Time to bring back the electric car, we slaves of Big Oil and Detroit
- Thread starter dumpthemonarchy
- Start date
Tesla CEO Denies Bankruptcy Rumors, Seeks $20M
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tried to quash rumors that the company was so cash-poor that it might not be able to deliver cars to customers who already plunked down deposits for the $109,000 Roadster.
by: Ucilia Wang
Tesla Motors is on track to raise over $20 million as early as next week, its new CEO Elon Musk told Reuters this week.
Advertisement <SCRIPT language="JavaScript1.1" SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/site210.tmus/homepage;tile=2;dcopt=ist;abr=!ie;sz=300x250;ord=335897163967215170?"></SCRIPT>
Musk spoke with the news service Thursday night to dispel rumors that the electric-car company wasn't able to deliver cars and was going bankrupt.
The new funding, which will come from existing investors, will boost Tesla's bank balance, which stands at $9 million now, and will help the company get its cash flowing in the right direction, Musk said.
He didn't say which investors plan to pony up. The company's backers so far include VantagePoint Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Valor Equity Partners and individual investors such as Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Musk, a PayPal co-founder who has been the primary investor in the San Carlos, Calif., startup, said he personally guarantees the deliveries of its first-ever model, the $109,000 sporty Roadster, to the company's long list of waiting customers.
"I've gone on record as saying that I am personally standing behind delivering the cars and the deposits for the company," Musk told Reuters. "I have the means and wherewithal to do so. So people should have absolutely zero concern about their deposit."
The company has delivered fewer than 60 Roadsters while taking more than 1,200 orders from customers who have had to plunk down deposits of between $5,000 and $60,000 each.
In 2005, a potential customer complained that Tesla doesn't put the deposit money in an escrow account and warned that customers could lose their deposits if the company went bankrupt.
The news that Tesla, founded in 2004, is facing money trouble came out earlier this month, when Musk took over the CEO post and announced plans to layoff employees as well as close an office in Detroit and delay the launch of Model S *- a $60,000 sedan - until mid-2011 (see Tesla Puts Musk at Helm, Expects Layoffs and Model S Delay). The financial market turmoil was to blame, Musk said at the time in a blog post.
But Musk's interview with Reuters on Thursday night underscored the tough times faced by a company that seemed unstoppable earlier this year, when it lined up Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who bought a Roadster, for a press conference where the company announced it was going to build the Model S in California instead of New Mexico (see Tesla: We'll Build Electric Sedans in California and Green Light post).
The Reuters interview took place after Silicon Valley's tabloid blog Valleywag published comments from an unhappy Tesla employee Thursday saying that Tesla wouldn't have enough money to deliver the Roadsters as promised and hasn't been forthcoming about its poor finances. The employee talked to Valleywag after a Tesla staff meeting in which employees learned that the company had $9 million in cash.
Tesla hasn't been able to raise an expected $100 million in private-equity funding to build a $250 million new factory and headquarters in San Jose, Calif. as investors dawdled on making good on their promises, Musk said last week (see Musk: Tesla Hit by Market ‘Freefall').
The financial market crisis has forced Tesla to change its fund-raising strategies. It is now counting on a $200 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy and plans to apply for part of the $25 billion set aside by Congress recently to help American automakers produce more fuel-efficient vehicles (see Funding Roundup: How Poor Do Investors Feel?). Tesla qualified for getting a loan guarantee from the DOE a year ago, but the DOE still has to review and approve the final application.
In February, after closing a $40 million bridge loan, Tesla said it hopes to raise a fifth equity round of roughly $75 million to $100 million in the "late summer" and target an initial public offering early next year if market conditions improve (see Tesla to Big Three: Let's Be Friends). Of course, that was before the bank bailout (see Lehman's Fall to Create Greentech Woes and VCs Predict Greentech Investment Slowdown).
Tesla executives have also discussed partnering with major carmakers to produce its third model that would cost about $30,000. With the slumping economy and the enormous challenges of building a car company, remaining an independent company might be even more difficult for Tesla, said Michael Kanellos, a Greentech Media analyst who wrote an opinion piece in July that advocated the sale of Tesla to an established carmaker.
The company in February told Greentech Media it would prefer to remain independent than to get bought. "[Being purchased] is not our desired outcome," Darryl Siry, vice president of sales and marketing, said at the time.
They are toast!
Tesla needs to supply around 1200 cars to people who have put down deposits of $5,000.00 to $60,000.00. We are talking about close to a hundred million dollars worth of cars at cost here. They need a lot of financial help and with all the bailouts going on, I can't see them getting it unless the existing investors throw good money after bad. Remember this is a $110,000.00 rich man's commuter car.
to the first point, its not about fire. Now Im NOT a fireman, so Im just going to do my best to explain what I was told, as I understand it.
