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Customer rides of the Model S Beta

Electric car company Tesla Motors says they will officially start delivering Model S cars to its first customers on June 22 — a month from today (see how they conveniently made it a nice headline). Read More »

A year after the Vehicle Production Group (VPG) closed a $50 million Department of Energy loan for designing a natural gas vehicle, the company used the money as planned, began production and is seeing hundreds of vehicles on the road so far. Read More »

 
 

Alan Salzman, co-founder of VantagePoint Capital Partners, has two words of advice for investors trying to make money on their cleantech investments in a difficult year: be patient and embrace the enemy. Read More »

Tesla Roadsters lined up outside of the Model S Beta Customer event

A few early Roadsters that have been left without a charge for an extended period of time, have turned into so-called “bricks.” Here’s what Tesla has to say about it: Read More »

Tesla Model X with falcon wings fully open

Tesla’s flashy unveiling of its Model X electric SUV/minivan last week looks like it’s paid off in reservations. The car company announced on Tuesday that just a day after the launch, Tesla had accumulated reservations for more than $40 million worth of Model X sales. Read More »

Tesla’s unveiling of the Model X, an SUV-minivan electric car, this week signals to the world that the electric car can truly go mainstream despite the current difficulties in the EV market. A minivan — the world’s least cool car — just got hip, green, and … Read More »

Tesla party

Following the sneak preview of Tesla’s third electric car the Model X, an SUV/minivan combo, on Thursday, Tesla threw a party where it officially unveiled the car and invited a thousand or so guests to celebrate the launch. Here’s our pics from the event: Read More »

Elon Musk explaining falcon wings

At a sneak preview in Hawthorne, Calif. on Thursday, electric car maker Tesla unveiled its third car, an all-electric SUV called the Model X, for the first time to the public. And yep, true to speculation it’s got so-called “falcon wing” doors. Read More »

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that he thinks the electric Model X, which will be unveiled on February 9th, will be “cooler” than any SUV or minivan on the market. Tesla teased the frame of the car in its invitations. What do you think? Read More »

For our New Year’s resolutions series, I chatted with Tesla CEO Elon Musk about his goals for 2012. One thing he’s working on is that Tesla plans to unveil its third car the Model X — an electric SUV — at an event on February 9th. Read More »

Fisker has been rushing to fix the problem with the hose clamp for the batteries on its Karma electric car. It says that the “majority” of its customers’ and dealers’ cars with problem batteries have either gotten new batteries or have been repaired. Read More »

Looks like Groupon will go public on Friday morning at $20 per share, giving it a valuation of $12.6 billion for its online coupon business. Let’s compare it to some of the greentech startups and big energy firms and try not to get disturbed. Read More »

More Must Reads

One of the big hurdles in engineering electric cars is to figure out how to effectively monitor and control the battery systems. For Coda, that means buying EnergyCS to beef up its battery management system development and expand into the grid energy storage market. Read More »

Fisker Automotive, which finally began delivering its first plug-in electric hybrid car this summer, has begun promoting its second model in earnest as well. The company announced Thursday that its next car, dubbed “Project Nina,” will come with engines and other parts by BMW. Read More »

We’ve heard of bullish forecasts for electric cars, but we also have seen reports about the coming of an oversupply of lithium-ion batteries. Managing the supply and demand can be tough for any industry, but it might be extra difficult for the new, electric car market. Read More »

The team approach is becoming popular in the electric car development space. General Motors and LG Group announced Thursday a plan to co-develop electric vehicles in order to speed up their deployment. Read More »

Is Oregon the next promised land for clean technology? The Beaver State has, in recent years, has been trying to position itself as a major player with regards to support for green energy, electric vehicle development and more. Read More »

After the great market sell-off yesterday, stocks are rebounding slightly on Tuesday, including many of the greentech stocks that took a beating yesterday. But most of them are only up slightly. Here’s the latest: Read More »

When it comes to greentech investing, it’s basically all or nothing, and either you have a commitment to the field or you don’t, says VantagePoint Capital founder Alan Salzman. Read More »

Greener transportation doesn’t just involve electric vehicles and biofuels. Lighter weight steel can make a car more fuel efficient, too. That’s the idea behind the Wednesday announcement by the federal government to offer a $730 million loan to a steel maker Severstal in Michigan. Read More »

Hang around the energy storage crowd long enough, and you’ll hear chatter about ultracapacitors. Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has said he believes capacitors will even “supercede” batteries. What is it that makes ultracapacitors such a promising technology? And where do they fall short? Read More »

Defying gravity, revenues, and profits, electric car maker Tesla Motor’s shares hit a record high on Monday at close to $33. Tesla’s stock started trending up late last week after it’s third quarter earnings report, which showed a quarter loss that was smaller than analysts expected. Read More »

Tesla Motors has just picked up a $30 million investment from Japanese electronics giant Panasonic. The two companies announced on Wednesday that Panasonic — a preferred battery cell supplier for Tesla’s electric vehicles — has bought a $30 million stake in the Palo Alto, Calif. car … Read More »

