Who killed the electric car? Well, a closer evaluation of today’s Tesla’s IPO filing with the SEC reveals Tesla will. They plan to kill the Tesla Roadster after 2011. No, seriously.
The boys over at Wired:Autopia pinged us and let us know the IPO filing for Tesla says:
Prior to the launch of our Model S, we anticipate our automotive sales may decline, potentially significantly as we do not plan to sell our current generation Tesla Roadster after 2011 due to planned tooling changes at a supplier for the Tesla Roadster, and we do not currently plan to begin selling our next generation Tesla Roadster until at least one year after the launch of the Model S, which is not expected to be in production until 2012.”
So, Tesla plans to kill the only vehicle they have — a two-seater Lotus-derived electric roadster — in order to develop a seven passenger sedan that has no platform yet? And they want people to invest money in them? Does Elon Musk have a set of big Israeli balls or what?
Now, let’s assume they’re doing this because they don’t have the money to re-engineer design changes in the Roadster and deal with engineering costs for the Model S. Well, great idea — but what if they can’t build the Model S? Then what happens to their only, you know, product?
So, umm, I guess you kill the cash cow for a Hail Mary, eh? Not if you’re a betting person, you don’t. What this really means is we’ll be getting a new Lotus Elise/Exige in 2012.
So we guess the answer to “Who Killed The Electric Car?” is none other than Tesla — you know, in order to save it.
(Hat tip to Wired:Autopia!)
@nick2ny: It’s supposed to have two small seats in the back, like the fold-down seats in the back of old (or are they still around?) station wagons (or, as some would say, estate car).
bobmarley101
@Asraiil: [ballsofsteel.ytmnd.com]
Davy Grolton
@Moosetang: Yeah I think the author has him confused with Better Place founder Shai Agassi.
Nelson
@Signore Pinko-Panko!: My apologies Signore, as I was being totally sarcastic. It can’t be that significant different than the Lotus one way or another, and IMHO, it looks worse.
Madcows
@Nurburgring: I love a good analogy and that took the cake. Bravo.
Blackened2k6
@skitter: Since we’re all dreaming, I would like 1 bus-sized electric vehicle that can fold up to fit in a wallet. It should not require any charging, and in fact, it should supply food to Ethiopians. But what good is any of that unless it can accelerate to 100MPH in negative 4 seconds flat, and have a ‘Ring time of 1/10th of a second. It should also cost 1 dollar. In Tesla’s case, this should be just as plausible.
Madcows
@GaminKWB: Yeah, because the only important factor in determining vehicle performance is 0-60 times. right.. The car is a pig, but luckily for Tesla, it would be extremely difficult to make the Elise platform complete shit. And no, it doesn’t cost far less than gas driven competitors, and in some cases, it’s a decent chunk more (think GT-R).
I don’t care how much crack I smoke; I’ll never be convinced that the Tesla Roadster is anything special. In fact, it *really* irks me that they named their company after someone who truly revolutionized electricity/electronics.
Tesla motor company isn’t thriving because of a high-tech vehicle. No.. They’re thriving because of suckers.
Madcows
I’m not sure you can write “big Israeli balls” and “Hail Mary” in the same article.
brickyard
@Scandinavian Flick: I did not know that was staged! Veddy Interestink…
Signore Pinko-Panko!
@Signore Pinko-Panko!: That was later revealed to be staged. Clarksen is very anti-green anything, so it should be expected that he wouldn’t like it regardless.
Having sat in both, but driven neither, (I don’t fit well in either one) they feel the same inside, but probably drive very differently.
Scandinavian Flick
@1977twenty9: And while we’re dreaming, I’d like a pony.
skitter
“due to planned tooling changes at a supplier for the Tesla Roadster”
Hmm, new Elise in 2011/12?
mec011
@70barracuda: …our Fiat Multipla takes 3 in the front and 3 in the back. Between the two rows of seats, there’s a lot of leg room: enough for a hooker alive to kneel on the floor… we prefer them alive, more than dead in the trunk. It makes the trip more comfortable… that’s all.
Roberto G.
Israeli? He’s an Afrikaner
Moosetang
@GaminKWB: Blah. Double-post. My apologies.
GaminKWB
@Madcows: I fail to see how ‘suckers’ comes into play. You have a VERY fast production vehicle that costs far less than gas driven competitors.
0 to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds
Top speed is only 125 but its electronically limited.
The drawback is the range, only 240 mi. But that gets better as battery technology gets better.
And their aim is to bring electric cars to the masses. Not just have expensive top-end vehicles.
