Tesla to open plant for Model S electric sedan

Tesla Motors on Wednesday is expected to announce a planned $250 million investment in a facility in San Jose, Calif., to manufacture its Model S all-electric luxury sedan.

The company plans to break ground on the installation next summer and begin to deliver cars in late 2010, a company representative said Tuesday. It has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday to detail the move.

The Tesla Roadster

(Credit: Tesla Motors)

The Tesla Roadster, a $109,000 all-electric sports car which began shipping earlier this year, is made at a Lotus plant in the U.K.

The San Jose operation will house a factory, research, and development center, and become Tesla corporate headquarters, the representative said.

The plant will be capable of turning out 15,000 Model S sedans a year, which can be ramped up to 30,000 units, she added.

The Model S will be a five-person luxury car with a range of 240 miles per battery charge. The projected cost is about $60,000.

To pay for the operation, Tesla intends to raise $100 million in a series E round, which the company plans to announce in the coming months, according to the Tesla representative. It also expects to get a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy worth $150 million, she said.

People eager to buy a Tesla Roadster now can get on a waiting list, but the company has not started a waiting list for the Model S.

The city of San Jose is expected on Wednesday to list the incentives it offered Tesla to locate its headquarters there.

[HeavyJim]

Just what we need. When the majority of america would like to afford and could use an affordable electric, we have a rich mans toy by a company getting millions in tax breaks. You can dream I guess.

[t26l]

Actually, Tesla wants to use the profits from the Model S to fund development of an electric car in the $30,000 range.

Cut 'em some slack. At least they're trying.

[jonathan0766]

HeavyJim, in case you missed economic history 101, the rich always pay for the initial high cost of goods, subsidizing the initial high cost of the R&D and manufacturing process of bringing goods to the masses for cheap via economies of scale and efficient production. Did you think goods get cheaper magically? Who did you think buys the first wave of $5,000 plasma televisions? Or $10,000 computers?

Such has been the case with... tv, internet, computers, automobiles, insurance, electricity, lighting, refrigeration, vhs / cd / dvd / etc players, modern medicine, air travel, and pretty much every other relevant major economic and technological advance in US history.

[dshan00]

jonathan0766 - You misread the comment. Where are you getting the wealthy idiots "subsidizing technology for the rest of the masses? His comment refers to the tax break (150 Million) that Tesla is getting to build the new model. So AS USUAL the taxpayer (and that's not the wealthy BTW) is footing that bill, and its likely no one in the middle class will be standing in line to buy either model when the base price is 60k. Widespread electric adoption wont become a reality until they get the price more in-line with gas or hybrid vehicles. Of course then everyone will complain about the masses "stressing" the electric grid with their cars...

[nigelmas]

A loan guarantee is not a tax break and this is not a bad thing for ordinary Americans. It is not the rich that are going to be working in this factory.

[kapauldo]

(linkback) Wow! or Meh? Tesla opening plant to make $60K electric car while Detroit fails [VOTE] - http://www.thriveorfail.com/6420c

[JonFraudCarry]

Can't wait to plug all these electric cars into the grid! Burn more coal! Dam more rivers!

[t26l]

You must be joking. I suppose you prefer millions of cars running on gasoline.

Electric power generation is many times cleaner than ICEs, regardless of how you look at it. Even then, putting cars "on the grid" allows for a switch to cleaner energy later.

[lyntone]

Tesla gos 200 miles on a 4 hour charge, the $35,000 Chevy Volt from GM will only go 40 miles on a charge. So if you pay twice as much for the Tesla, you can go five times farther,..... not all bad!
You would think that GM ( with all its money and experance) could do a lot better.

[patch991]

lyntone, comparing the Volt to the Tesla is an inaccurate comparison. The Telsa has batteries and an electric motor, so it HAS to be plugged in. The Volt has batteries, an electric motor, and a combustable engine. You can plug it in to come the 40 miles on a charge or use the engine to charge the batteries, so it's sort of more like a Hybrid.

It would/could probably go as far on a charge if it didn't have the added weight of the engine, fuel tank, etc. Removing these things would also allow for more battery space.

[bob1xxxx]

Nice tesla another car only two people will buy

[chlimouj]

Ummm, yeah... that's why they have more orders than they can build right now. Because nobody wants it. Pull your head out of your ass and recognize that your view is only 1/6000000000 of the collective human experience.

[HeavyJim]

Yes they did get tax breaks, not just loans, and as for the loans, look at the companies that get them then either go out of business or fail to repay. And as for the price coming down? On a CAR especially the rich guys and celebs will be clamoring over, don't hold your breath.

[kirkn]

Check out Chevy Volt http://www.gm-volt.com/ or see pics and video at http://kirkn.spaces.live.com/