Electric car company Tesla Motors has scored a coveted $100 million supply deal with Toyota to produce an electric version of Toyota’s RAV-4, according to a filing. While Tesla already had the R&D for the RAV4 EV with Toyota, the supply deal is a major win. Read more »
By now, you’ve probably heard that Tesla is ending its run with its inaugural car the Roadster. But Tesla has also quietly entered into a deal to buy another 100 gliders from Lotus to produce the Roadster. Read more »
While the greentech IPOs that have happened in the past year have fared decently, they’re no comparison to many of the public debuts in the works by social media companies. Zynga’s reported potential $2 billion raise could deliver five times Tesla’s combined IPO and follow-on offering. Read more »
While electric car maker Fisker Automotive is in the process of launching its first electric car, the Karma, to dealerships and customers this summer, the auto startup says it is also starting to hire workers for its next-generation electric car, dubbed code name Project Nina. Read more »
While we brought you photos of Tesla’s Model S alpha cars from its head quarters in March, Tesla just put up some new photos of what looks like a more production-ready version of the Model S. What do you think? Read more »
While it’s good news for Tesla that it will have $234 million to develop its third electric car the Model X, the funding underscores how Tesla will be transitioning into a period where the company will be generating a lot less revenue for several months. Read more »
Electric car company Tesla plans to raise $234 million in a combination of a follow-on offering and a private placement. On Friday morning, Tesla priced the 5.3 million shares it plans to offer for its follow-on offering (announced last week) at $28.76 per share. Read more »
Tesla is expanding its Apple-inspired interactive stores, designed by former Apple exec George Blankenship, and has opened up its second one in Park Meadows, Colorado, just outside of Denver. Check out our video tour of the first interactive store and an interview with Blankenship: Read more »
Toyota and Tesla have been working on prototypes outfitting Toyota’s classic SUV the RAV4 with Tesla’s electric vehicle tech. But will Tesla be the supplier of the commercial version of the RAV4 EV, which Toyota wants to sell in 2012? It’s yet to be determined. Read more »
Electric car company Tesla might say publicly that it wants to remain an independent company for growth purposes, but another reason is that auto maker Daimler basically has the right of first refusal when it comes to acquiring the company. Read more »
Silicon Valley electric car pioneer Tesla plans to stop production of its first electric car the Roadster in December 2011, according to a filing. Read more »
Electric car maker Tesla could raise another $214 million in a combination of a follow on public offering and a private placement. The move shows just how much money an electric car maker that is looking to make more mainstream cars needs to scale up. Read more »
How do you encourage consumers to switch to electric cars? Here’s two not-so-obvious ways, according to an Accenture survey released on Wednesday: offer free parking and get more utilities to build charging networks. Read more »
Greentech investor Steve Westly has been out there raising a new $175 million cleantech fund, and recently closed on the first $50 million. Particularly interesting is that Westly plans to have a special focus on green building technology for the new fund. Read more »
To kick off the first quarter of 2011, electric vehicle maker Tesla reported record revenues and gross margins. But given the company won’t be making a profit until well after its second electric car the Model S comes out, Tesla is still losing money every quarter. Read more »
The blockbuster IPO by Tesla Motors revved up the public profile of electric cars over the past year. But Fallbrook Technologies, which makes transmission systems for bikes and EVs, pulled its $50 million IPO plan because of “unfavorable market conditions.” Read more »
Making all-electric vehicles is easier if you haven’t been building gas guzzlers for the better part of a century: That’s the mantra put firth by representatives from Tesla and CODA. Both said today at GigaOM’s Green:Net conference that there is space for indie EV car makers. Read more »
Is the greentech industry headed for a breakout year or is it retrenching for hard times to come? The first three months of 2011 provided evidence that could support both assertions, with a big rise in venture capital investment and a big drop-off in global energy financing. Solar power remained the largest green technology sector in terms of venture capital investment, while in the world of electric vehicles, GM’s Chevy Volt hybrid and Nissan’s all-electric Leaf — the first two mainstream plug-in vehicles — hit the showroom floors in significant numbers. Meanwhile the smart grid sector’s relative dearth of VC investment was more than made up for by the massive round of acquisitions. Companies mentioned in this report include NRG Energy, Microsoft, Silver Spring Networks, Tesla and BrightSource Energy. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Make your own Tesla electric Roadster from the comfort of your own home with Tesla’s nifty web-based car maker. Now if you could only afford a $100K plus electric car, you’d be all set. Read more »
