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Posts Tagged ‘tesla’

Electric car company Tesla Motors has filed for a $100 million IPO. There were rumors recently floating around that the company, which is led by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, would go public “soon.” One interesting tidbit from the filing: Musk only takes $1 in yearly salary.

Another interesting factoid: In the filing, Tesla states that it has seen net losses in each quarter since inception. The company expects to continue on the same path until it starts to deliver larger quantities of its Model S sedan, which is not expected until 2010 or later. Tesla took a loss in the first three quarters of 2009 of $31.5 million which is less than its loss for the same period in 2008, which was $57.3 million. Gross profit for the first three quarters of 2009 was $7.8 million compared to $561K for the same period in 2008. Sales for the first three quarters of 2009 topped out at $93.4 million. As of last December Tesla had sold 937 Tesla Roadsters in 18 countries. The company also saw a total of $108.2 million in revenue since its inception in 2003 until September of last year.

Tesla claimed profitability in August of last year, reporting at the time that it made “approximately $1 million of earnings” on revenues of $20 million, and that it shipped 109 Roadsters, its $109,000 all-electric sports car. Although the company took a loss for the first three quarters of 2009, we are assuming that Tesla may have posted a profit in the fourth quarter, which is why the company claimed profitability last year. In June, Tesla was also awarded a $465 million loan from the Department of Energy, which will help it manufacture its more reasonably priced Modern S sedan.

The company went through a bit of a scandal with a scathing law suit filed against Tesla Motors and Elon Musk by co-founder and former CEO Martin Eberhard, which was eventually dropped. Last year, Daimler also took a 10% (or $50 million) stake in Tesla, putting the company’s then valuation at $500 million.

Here’s a selection of yesterday’s stories: DIY: Build your own vacuum tube Tesla coil Someone obviously wants the crowd-developed Cable Caps, but I don’t Forget the whack-jobs, the NASA photos don’t show trees Finally! USB-powered latte foamer Disgusting: The GUMMI-X toy kit is an edible insect maker

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Daily Crunch: Coffee on Mars Edition

I can see it now. Instead of putzing around in electric golf carts, retirees will soon be cruising in Tesla Roadsters . The car is essentially a gigantic and dramatically more powerful golf cart anyway

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Florida gets its own Tesla dealership

Shocking study coming out of the University of Minnesota that says Wii Fit won’t get you into shape , despite what you may think.

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Shock study: Wii Fit alone won’t get you into shape (nor is it supposed to, by the way)

Oh noes! BIS is down for nearly everyone in the States and Canada. It’s really just the email service. Web browsing, SMS, BlackBerry messenger, and phone calls are seemingly fine

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Blackberry email down across most carriers

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

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Tesla Motors preparing to go public “soon”

This is something I never really considered. For the last 20 years I’ve been playing racing games here and there, but when they started becoming realistic (i.e.

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Loaner Tesla used by excited game designers to get sweet road noises

Last week Tesla asked me if I’d like to take the new Tesla Roadster Sport for a day to see what I thought. This is the newer Tesla Roadster that shaves 2/10 of a second off the 0-60 time, and the car is a couple of inches bigger than the original (making it possible for me to fit my 6′4 frame into into it comfortably).

I agreed immediately. The only rules were that only I could drive it (some nonsense about insurance), and I had to have it back by 6 pm. I did return the vehicle on time, but as you can see from the video just about everyone from the office and most of my friends came by to take it for a spin, too.

I’ve been in a Tesla before but this is the first time i’ve driven one. With no gears and a silent motor, the experience is like driving a golf cart. At least it would be if golf carts could hit 100 mph on the freeway on ramp and hugged the road like it was glued there.

Thanks Tesla. Sorry about that scratch in the bumper.

Video care of Animoto. Which rocks.

Specifications
Model:	2010 Tesla Roadster Sport
Vehicle Style:	2-seat, open-top, rear-drive sports car
Price:	Base Price: $121,000 (car we drove: $155,850)
Motor:	375 volt AC induction air-cooled electric motor with variable frequency drive
Power:	288 HP (215kW) @ 4,400-5,800 rpm
Torque:	295 ft/lb (400 Nm) @ 0-5,100 rpm
Transmission:	Single speed fixed gear with electrically-actuated parking lock mechanism and mechanical lubrication pump
Suspension:	Four-wheel independent. Upper and lower unequal length wishbones. Co-axial coil spring/adjustable telescopic damper. Adjustable sway bar.
Brakes:	Hydraulically operated. Tandem master cylinder with vacuum servo and anti-lock braking system. Front and rear ventilated disc. Cable operated self adjusting hand brake on rear calipers.
Performance:	0-60: 3.7 seconds Top Speed: 125 mph (electronically limited)
Dimensions:	Wheelbase: 92.6 inches Length: 155.4 inches Width: 72.9 inches Height: 44.35 inches Weight: 2723 pounds
Battery:	Custom microprocessor-controlled lithium-ion battery with 6,831 individual cells
Battery Consumption:	29 kW-hr/100 mi city; 32 kW-hr/100 mi highway
Expected Battery Life:	Seven years or 100,000 miles
Range:	244 miles

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

Here are some stories you might have missed this week on CrunchGear.

All about the Motorola Droid
Helmet radar: coming to a supersoldier near you
Spooky Tesla Radio in a jar

Review: Sanyo Xacti CG10 compact HD camcorder Advertisers get creative at Waterloo Station, create craziness with projectors Heated slipper looks downright dangerous Spooky Tesla Radio in a jar Dear Valve, where is Episode 3?

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Daily Crunch: Down at the Station Edition