They started top-end in order to bring in revenue and investors. And they got it. Now they are moving to the next step. Which they outlined years ago.
GaminKWB
@Roberto G.: There is ALWAYS something worse!
Signore Pinko-Panko!
@Madcows: In looks, yeah. I don’t know about how it handles or anything (Top Gear found it pretty lacking, considering it didn’t make it around the track), but yeah–very Lotus-y.
Signore Pinko-Panko!
@Madcows: That’s true, they’ve got a lot of problems going back to pretty much everything. And then the price…I mean if it was around 40 grand (Price of an Elise about), I’d understand, but GT-R + ZR1 Money? Hell no.
I like the Elise, I really do. It’s happiness on wheels. I am curious to see what they can do with this new one though, ever since I saw the Evora in person I was stunned at the quality and fit and finish. The new Esprit Replacement is due soon, and that’s supposed to be
F430/Murcielago fast. It’d be interesting above anything else.
Nurburgring
Killing? Sensationalist much?
“we do not currently plan to begin selling our next generation Tesla Roadster until at least one year after the launch of the Model S, which is not expected to be in production until 2012.”
So they aren’t stopping it 100%…. *sigh*
joel.eddy
@Signore Pinko-Panko!: …and once I was complaining of the exhaust smell of my Ritmo diesel, in the cold winter mornings… there’s always something worst, I think…
Roberto G.
@ProstWest: It’s hard when you hire yuppies, and not engineers.
Madcows
Have people stopped buying the roadster or something? I can see them stop production if people stopped buying them.
I have noticed more Roadsters sitting in the Palo Alto show room then usual lately…
mikepdunn
@Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet: aren’t they backlogged on them anyway though?
TonyRockyHorror
@Signore Pinko-Panko!: Does it seem to resemble a lotus?
Madcows
@GaminKWB: There’s no need to drop prices when you have suckers willing to pay up.
Madcows
Tesla picked up a $465 million loan from the government to build a production facility in Ca. They aren’t going away. Just switching production to something that is more mainstream and ramp up sells to a wider audience. If they can garner enough demand and sales of the Model S they can drive down prices pretty quickly.
GaminKWB
Tesla picked up a $465 million loan from the government to build a production facility in Ca. They aren’t going away. Just switching production to something that is more mainstream and ramp up sells to a wider audience. If they can garner enough demand and sales of the Model S they can drive down prices pretty quickly.
GaminKWB
@Nurburgring: I guess designing a new battery holder is just far too much work for Tesla. How long did it take them to build a (2 speed) transmission again? Right..
I never knew that the roadster was officially released in it’s final form, as there always seemed to be some major issues with it. They need to take a trip back in time to the 80s, and hire the engineers that designed the Power Wheels.
Madcows
“Tesla files paper work for an initial public offering.”
“Tesla announces the death of their initial public offering.”
I find it confusing.
GreenN_Gold
@nutbastard:
That’s what I’m thinking too. They also might do some platform sharing to lower costs, since they are going to have to develop their own platform anyways.
stopcrazypp
@dallasmay: Redesigned Lotus? You do know it only shares about 6% of the parts from Lotus right? The majority of it was made by other people, and about the biggest thing they share was the platform and maybe some suspension parts. Redesigned Lotus it is not, sir.
And they really should have some stuff on paper first, or at least a functioning prototype before they decide to kill off the only thing they had.
Nurburgring
@Madcows: Well the 2010 Exige is set for the next few years, but I don’t think they’ll be doing a completely new generation for both, I think it’ll just be a bit of a redesign, not creating an exceptionally different car, at least I hope not. The current gen Elise is awesome…and I’m just as surprised as you. Honestly it’s just taking a Lotus, stripping out 91% of the parts, and stuffing it full of batteries from my Dell XPS. And then charging me 109 grand for it. Crack Pipe.
Nurburgring
@Madcows: It’s:
1: about damn time Lotus replaced the Elise
2: way more exciting news than anything having to do with Tesla
KinOfCain
Tesla has done what big auto makers have not been able to; make electric cars desirable, sexy even. I hope they can survive to bring products to the mainstream.
stumpjumpersteve
It’s actually a 5-place car, no?
nick2ny
“…in order to develop a seven…”
How hard could it be to put an electric motor in this?
ProstWest
You know, I’ve actually been up close and personal to a Roadster. The one I was around smelled TERRIBLE while charging. Like ozonated death vomit. And I’m very pro-EV.
Pretty car, though, and very much a head-turner.
