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Tesla Motors burns out another as Darryl Siry signs off
Apparently the fear of snapping up another job after ditching the green fields of Tesla Motors isn't on Darryl Siry's mind, as the SVP of Marketing and Sales has publicly admitted to leaving the company over "disagreements in strategy." The news comes but 1.5 months after Elon Musk made himself CEO and told a few others to stay happy elsewhere, and while Darryl's replacement wasn't directly named, Siry does outrightly state that he has only remained on this long to recruit "a very strong successor." The best part of his farewell? This gem: "So what now? I have no immediate plans but look forward to exploring various opportunities that I find out there." Translation? I'm so loaded after my stint in this place, it doesn't even matter, holmes.[Via Autoblog]
Production Tesla Roadster gets glorious hands-on: stifle your envy, please
Here at Engadget, we hold a special place in our hearts for Mr. Jason Calacanis, but regardless of whose name is on the pink slip, there's no denying that the vehicle you're peering at above just struck all sorts of jealousy in your chest. This Very Orange (seriously) Tesla Roadster is one of the very first to be produced with the revamped drivetrain, and according to the lucky (lucky!) souls over at AutoblogGreen who were able to give it a go, the "new, higher torque motor immediately made its presence felt." All that aside, we know you're here for the photos, so head on down to the read link when you've got ten or so free minutes to shuffle through. Let's just say you'll have a new appreciation for one Drew Phillips (photographer) when you're done treating your retinas.
Better Place's $1 billion electric vehicle grid headed to Bay Area
Need another reason to live in America's other bastion of social liberalism and homelessness? How about a $1 billion electric vehicle re-charging infrastructure in the Bay Area? Palo Alto's Better Place is finally bringing its ambitious, city-wide electrical grid and battery exchange service home after staking plans to do the same in Israel, Denmark, and Australia. The plan just endorsed by the San Jose, Oakland, and San Francisco Mayors (without coughing up any money), is expected to result in 250,000 charging ports (for topping off charges), 200 battery-swap stations (for trips over 100 miles), and a driver service center by 2012 -- network planing and permitting will begin in 2009 with infrastructure deployment set to kickoff in 2010. Here's how it works, customers will receive a discounted price on electric vehicles when they subscribe to drive a certain number of miles -- Better Place will own the batteries. Besides clearing the way of government bureaucracy, the mayors have agreed to offer incentives for companies that install the plug-in stations. Now get this, Better Place expects to lure electric vehicles from the usual suspects like Toyota, Renault-Nissan, and GM in addition to, get this, Tesla Motors. Oh yes. Almost makes us want to hug an Upper Haight, teenage, poser hippie. Almost.Update: Coincidentally, Tesla is considering a small, swappable battery for its Model S sport sedan that, according to Elon Musk, could be changed "faster than you can fill a car with gasoline." Ah, synergy.[Via San Jose Mercury News, Thanks KKH]
NVIDIA announces cost, energy-saving Tesla Personal Supercomputer
AMD has already outlined its plans to harness the power of its GPUs for some added computing muscle, and it looks like NVIDIA is now taking things one step further by announcing its new GPU-based Tesla Personal Supercomputer, which promises to deliver the power of a traditional supercomputer cluster at 1/100th of the price. That "personal supercomputer" is actually a platform based on NVIDIA's new Tesla C1060 GPU Computing Processor, which itself is based on NVIDIA's CUDA parallel computing architecture. The supercomputers themselves will come from a whole host of manufacturers that have already partnered with NVIDIA, including ASUS, Dell, Lenovo, and a number of more specialized computer makers. While complete details on those systems are still a bit light at the moment, they'll apparently be "priced like a conventional PC workstation," and the first few out of the gate should be available starting today.
BRABUS announces Tesla Roadster customization plans
It's a bit of a shift from its usual business, but it looks like BRABUS isn't about to let the Tesla Roadster escape its reach, and it's now taken the wraps off a completely customized version of the vehicle to give those lucky few owners out there (or would-be owners) a taste of what's possible. Sure to attract the most attention is the company's "space sound generator," which can not only pump out the sound of a traditional V8 engine like some similar systems, but some "futuristic soundscapes" as well, including "Beam" and "Warp" sounds, which we can only hope are just as Jetsony as we imagine them to be. Other custom options include an all new tire / wheel combination that promises to improve handling, a redone exterior with a special matte white paintjob, a set of LED running lights, a whole slew of interior options and, of course, some underbody neon for that added touch of class. No word on a price for any of that, naturally, but those in the area will apparently be able to check it all out first hand at German's Essen Motor Show later this month.