First Wind Holdings has canceled its IPO, joining the ranks of greentech hopefuls that have found the recent economic climate — or perhaps, their own financials — too unfavorable to risk the public markets. Read More »

BrightSource Energy is close to securing approval from the California Energy Commission for its first commercial project to build a solar thermal power plant, and it’s lined up a hefty federal loan guarantee. Is it time for it to go public? Read More »

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk took on the Colbert Nation last night, chatting with Stephen Colbert about living large, Tesla’s long-discussed plans for a $30,000 third-generation electric car (after the Model S), dollars and timelines for private space travel (with his other startup, SpaceX). Read More »

Some of the fog is lifting on the details of a partnership between Tesla Motors and Toyota, as Tesla has said that by the end of this month it plans to deliver two electric vehicles to Toyota, both converted from current Toyota models. Read More »

Tesla’s stock has sunk for the first time below its $17 IPO price, shedding more than 16 percent today to close at $16.11. At one point the stock traded as low as $15.83, a significant drop from last week’s peak above $30. Read More »

For British sports maker Lotus, a range-extending engine for plug-in vehicles just got a green light. The automotive consultant arm of Lotus Cars (a Tesla Motors supplier), has joined hands with Fagor Ederlan to develop and eventually sell the engine globally. Read More »

Tesla has just filed its first amendment to its S-1 filing, noting that it has begun drawing funds from its federal loan facility and has struck a deal that could shrink or eliminate a potential gap in Roadster sales anticipated for 2012. Read More »

Managing perception is nothing new for alt-fuel vehicles: Part of what made startup Tesla Motors so high-profile for such a small-scale, young venture in its early days was that it refuted the longstanding perception of electric cars as slow, utterly un-slick vehicles for do-gooders. Now one … Read More »

Will 2010 be the year for greentech IPOs? When lithium ion battery maker A123Systems successfully debuted on the Nasdaq back in September, there was much speculation that the move would ready the market for a following of greentech IPOs. The notion seemed over-enthusiastic then, but … Read More »

The meaning of Southern California “car culture” may be poised for a makeover, as the regions around Los Angeles, long notorious for smog, traffic congestion and endless freeways race to take on a greener profile. LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced this week at the LA Auto … Read More »

Here’s how many renewable-energy startups envision their road to success: Raise venture-capital financing, prove their technologies in pilot and demonstration projects, secure project financing to build full-scale plants, build them and then enjoy all the profit rolling in. But even well-funded venture-backed startups are running into … Read More »

There are two strategies that new electric-vehicle makers commonly use to enter the market with ambitions to go mainstream: start at the high end and move lower, or aim at a niche market that requires less performance and shift to the center. While startups like Tesla … Read More »

Ready to make that grueling San Francisco to Los Angeles roadtrip . . . in an electric vehicle? Yeah, that doesn’t sound so great given the current limited range of EVs, but solar installer SolarCity has decided to lend a hand and has built a … Read More »

Just about a month after bidding for Opel began, with Italian automaker Fiat SpA, private equity investors and auto parts giant Magna International all vying to take a piece of General Motors’ European subsidiary, the German government has tapped a Magna-led coalition as the winner. … Read More »

Today’s the big day: The Apple-esque unveiling of Tesla Motors’ latest concept car: a $57,400 electric sedan called the Model S. Tesla just pulled the sheets off two prototypes — one silver and one white — at the Los Angeles headquarters of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s … Read More »

Back in January, Tesla Motors had plans, by most reports, to start producing 30 all-electric luxury Roadsters per week by this “spring.” Here we are on the season’s doorstep, and word has come in a newsletter from Tesla CEO Elon Musk that the startup … Read More »

Tesla Model S Factory Update: Tesla Motors said today it’s in “late-stage” negotiations for a soon-to-be named site where it will manufacture its long-promised Model S sedan. — San Francisco Business Times LEED for Data Centers: A coalition of data center industry groups has released a … Read More »

When Toyota Prius sales sank more than 40 percent last May compared with the same month a year earlier, the automaker blamed it on a global battery shortage. But while the 7 percent drop in fiscal 2009 sales Toyota forecast this week has … Read More »

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk begins his email to would-be Roadster owners — those who have already plunked down $50,000 deposits for 2008 models of the sports car and will now have to pay extra for previously standard features — like so: A much fuller account … Read More »

Planet-Cooling Plants: New research suggests planting crops that reflect more sunlight could deliver summertime cooling of about 2 degrees Fahrenheit across central North America and a wide band of Europe and Asia. — New York Times Tesla Jacks Up Roadster Price: Tesla Motors has informed customers … Read More »

It’s official: Tesla Motors plans to supply battery packs and chargers for the 1,000 electric Smart cars Daimler AG has slated for release in the U.S. in 2010. Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk announced the deal today at the Detroit Auto Show, confirming … Read More »

Bring On the Renewables: A new study suggests California’s electric grid may be able to handle three times as much wind and solar energy than previously thought. — Wired Science Picturing Federal Priorities: Andrew Revkin looks at trends in the government’s non-defense R&D spending since 1953 … Read More »

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