The federal government, which is one of the biggest boosters of electric cars, announced two initiatives on Tuesday: a Google Map project featuring charging stations nationwide, and $5 million in funding for cities to come up with plans to popularize electric cars. Read more »
Looks like creating an in-store experience is the way to go for electric car companies. This week, electric car startup Coda Automotive is releasing images of its new store at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles, Calif., which it plans to open this summer. Read more »
The exec formerly in charge of Apple’s famously successful in-store experience, is paving a new path for electric vehicle company Tesla Motors. Tesla’s VP of Worldwide Sales and Experience, George Blankenship, shows us around Tesla’s first experiential store on Santana Row in San Jose, Calif. Read more »
Was Tesla Motor’s CEO Elon Musk on the right track when he said he’d bet on capacitors over batteries for the future of electric cars? A group of high-profile investors seem to think so and have backed ultracapacitor startup Ioxus with $21 million. Read more »
For this week’s Green Overdrive show, we catch up with Wrightspeed founder Ian Wright (part of the founding team of Tesla) at the ribbon-cutting ceremony at his new factory. Wright shows us the company’s digital drivesystem, which will be used to build extended-range electric trucks. Read more »
A new report on the crash of a UPS jet carrying rechargeable lithium batteries outlines the hazards of transporting these devices. It’s the latest fuel for concern about the safety of lithium ion batteries, which store energy not only for gadgets but also plug-in vehicles. Read more »
An executive with the BBC show Top Gear has responded to the law suit that electric car maker Tesla delivered to it last week, accusing the show of libel and malicious falsehood. In a blog post, Top Gear Executive Producer Andy Wilman denies Tesla’s claims. Read more »
Are we underestimating the electric car market? A bullish outlook from Morgan Stanley and President Obama’s energy speech apparently have raised that question, even though neither has made a good case for the answer to be “yes.” Read more »
Electric car company Tesla is no stranger to lawsuits, and is now involved in yet another one that looks to be pretty high profile. On Tuesday, Tesla slapped the BBC show Top Gear with a lawsuit for libel and malicious falsehood. Read more »
Sometimes it’s easy to forget how early electric car startup Tesla was in terms of getting commercial EVs on the roads. Tesla says its Roadsters have driven a collective 10 million miles, which has saved 500,000 gallons of fuel and 5.3 million pounds of carbon emissions. Read more »
Following Tesla Motor’s successful IPO last year, now more hybrid and electric car tech makers are looking to land on the public markets. Remy International, which makes starters, alternators and hybrid and electric motors, has filed for an IPO for up to $100 million. Read more »
For our latest Green Overdrive show we get an inside look at Tesla’s Model S Alpha program, which Tesla will use to test out design and functionality of its next-generation all-electric car the Model S. Read more »
Tesla has designed its second electric car, the Model S, to have a swappable battery with the idea that if battery swapping becomes common for electric car drivers one day, the Model S will be prepared. It’s basically hedging its bets with battery swapping. Read more »
Check out our photos of Tesla’s Model S Alpha build room, where engineers work on testing 20 Model S Alphas for things like safety, durability and electronics. In a couple of months, Tesla will start building 50 Betas, and by mid-2012, will start delivering the car. Read more »
At the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco on Wednesday, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk says he bets that it could be capacitors — rather than batteries — that will deliver an important breakthrough for electric transportation, an interesting comment from a CEO whose products are based on lithium-ion batteries Read more »
The latest wave of electric cars rolling into the market will be cars connected to the power grid and increasingly, to cellular networks. Along with smart meters and the smart grid, electric vehicles and EV charging stations will be areas to watch. Read more »
Japan’s massive earthquake, tsunami, and now nuclear disaster, is starting to shine a spotlight on just how important the country is in terms of clean energy technology, from solar to electric cars. Read more »
Electric car maker Tesla Motors has unveiled new details, including pricing and production volumes, for its next-gen electric sedan the Model S, which will go into production in the middle of 2012. Read more »
Will solar panels generate buzz like a Tesla Roadster or boredom like an efficient water heater? Solar service providers are hoping for a Tesla response, and are increasingly turning to social media tactics in an attempt to create engaged communities around the sunny clean power. Read more »
As expected, independent electric vehicle company Tesla Motors saw soaring losses in 2010, according to its earnings report announced Tuesday afternoon. The widened losses are certainly expected from the company, which won’t be selling its next-generation electric car, the Model S, until mid-2012. Read more »
Nissan looks like it’s taking a page from the electric sports car pioneers at Tesla. This week the Japanese auto maker showed off a concept all electric sports car called the ESFLOW, that uses technology from Nissan’s first electric car the LEAF. Read more »
