INDIAN WELLS, Calif.--Tesla Motors is contemplating selling the drivetrains and software components necessary to build electric cars to other companies.
The company will probably come out with an announcement on this initiative in the second quarter of this year, and parts and software from Tesla could start shipping to other carmakers by 2010 or earlier, said Tesla Chairman Elon Musk during an interview at the Clean Tech Investor Summit taking place this week in Indian Wells, near Palm Springs. Of course, any third-party deals will depend on Tesla's success in getting its own cars on the road. The first car is out, but right now the company is manufacturing only a limited number of cars.
Last year at the same conference, then-CEO Martin Eberhard announced that Tesla would start selling batteries to third-party companies. Norway's Think was the first signed customer. Tesla, however, ran into manufacturing problems and in the fall of 2007 put the battery business into deep freeze.
"Tesla got ahead of itself," he said of the battery business.
The drivetrain, or powertrain, is the collection of components--the engine and transmission--that turn the wheels.
On other notes, Musk said that the company will try to finish a style prototype of its Whitestar sedan in the second quarter. This will give the public an idea of what the car will look like. A working prototype is possible by the end of the year, he said. (The company also still needs to figure out a real name for the car.)
The first version of Whitestar will run completely on batteries, but Tesla will also come out with a range-extended version, he added. Range-extended cars have a small gas motor that charges the battery while you drive. These cars cost a little bit less and can go far further than regular all-electric cars before running out of power.
Musk also said he's a fan of biofuels, but not necessarily for cars.
"It makes more sense as a jet fuel than it does for cars," he said. To grow fuel you need a lot of crops, and cars use far more energy than humans. A person might need 3,000 calories a day; a two-ton car might consume the equivalent of 300,000 calories, he estimated.
"It is not like there are vast tracks of unused land," Musk said.
By the way, Tesla isn't his main job. He spends most of the time at SpaceX, a private rocketry company that puts satellites in orbit for customers like NASA. SpaceX pulled in $100 million in revenue last year.
In order to get its electric sports car to owners sooner, Tesla Motors plans to deliver cars with a temporary transmission that falls short of its originally promised performance.
The news was distributed to the wide world on Thursday in a blog post from Ze'ev Drori, Tesla's new president and CEO.
The post is a reprint of a letter that was sent to Tesla purchasers on December 21, as a follow-up to a town hall meeting for Tesla owners that took place on December 12. About 100 people, including those who called in, participated in the meeting, according to Drori.
The main goal is "to put the Tesla Roadster on the road as soon as possible," Drori said in the letter.
Tesla CEO Ze'ev Drori.
(Credit: Tesla Motors)Drori's letter lays out in straightforward details the car's setbacks and how Tesla plans to deal with them. The company also posted an audio file of the town hall meeting on Tesla's Web site.
The transmission is the main source of the Tesla's delay. A durable transmission that can maintain the original claims of 0-60 mph in 4 seconds is just not ready. In the interest of getting cars into the hands of owners, the company has decided to deliver the Tesla with a transmission that enables the car to do 0-60 in 5.7 seconds. Once the company has perfected a higher performance transmission that enables the Tesla to achieve 0-60 mph in 4 seconds, it will then retrofit all the delivered cars with the new transmission at the company's expense.
Tesla also addressed questions about overstated EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) driving range figures. The independent lab that performed the EPA's tests miscalibrated one of its tools, resulting in an inflated range, according to Drori. Since then, the car has been retested and the EPA now puts the Tesla's driving range at a combined average of 221 miles per charge. Tesla, meanwhile, still stands by its "real world" driving figures of 267 miles per charge in the city and 165 miles per charge on the highway, said Drori. Tesla also plans to retest the car closer to production.
While Tesla hopes plans to be in full production by summer 2008, it expects "some number of cars to be delivered in early 2009."
(Credit:
Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com)
Editors' note: This blog initially misstated the refund amount for people who pay $5,000 to get on the waiting list but then later cancel their order. The amount is $4,950.
Tesla Motors is pushing out production of its sports car again, but the car goes farther on a battery charge than previously expected.
The company said late Monday night that it will deliver 50 Tesla Roadsters, its $98,000 all-electric sports car, in the first quarter of 2008 and 650 in total in 2008.