Judge sides with Fisker in Tesla arbitration case
It started out with allegations of stolen secrets and quickly gave way to plenty of jokes involving "bad karma" before ultimately winding up an in arbitration, and it now looks like the legal tussle between Tesla Motors and Henrik Fisker of Fisker Automotive has finally come to a close. That lawsuit, as you may recall, had accused Fisker (who worked on Tesla's WhiteStar sedan) of stealing Tesla's hybrid technology and using it in Fisker's own car, the Fisker Karma. The judge in the case apparently couldn't disagree more with Tesla's claims, however, and has now cited "overwhelming" evidence in ruling in Fisker's favor. For it's part, Tesla simply said that, "we disagree with the ruling, and we're focused on producing and shipping cars to our customers," while Fisker is expectedly taking the opportunity to gloat a bit, saying that the ruling "completely vindicates" Fisker.[Via AutoblogGreen]
Tesla's 4-door, all-electric Model S sports sedan gets pictured
We knew good and well it was on the way, but now we're bubbling over with excitement. The forthcoming Model S -- an all-electric, five passenger sports sedan that will ride on a platform developed entirely by Tesla -- has apparently been revealed. Of course, there's still a real possibility that the image you're drooling on above isn't a finalized look, but Road & Track has a pretty good record to fall back on. We're also hearing that the 2010-bound whip will get around 240 miles per charge while still doing the zero to sixty in under six ticks, and the $60,000 base price just makes it all the more appealing. For those with a thing for rear bumpers, check out Autoblog's link below for a sneak peek of the fanny.Read - Road & Track writeupRead - Sneak peek of the rear
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 exec shuffle: Elon Musk appoints himself CEO, lays off staff
The drama never stops at Tesla Motors -- following a morning of feverish rumors, the company has officially announced that it's replacing CEO Ze'ev Drori with board chairman Elon Musk. Tesla says that Drori will remain "active" with the company as a vice chairman of the board, but it looks like it's now more Musk's company than ever before -- and his first order of business is apparently to lay off staff to get the company "cash positive" in the next six to nine months. Other than the closing of the Detroit Tesla office, it's not clear what the layoffs will entail -- Musk say they'll be "modest" -- but hopefully we'll start to see more cars and fewer headlines from the upstart electric car company in the near future. Read - CNET report Read - Elon Musk blog post
Tesla CTO talks Bluestar, the affordable electric auto
Despite not making any lusty noises when tearing away from a stoplight, Tesla's eco-friendly supercar the Roadster still sets our hearts aflutter. Its price, however, makes our bank accounts sad, so we're happy to report the company is still working hard to develop an affordable option dubbed "Bluestar." Tesla CTO JB Straubel recently spoke about green transportation at MIT's Emerging Technologies Conference, elaborating on earlier plans to build a $20,000 - $30,000 family car that, he hopes, could some day result in hundreds of thousands of sales per year. Given the company thus far has shipped just 27 cars, a partnership with some major automotive player will almost certainly be required, and as SUV-dependent 'Merican manufacturers continue to suffer we think any of them would be wise to play along.
Tesla Motors to build new HQ, factory in San Jose
It's no surprise to see Tesla Motors giving even more attention to California -- after all, Los Angeles is home to its very first dealership -- and as soon as the requisite approvals go through, San Jose will become the site of its new headquarters and factory. Both facilities will be located on around 90 acres of land near Highway 237 in North San Jose, and early reports peg the city giving Tesla a 40-year lease with the first decade being "rent-free." The Golden State is also stepping in to provide a sweet tax-free rent-to-buy deal on the factory equipment, and in the end, the two projects could generate around 1,000 direct or indirect jobs. One question, Tesla: how's the employee discount?
Tesla readies new transmission, ramping production
To date, since production began in March, 27 Tesla Motors Roadsters have been delivered. Now the production rate is expected to ramp considerably thanks to a deal with BorgWarner to build the enhanced "Powertrain 1.5." The Telsa designed, single-speed gearbox is expected to help provide 30% more power allowing the Roadster to once again accelerate from 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds as it did with the original, flawed, two-speed transmission. It's also more efficient resulting in an extended, 244-mile range (221 miles currently) from a single charge. All Roadsters equipped with the interim transmission will be upgraded free of charge. Tesla says that it will now ramp production to 10 Roadsters per week, hitting 20 per week within a few months, and 40 per week by early 2009. Most of which we expect to find riding the PCH in total, luxurious, battery-powered silence.