Signore Pinko-Panko!
@smokyburnout: Well, they haven’t killed it yet, have they?
They have two more years until the S comes out. Then two years to produce the new Roadster.
dallasmay
The way it sounds to me is that Lotus will be killing off the current gen elise/exige, so it’s not like Tesla has much of a choice one way or another. To be perfectly honest, I’m surprised Tesla lasted this long. I guess it is true that Cali is full of idiots.
Madcows
All they are saying is they can’t make the roadster and the Model S at the same time. They aren’t killing the roadster, just delaying then next generation.
eletruk001
Ray, what do you mean they have “no platform?” Development? I’ve seen videos of people driving them around.
1977twenty9
@70barracuda: It’s not that big of deal. Three in the front, four in the back. Done.
Oh you’re not mexican… Then never mind.
dallasmay
@dallasmay: Yeah, but you should have the design for your own car and the factory you’re going to build it in finished before you get rid of the only product you currently have.
smokyburnout
@dwegmull Good point…
How often does a car go up in value?
dallasmay
@nutbastard: They did just get some 465 million loan from the US government for the Model S. I wonder how much of the development cost that really does cover if they are going to kill the Roadster.
Log1c
I was wondering when they would do this, it’s a smart move. Nobody wants to buy a $100k Elise, but the model S…I have wet dreams about it.
-No Gas
-300 mile radius
-45 quickcharge
-Room for 7!
I’m just waiting to sell my Porsche for the down payment…
1977twenty9
That seems very reasonable. The Roadster was simply a redesigned Lotus, so this tells me that they want to fully design their own from the ground up.
Makes sense to me.
dallasmay
I love me some vaporware.
lilwillie
@70barracuda: Jump seats. And it’s not a sedan, it’s actually a hatch (looks like a sports sedan though).
On the IPO, I think they’ll do fine. They closed the $465 million loan with the government so they have some money to keep going for the next couple of years.
They survived 2, almost 3 years without a production vehicle (and lots predictions of their death). In the end their vehicle turned out to be pretty good. Though it’s more challenging this time because of a new platform from the ground up, they can probably do it again.
stopcrazypp
Some euphemism about eggs and baskets comes to mind… 2 eggs 1 basket… maybe….
bacon117
@70barracuda: Really tight.
RuBBa_cHiKiN: Rollin’ in my Lada, ridin’ Spetsnaz
@Motor_Yakuza: Ha, only 2? You should work on that.
Nurburgring
This is essentially like running a Brothel in Nevada and asking for investors even though all the whores are gone. The only thing that’s gonna happen is a bunch of sweaty old men are gonna be really pissed at you.
Nurburgring
I guess the value of my roadster just went up.
dwegmull comments for the purpose of obscurity
Elon Musk’s personal motto must be fortuna favet fortibus. Either that or however you would say “Balls of Steel” in some dead language.
Asraiil
I’m gonna have to give that a Vader-ian, “NOOOooooooo!” if only because the product name is exceedingly triplecool. I was hoping they’re make a Tesla Tablet…an ALL electric one.
mercurygeminiapollo
“Who Killed the Electric Car” is an inspiration for filmmakers everywhere; it demonstrates that, even if you have a whacked-out, spun-out, conspiracy-laden story to tell (with little regard for reality), then you can find someone to produce it.
Amateur filmmakers rejoice!
Regarding Tesla… good luck?
Gordonium: The Drunk Element
‘Kill’ is really the wrong word to use here, Ray. They only have so much manufacturing capability, and it appears they cannot produce two kinds of cars at the same time at this point. So they take a couple years to make the model S, and then some time around 2014-15 the next roadster will come out. It’s not really that big of a deal.
“but what if they can’t build the Model S?”
I see no reason why they wouldn’t be able to – its a step down in the engineering department, all the really hard stuff was sussed out for the roadster.
I dunno, this just seems a little over the top, ‘killed the electric car’.
nutbastard
@70barracuda: It’s supposed to be something like the Crosstour with seats in the rear. A pseudo-wagon, if you will.
ShantJ
WTF? Does Musk think this is this is 1995???
Brian
So, what does this put Tesla as? Part vaporware, part awesome-car-company?
dragon:ONE
@70barracuda: Well, you got 5 people in the car and 2 dead hookers in the trunk.
Motor_Yakuza
It’s just fair warning. Get your roadster order in now.
Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet
Can someone PLEASE tell me how you fit 7 = S E V E N people in a sedan??
And does the trunk or roof count?!
70barracuda