Earlier this year, the company said it would try to come out with cars before the end of 2007. (In 2006 and earlier in 2007, the company was shooting for mid-2007.) Tesla also said it would try to come out with 800 cars during the first year of production.
See you next year.
(Credit: Michael Kanellos/CNET Networks)"We may have a few production cars built late this year, but the vast majority will come out in 2008," a company spokesman said in an e-mail. The number of cars produced may go up depending on demand, but 650 is the current goal of new interim CEO Michael Marks.
The delays will allow the company to conduct further durability and reliability tests, which can cost millions of dollars and take several months. Testing is one of the reasons that you don't see a lot of successful car start-ups, according to some car executives and investors.
In one bright spot for the company, a Tesla Roadster went 245 miles on a single charge in a recent test. That works out to 235 miles for highway driving and 255 miles a charge for city driving. (These cars, like hybrids, get better city mileage because braking recharges the battery.) Earlier this year, the company lowered its estimates from 250 miles on a charge to 200 miles.
The company also changed its waiting policy. Until now, you could join a "club" to get in line to get a car. Premium club members, or buyers, plunked down $50,000 and got priority on cars coming off the line. Patient buyers only had to put down $35,000 but had to wait behind the premium buyers. However, the full amount was refundable until three months before the car was going to be manufactured, when potential buyers had to confirm which options they wanted. If you bought the car, the club fee was applied in full to the purchase price.
Now, Tesla wants people to pay $5,000 to get on the list. You get $4,950 back if you cancel your order.
Another electric car company, Phoenix Motorcars, also had to delay its electric SUV this year.
Tesla is also providing batteries to Norway's Think, which wants to come out with an electric city car in Europe this fall.
How far can the Tesla Roadster go in real world conditions? We're going to get more data on that probably in the near future.
The all-electric sports car will go more than 200 miles on a single charge. However, the actual results will vary depending on the terrain and your driving style, according to Diarmuid O'Connell, director of corporate development. The company, for instance, has driven the car on a single charge from Lake Tahoe, Calif., to corporate headquarters in San Carlos, Calif., a distance of about 200 miles. (Truckee to San Carlos is 207 miles, according to Google.)
But that's downhill. Tesla hasn't tried it the other way, which involves several thousand feet of climbing. That can sap the battery more than going downhill. Punching the accelerator a lot can also suck up energy, according to other electric car drivers. The company, though, will start to come out with more real world data as the release of the car approaches. (Owners will likely post information about their results too.).
In the meantime, the company is working with Hyatt hotels to install charging stations. The first ones are in San Francisco, Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. Sacramento was chosen because it bridges the gap between the other two, O'Connell noted.
Today, the company is driving the car between the three charging stations. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom drove the car around the block in his city. Company drivers will then take it to Sacramento where California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will take it for a spin. Then it's off to Tahoe.
Besides range, the other issue with electric cars is price. The Roadster sells for $98,000. The company hopes to get some in customers' hands before the end of the year. Electric sedans will sell in the $30,000 to $70,000 range but only go 130 to 200 miles on a charge.
Phoenix Motorcars, the guys who want to bring you all-electric SUVs and trucks, won't be coming out with their cars this year after all.
CEO Dan Elliot posted this note on the company's site late Thursday night:
A Phoenix truck
(Credit: Phoenix Motorcars)"We must also thank you for your patience in our development progress as we have worked to bring our product to market. We recognize that our product rollout has taken longer than originally expected as we continue to work through certification with the California Air Resources Board (ARB), finalize our financing package, and set up our production facility that will allow us to deliver at the sales volumes we are targeting.
"While Phoenix Motorcars had hoped to begin initial deliveries of its vehicles by this fall, we have decided to delay deliveries until early 2008," the note stated.
Getting cars through the certification process isn't easy and costs a lot of money. Testing--along with the millions of dollars required for design and manufacturing and advertising--is one of the many reasons why you don't see a lot of successful auto start-ups. Tesla Motors is still finalizing testing on its roadster, which it hopes to get out before the end of the year.
Phoenix has more than 500 orders for cars. Pacific Gas and Electric is one customer, Phoenix says. The company has shown its cars at the White House and the Lake Tahoe Summit.
The company's SUVs run on the lithium titanate batteries from Altair Nanotechnologies. The cars are expected to run for about 130 miles on a single charge and hit about 100 miles per hour. The key to the battery, says Altair CEO Alan Gotcher, is that it can be recharged quickly.
