MartinEberhard
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Tesla Motors confirms it settled lawsuit with former CEO
We had some indication Tesla and its former CEO Martin Eberhard had settled their lawsuit after it just quietly went away last month, but the electric automaker has now finally come out and confirmed as much, although it's not surprisingly still staying mum on any actual details. As you may recall, Eberhard had sued Tesla and its current CEO, Elon Musk, over a whole host of grievances, including that he was pushed out of the company, denied his severance package, and generally disparaged both in the public and within the company. For its part, Tesla then fired back with some harsh words of its own, saying that Eberhard's account was "fictionalized," "twisted," and "wrong." Both parties seem to now be doing their best to put all that behind them, however, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has even go so far as to issue a statement saying that "without Martin's indispensable efforts, Tesla Motors would not be here today."
Tesla founder quietly dismisses lawsuit against the company, Musk
Remember that time, way back in June, when we told you that former Tesla Motors exec Martin Eberhard was suing the company and its chief (a certain Mr. Elon Musk) for sundry offenses, including forcing him out of the company, wrecking his car, and besmirching his good name? According to the San Jose Business Journal, the suit was quietly and unceremoniously dropped on August 7 at the request of Eberhard. Of course, the most likely explanation for this turn of events (besides Eberhard's suddenly finding his Zen and deciding to drop out of the material world for a life of quiet contemplation) is a settlement of some sort. Maybe he's getting that coveted roadster after all? According to The Register, a Tesla spokesperson refused to "speculate on why Eberhard dropped his suit." When pressed for a follow-up, the same site received an automated reply: "I am on vacation".[Via The Register]
Tesla founder sues Tesla, Elon Musk
Tesla's done a good job keeping itself out of the courtroom recently, but the good times don't last forever -- founder Martin Eberhard has just sued the company and CEO Elon Musk for libel, slander, and breach of contract. Eberhard claims that after he and Mark Tapenning founded Tesla, he was summarily pushed out of the company by Musk, wrongfully denied his severance package, and then disparaged both publicly and within the company -- and on top of it all, Musk sent the second Roadster produced out for "endurance testing" where it was wrecked instead being sold to Eberhard as promised. Ouch. Interestingly, the core of the lawsuit directly mirrors the suit filed former PR director David Vespremi over the same series of events, so it seems like there's a pattern here, but we'll see how much of this is true when Tesla and Eberhard face off in the courtroom -- our friends at Autoblog Green just received this statement from legendarily-prickly Tesla PR spokesperson Rachel Konrad: This lawsuit is a fictionalized, inaccurate account of Tesla's early years -- it's twisted and wrong, and we welcome the opportunity to set the record straight. Incidentally, Tesla will also be filing counterclaims and in the process present an accurate account of the company's history. Yeah, we'd say there are some fireworks brewing. Stay tuned.Read - Autoblog GreenRead - WiredRead - Eberhard's complaint [Warning: PDF]
Tesla co-founder says car wastes energy while parked
Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard has never been one to mince words about the company or car he helped create, and it doesn't look like that's about to change, with him now taking advantage of his blog to spread the word about "one little thing wrong" with the car. Apparently, like some other Tesla drivers, he noticed that the ESS coolant pump seemed to be running all the time, even when it had been parked and left off for a long time. After a bit more investigation, Eberhard determined that the coolant pump and support electronics drew a hefty 14 kilowatt-hours in four days just sitting in his garage, which translates to 1,278 kWh per year, or the rough equivalent of two large refridgerators. As Eberhard points out, that could also have some pretty severe implications for the life of the pump and battery, and even the car's stated watt-hours per mile. For Tesla's part, it says the pump will shut off, but only when the battery is half-way discharged, which is a state that some with a short commute, like Eberhard, may rarely see.[Via AutoblogGreen]
Tesla #6 crash disturbs the sound of silence
The Tesla roadster goes from 0 to 60 in 3.9-seconds (by December anyway) and costs $100,000 if you're lucky enough to get dibs on the 10 or so electric cars delivered so far. Come to find out, it also goes from 30 to 0 in a nausea-filled second when ground to a halt of twisted carbon-fiber beneath a Mercedes. The image above was snapped by Alex Volkov at the scene of a Friday evening accident in San Francisco. Of course, this isn't the first wrecked Tesla we've seen. According to Fortune, ousted co-founder Martin Eberhard suffered further distress when his Tesla rear-ended a truck en route for delivery to Eberhard's home. While the cause of the new accident isn't official, a few eye-witnesses said that Tesla #6 -- driven and owned by an unidentified man -- had gone "unnoticed" as it went "bumper-to-bumper between the cars." Interestingly enough, the Tesla's air-bags never deployed. One thing seems obvious: we expect to see more crashes from the silent, ultra-low-profile Tesla street-racer as it attempts to compete for space on roads dominated by SUVs, Hummers, and Testosterone.Read -- SF Tesla Crash Read -- Fortune
Tesla co-founder gets the boot, "not at all happy" about it
Former Tesla CEO and co-founder Martin Eberhard got a vague demotion to "President of Technology" in August, so perhaps we should've seen it coming, but it looks like he's now been phased out entirely -- which doesn't really point to happy fun times in Tesla land. We're not sure if it has something to do with production delays, personality differences, or maybe that scruffy beard he's been working on, but whatever the reason, Eberhard (or at least his message boarding impostor) isn't too pleased: "I am not at all happy with the way I was treated, and I do not think this was the very best way to handle a transition -- not the best for Tesla Motors, not the best for Tesla's customers (to whom I still feel a strong sense of responsibility), and not for Tesla's investors." He did mention that he'll be available to the new CEO, Ze'ev Drori "should he wish to avail himself of my experience," but he won't be taking on advisory board responsibilities as the company's official statement suggests.[Via All Things Digital]