With a gasoline powered car, the issue in a crash is the resulting explosion and the need to get you out quickly.
In Electric cars the problem is that high voltage lines could make any part of the car a death trap to firemen (Especially if they use the jaws of life I would imagine) and extra time and care is needed to check before they touch anything.
With a hybrid, you need time to check..while at the same time being in a race against the clock to get people out before an explosion.
And the inability to either act quickly nor wait and act carefully was described as the danger. Im sure Im missing huge important chunks of this so don't ask me to defend it too in depth.
as for 2.)
Fads are mass produced. Now if Hybrids are still being made in 5 or 10 years, then we'll see.
Doesn't a serious crash-serious enough to use jaws of life is probably severe enough to deploy airbags- cut the ignition? I've been in one crash, where the airbags were deployed. That car was turned completely off. The fuel isn't pumping any longer, the radio stopped working. The risk of fire comes from leaking gas tanks and fuel lines I thought. I would assume that electric vehicles would have similar sensors to trip a breaker for electrical current when the car senses that same deceleration that deploys the airbag?
Perhaps, Again, I really don't know beyond what I was told. The next time I leave town and visit my friend, I'll be sure to pester him for more details 
This is what Google told me just now (again, take with grain of salt)
Another danger that hybrid cars can pose that many would not think about is in the event of an emergency, for example a high speed car crash. Emergency Medical Trained professionals would be the first at the scene, and may not recognize the car involved in the accident as a hybrid as not all hybrids are labeled as such. This can pose a danger to the rescue workers as well as the injured, since it is possible that the electric motor could still be running. This would be very hard to detect as the electric motor runs nearly silently.
This is what Google told me just now (again, take with grain of salt)
Another danger that hybrid cars can pose that many would not think about is in the event of an emergency, for example a high speed car crash. Emergency Medical Trained professionals would be the first at the scene, and may not recognize the car involved in the accident as a hybrid as not all hybrids are labeled as such. This can pose a danger to the rescue workers as well as the injured, since it is possible that the electric motor could still be running. This would be very hard to detect as the electric motor runs nearly silently.
Finding a dozen or so batteries might be a big clue that it is electric and a fuel tank would show fuel is also used.Perhaps, Again, I really don't know beyond what I was told. The next time I leave town and visit my friend, I'll be sure to pester him for more details
This is what Google told me just now (again, take with grain of salt)
Another danger that hybrid cars can pose that many would not think about is in the event of an emergency, for example a high speed car crash. Emergency Medical Trained professionals would be the first at the scene, and may not recognize the car involved in the accident as a hybrid as not all hybrids are labeled as such. This can pose a danger to the rescue workers as well as the injured, since it is possible that the electric motor could still be running. This would be very hard to detect as the electric motor runs nearly silently.
Spinning wheels (smoking of not) would also be a big clue. LOL
Didn't it originally get shut down from production because big oil would then be backed up in gas (any refinery has to market all it produces or you eventually run out of storage capacity and the whole refinery is off-line).
That is also why they will not produce hydrogen, they could if they wanted to, but today they produce gas and that is what cars will be made to run on, right up until there is none more or less, then other options can be started.
First of all, you won't run across too many high voltage lines in a hybrid. The gas engine, generator, and electric motor are close coupled and the lines to the battery are much like the battery cables that are in your car and they will not be high voltage
A brief history of hybrid cars History of Hybrid Vehicles | Hybrid Cars
Tenpenny, electric cars are not golf carts, that is what I thought. No no no no. Didn't you watch the video? We are out of touch here.
Saturn made the EV1, it raced around on California highways. GM made very bleak ads for the EV1, so no one talked about it or heard about it. GM is simply too proud and arrogant, they were offended mere legislators could tell them what to build. If it was a good idea, they would do it on their own. They are jerks.
Saturn made the EV1, it raced around on California highways. GM made very bleak ads for the EV1, so no one talked about it or heard about it. GM is simply too proud and arrogant, they were offended mere legislators could tell them what to build. If it was a good idea, they would do it on their own. They are jerks.
Actually Juan... there ARE plug-in hybrids... there's evidence in that when the first wave of hybrids were in the show rooms, they had the plug-ins... but when the cars were released they did NOT. Hybrids are just another scam by the oil companies to keep our fossil fuel addiction alive. I am good friends with an environmental engineer who is disgusted with the industry since such viable/renewable options are not only being ignored, they are being suppressed and destroyed.
That is just nonsense. The plug-in hybrid entails a lot more than a plug-in cord. It will have a lot more battery and a larger generator/alternator and a completely new control system.
The hybrids are not a scam. They are the leading edge of the current technology. The newest Toyota Camry hybrid will get close to sixty mpg, and the Prius has achieved 80 mpg. Every auto manufacturer is building hybrids.