The SUVs will first be sold to utility companies and municipalities. These companies buy large fleets of cars and often they don't leave town. Thus, the 100-mile range isn't as big a problem as it is for the consumer market. Later, it will hit up consumers. (Here is an article on Phoenix CNET News.com wrote last year.)
Phoenix is one of a number of companies pumping electric cars. There is also Miles Automotive in Southern California.
Michael Marks, the former CEO of contract manufacturer Flextronics, has stepped in to become the interim chief executive of electric sports car company Tesla Motors.
(Credit:
Michael Kanellos/CNET Networks)
Founder and current CEO Martin Eberhard will become president of technology.
The company also acknowledged that it may face more delays in bringing the Tesla Roadster to market. Last July, it was aiming to have a vehicle ready in about a year, then later shifted that date to the fall of 2007. Now another postponement could be in the offing. Eberhard wrote in an e-mail to customers:
"We are still planning to start production of the Roadster by the end of next month and deliver the first cars to customers this fall. We have a good chance of meeting this goal, but to be fully transparent, I want you to know that while it is within our reach, it is not yet fully within our grasp."
Martin Eberhard
(Credit: Tesla Motors)A Tesla spokesman said the company is still planning for the fall release.
The shift is likely taking place so that Tesla can gear up for the challenge of mass manufacturing. The company wants to move into the larger, but in many ways more challenging, market for sedans. With its Whitestar electric sedan slated for 2009, the San Carlos, Calif.-based company will find itself competing against behemoths like General Motors, Toyota and BMW. These carmakers often have to be concerned about price, which is directly related to volume component buying, supply line efficiency and logistics.
With the Roadster, Tesla will compete against companies like Porsche and Ferrari. These are well-established companies too, but it's a different market. Sports car drivers seek out performance, and electric motors have distinct advantages here. Buyers are also less price-sensitive and less concerned about how far a car can go on a single charge.
Marks helped build Flextronics into one of the largest contract manufacturers in the electronics business. The company, though, has recently has faced more severe competition from Taiwanese contract manufacturers. Marks serves as CEO of the company from 1994 to 2005 and remains on the board.
Some former Flextronics execs, such as Malcolm Smith, have been working at Tesla for some time.
The company said it has been working on a succession plan for a year. Marks, however, is only stepping in as interim chief for now.
If you want to get the bargain price on the Tesla Roadster, the all-electric sports car, act now.
Tesla Roadster: second engineering prototype
(Credit: CNET Networks)The company is raising the price. The 2007 model sold for $92,000, and the 2008 model will sell for $98,000. Of course, the 2007 model isn't even out yet. It won't hit the streets until November or December of this year, but the company has already booked a couple hundred deposits. You can still get a 2007 model for $92,000 if you book now.
The company didn't say what consumers will get for the extra money. Since there isn't room for a kid's booster seat (and the fact that I am the cheapest person in North America), I'll have to pass.
The company had some price changes on its sedan, code-named Whitestar, earlier this year. Tesla said it would have two versions of Whitestar: a car that can travel 200 miles on a charge that will sell for about $65,000 to $70,000 and a $50,000-ish model that will go about 130 miles between charges and not travel as fast. A year earlier, the company was talking about only one sedan model for $50,000. Whitestar is planned to arrive in 2010.
Of course, if you really want an electric town car now, you can go to Norway. Th!nk will come out with its electric sedans later this year. Tesla and another company will supply batteries to the company. A deal between the two was announced in January.
Tesla Roadster: second engineering prototype
(Credit: CNETnews.com)The new Tesla Roadster is getting some buzz. Being built as an all-electric car, Tesla's engineering aims to minimize resource consumption per mile. CNET News.com reporter Stefanie Olsen watched a Tesla engineer answer questions from a roomful of Silicon Valley engineers. He said his Tesla will go 4,900 miles on 1 megawatt of energy while a hydrogen car would go about 1,800 miles because of the energy needed to produce the hydrogen.
The Tesla on display was the second engineering prototype. Last fall, CNET captured video of an earlier prototype.
Tesla has already sold 180 of the cars at $92,000 each. First delivery of the two-seater Tesla Roadster is now set for November or December.
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