Posted in News Blog | Tesla Birth Watch | 12 comments
Tesla Birth Watch 36: Maybe They Should Have a Bake Sale
By Frank WilliamsFebruary 20, 2008 - 5,991 views
Tesla sent out a press release yesterday bragging that they'd raised $40m in "bridge financing" that was "co-led by Valor Equity Partners and [Tesla chairman] Elon Musk." They're really going to have to stretch that $40m; Tesla plans to use it "for the continued development of a 4 door, five passenger sports sedan planned for introduction in 2010, the establishment of company-owned sales and service infrastructure, and the continued production of the Tesla Roadster, a stylish, high-performance, zero emissions car." The use of the singular in describing the Roadster is appropriate, given they've only produced one Roadster, despite describing the company as "a manufacturer of high-performance production electric cars" in the opening paragraph. So let's see… that's $40m down and only $210m to go.
Posted in Electric Vehicles | News Blog | Tesla Birth Watch | 3 comments
Tesla Birth Watch 35: Redefining Chutzpah
By Justin BerkowitzFebruary 19, 2008 - 6,348 views
Tesla Motors has apparently run out of toilet paper again. Valleywag reports that they're off in search of another $250m to keep the lights on fund development of the "Whitestar" electric sedan. That's right, if you have a quarter of a billion dollars burning a hole in your pocket, you too can invest in a company that has produced exactly one working "production" car (delivered to the company's CEO) in five years, in exchange for over $145m and Federal regulatory exemptions. I'm not an expert, but this strikes me as a particularly optimistic investment. Oh, and Tesla also wants a guaranteed loan from the Department of Energy to build a factory for these new electric sedans. To quote President Bush, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me - you can't fool me again." [NB: I know we're a little late to this story, but that's kind of appropriate don't you think? And here's an old video for potential investors that shows the critical coverage given Tesla by our blogging pals. Driving range of 250 miles. Those were the days...]
Posted in Electric Vehicles | High Finance | News Blog | Tesla Birth Watch | 10 comments
Tesla Birth Watch 34: Where’s Number 2?
By Frank WilliamsFebruary 15, 2008 - 6,462 views
After Tesla Motors chairman Elon Musk got the first production Roadster earlier this month, Tesla Founders Blog reader Pete asked ex-jeffe Martin Everhard when he'd receive his (he's supposed to get Roadster number two if/when they ever get it built). Martin's response:
I don't yet have a date for my car, Founders Series number 2, though they say the next cars will be delivered in March. I was the second person to deposit $100K, well over a year ago, and I have a certificate signed by Elon stating that the second production car is mine. As of today, I am a bit worried that they will pull something on me. I hope I am wrong, but I recently got a very bad signal from them.
When another reader asked about the delivery date, Eberhard requested him to inquire on the Tesla Motors blog for him. No such answer was forthcoming. On February 10, "Yanquetino" wondered if Tesla was muzzling Musk:
I am fairly confident in my ability to read between the lines of previous posts, but now I'm just going to ask point blank: is Tesla suing you? Only a negative answer is warranted, i.e., "NO, Telsa is NOT suing me." If, after a couple of days, you still haven't given said reply, or have removed this post from the blog, well… then we'll know how to call a spade a shovel.
As of today, Martin has not responded, even though he has replied to other comments posted after that date and the post is still on the blog.
Posted in Electric Vehicles | News Blog | Tesla Birth Watch | 5 comments
Tesla Birth Watch 33: Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
By Frank WilliamsFebruary 7, 2008 - 15,982 views
If you can't get the whole car to market, sell the pieces. At least that's what Tesla's thinking these days. According to CNET, Tesla is expected to announce that they will sell drivetrain components (presumably excluding transmissions) and software to other companies interested in developing their own electric car. Chairman Elon Musk (who already has his Roadster even if no paying customer does) indicated that Tesla might start peddling their technology by 2010 "or earlier." In addition to parting-out the Roadster, in an interview during this week's Clean Tech Investor Summit in Indian Wells, California, Musk also revealed that Tesla was trying to finish a styling prototype of their sedan (code named "Whitestar") in the second quarter. He suggested a working prototype would be "possible" by the end of the year. Based on Tesla's present nomenclature convention, "Tesla Sedan" seems the likely name for their unlikely machine.
Posted in News Blog | Tesla Birth Watch | 12 comments
Tesla Birth Watch 32: Musk Gets a Roadster. Is This the End of the Beginning?
By Frank WilliamsFebruary 4, 2008 - 23,107 views
A number of media outlets are carrying the story that Tesla chairman Elon Musk's personal Roadster has finally made it across the Atlantic and into his waiting arms. Everyone is proclaiming this as the first delivery of a production Roadster. Yet Petrol Head reports that as Musk got his, he indicated "the first deliveries" would start in mid-March. In the meantime, the second car will go to Tesla founder Martin Eberhard. So what about it gang? Would you consider this transfer of a hand-massaged example with a temporary transmission to the head honcho as the official start of Tesla Roadster production? Should we end the Tesla Birth Watch series with this installment? Or should we wait until we actually see the cars getting into the hands of a paying customer?
Posted in Electric Vehicles | News Blog | Tesla Birth Watch | 23 comments
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