Tesla's in-car charging computer gets touched on video
Your retinas have been treated to plenty of external shots of Tesla's Roadster, but have you ever stopped to wonder what kind of excitement sat just southwest of the steering wheel? CNET's UK branch managed to get their camcorder within a Roadster parked on display over in Britain, and what they found was a rather robust interface that enables owners to get all sorts of involved with how and when the car charges. The representative did note that typical navigation functions were controlled via the JVC head unit, but the small panel just under the gauges enables motorists to control a number of aspects in relation to charging. There's even a guide that explains which choices are cheaper and more beneficial for the long-term life of the battery. Have a look at the video in the read link.[Via Digg]
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 gets sued again, this time by a former employee
Tesla might have finally started shipping Roadsters, but it just can't stop getting sued -- this time the upstart automaker is being haled into court by former public relations director David Vespremi, who was fired in 2007 during that odd upheaval that saw co-founder Martin Eberhard demoted and finally given the boot. Vespremi isn't all too happy about the situation -- his complaint alleges that Tesla, Tesla CEO Ze'ev Drori and VP of marketing Darryl Siry violated California labor law, made disparaging comments about him and other former employees, and dealt with him in bad faith. That's not unusual for a disgruntled employee, but Vespremi is so confident that Tesla's been screwing people left and right that he's asked for class action certification, which is pretty ballsy but could potentially cause some interesting problems for Tesla. We'll see where this one goes -- Tesla can be pretty prickly, so we're not sure a quick settlement is necessarily in the making.Disclaimer: Nilay's a lawyer and a fan of electron-based transport, but he's not your lawyer and none of this is legal advice or analysis.[Via AutoblogGreen; warning, PDF read link]
Tesla starts delivering Roadsters as production ramps up, hires hotshot engineering exec
Move over, Elon Musk -- the Tesla owners club is about to get bigger. The upstart electric-car company announced the delivery of the first nine production Roadsters to customers in California earlier this week, with several more to follow at the rate of four per week, and the plan is to start building 100 a month by December, when that new transmission is ready. That's pretty ambitious, but Tesla's brought in some big guns to help make it happen -- the company just hired Mike Donoughe as EVP of Vehicle Engineering and Manufacturing. Donoughe is fresh off a 24-year stint at Chrysler, where he was most recently in charge of revamping all of the company's mid-size sedans. Word on the street is that Donoughe could have written his own ticket at any major carmaker, so it's interesting that he landed at Tesla, where he'll be working on the Model S as well as the Roadster. Oh, and there's a new Tesla store in Menlo Park, in case you were looking to blow a quick $100K in Silicon Valley -- aren't we all?
Tesla Roadster takes 30 hours to charge from a standard wall socket
If you've got the coin to roll deep enough to own a Tesla Roadster, we'd imagine that making sure the car gets its 8 (or fewer) hour charge from a 220v / 80A circuit (like what powers some larger home appliances) won't be a huge issue. But if not, think twice about your driving schedule with the all-electric sports car, because while you can technically power a Roadster from any standard wall outlet, the amount of draw a standard 110v / 15A plug delivers would mean a 30 hour wait to juice up your vehicle's thousand pound battery pack. Thankfully, Tesla owners have time to think over how to deal with these kinds of details, being that none of the customers who've pre-ordered a car have yet received theirs.[Via Autoblog Green]
Tesla to supply Mercedes-Benz with lithium-ion batteries?
Man, Tesla's been busy today -- in addition to the announcement of the Model S and Elon Musk's promise of a sub-$30K electric car in four years, word on the street is that the company's inked a deal with Daimler AG to supply it with lithium-ion batteries for upcoming electric cars. Daimler's CEO has said the company was open to leasing battery tech to get out an electric Smart by 2010 and it's rumored that the German marque is looking to ditch gas entirely by 2015, so going to Tesla, which has been working on battery tech for some time, isn't a totally out there proposition. Just a rumor for now -- given Tesla's generally-prickly relationships with others, we'd wait for an official announcement before getting too excited about a Roadster-powered SLR, but it's certainly intriguing.
Tesla's Elon Musk promises sub-$30k all-electric car in less than four years
Yes -- more breaking electric car news! Just after Tesla CEO Ze'ev Drori announced Telsa's plans to build the Model S, Elon Musk began discussing its development of electric car tech to get the price of future cars to (and below) $30,000. When asked when that technology would be commercially available, Musk said that it shouldn't be any more than four years from now. Granted, a $60,000 car is affordable but still quite steep for most buyers -- but a vehicle mass-produced at half the price is essentially mainstream, which could have a substantial impact on the automotive world.[Image courtesy of Edmunds]
Tesla announces the Model S: a $60k, all-electric, five passenger sports sedan
Our favorite Terminator (and Governor of California) Arnold Schwarzenegger has just helped Tesla Motors make an announcement that's probably sending chills through traditional automaker's boardrooms. The company has just introduced a fully-electric, five passenger sports sedan dubbed the Model S, which will be selling for $60,000, and will manage 225 miles on a full charge. The carmaker says it will produce the vehicles in a brand new manufacturing plant it's opening in Northern California. We're on the ground at the announcement right now -- no pictures or release date have surfaced yet, but you'll know more as soon as we do.