High voltage? I doubt anything in a hybrid or straight electric has any more voltage running around than a regular gas guzzler. Want to hold an electrode on a starter while someone is turning the key? Or touch a spark plug electrode while a car is running?
At any rate, it only makes sense that the makers of vehicles that use combustibles would at least downplay the benefits of alternate energy vehicles. Why the surprise?
As far as trucks going to electric is concerned, Electrohauls have been carting tons of mine ore around for decades. Locomotives use diesel to run electric drive motors to get around.
At any rate, it only makes sense that the makers of vehicles that use combustibles would at least downplay the benefits of alternate energy vehicles. Why the surprise?
As far as trucks going to electric is concerned, Electrohauls have been carting tons of mine ore around for decades. Locomotives use diesel to run electric drive motors to get around.
I wouldn't say leading edge. Its still a flawed system, its just using a flawed system better.
The best "Hybrid" I've seen is the Chevy volt. (which by the way is a plug-in, thats its whole appeal).
The idea of never needing Gas save on rare occassions is a better model.
60mpg? what about 0-5mpg? That's what a plugin electric motor is capable of. They have battery charges that can eaily last 7-12 hours! Those are the patents the oil companies buy up and lock away.
When a plug-in battery is charged at night. In our current mostly coal-burning supplied energy system, (like Saskatchewan's... which runs at peak use so 65% efficient and 35% waste) an electric car charging this actually SAVES energy, and some systems can put energy back into the grid...
So far, smaller and slower electric cars are springing up everywhere... I hope to drive past a dealership someday...
Great thread to read..It will take many different energy sources to balance the playing field and be competitive!!.Help ensure longevity.Why rely on just one energy source, when you can have a selection of many..I like the chevy volt..!...Mean lookin machine,,Which is odd for an alternative energy car..Normally new energy efficient vehicles are small ,buggy and bubbly lookin'..lol
Like those smart cars...Might as well go with shuttle pods on a mono rail!...hmmmmmmmmm?lol
Like those smart cars...Might as well go with shuttle pods on a mono rail!...hmmmmmmmmm?lol
And back and forth we go.
Debating the merits of every particular reaction that generates an electron.
So I thought I would wade in on this occasion.
I posit there is no conspiracy.
The 1000 mile carb or fuel injection system does not exist.
The dirt cheap fuel cell is a dream.
A car that rapidly goes 100's of miles on a squirt of compressed air is not at the moment viable.
As an aside on of my old engineering prof's spent years and years working on fuel cells for NASA.
He freely admitted it was a nightmare.
Expensive, flammable, explosive and unreliable.
But hey, that was then.
My opinion is every car company is working as hard as it can on alternative energy sources.
Not hiding it.
GM and Ford need all the help they can get.
They would kill(literally) for a wonder car.
Same with big oil.
They ain't stupid.
Ultimately they are energy company's, not oil companies.
BP and Shell will buy into and support any profitable energy source.
They are spending 100's of millions trying to do just that.
The second they can jump over to clean energy and make a nickel they will.
Think of the PR and advertising.
Lots of smart folks are all over it.
Right now it just doesn't pay that well.
In the future it will.
Trex
Debating the merits of every particular reaction that generates an electron.
So I thought I would wade in on this occasion.
I posit there is no conspiracy.
The 1000 mile carb or fuel injection system does not exist.
The dirt cheap fuel cell is a dream.
A car that rapidly goes 100's of miles on a squirt of compressed air is not at the moment viable.
As an aside on of my old engineering prof's spent years and years working on fuel cells for NASA.
He freely admitted it was a nightmare.
Expensive, flammable, explosive and unreliable.
But hey, that was then.
My opinion is every car company is working as hard as it can on alternative energy sources.
Not hiding it.
GM and Ford need all the help they can get.
They would kill(literally) for a wonder car.
Same with big oil.
They ain't stupid.
Ultimately they are energy company's, not oil companies.
BP and Shell will buy into and support any profitable energy source.
They are spending 100's of millions trying to do just that.
The second they can jump over to clean energy and make a nickel they will.
Think of the PR and advertising.
Lots of smart folks are all over it.
Right now it just doesn't pay that well.
In the future it will.
Trex
I saw a headline on CNN tonight saying the Detroit shrinking three lack the votes in Congress for a bailout. I think Detroit is the walking dead and a bailout is corporate welfare, basically to extend the bankruptcy over three years instead of three months. But if Americans don't want to support it, then to see it crash and burn would be something.
The US is going its own way on land mines, Intl courts, etc., so it goes its own way here too, into automotive/manufacturing decline.
I think Canada should renegotiate NAFTA with the US and Mexico.
The US is going its own way on land mines, Intl courts, etc., so it goes its own way here too, into automotive/manufacturing decline.
I think Canada should renegotiate NAFTA with the US and Mexico.