Currently reading: Tesla asks for cash
Electric car maker pitches for share of $25bn green car fund

Tesla Motors will not be able to bring the Model S electric saloon to the market unless it gets government funding, CEO Elon Musk has admitted.

"We can't move forward with that without a major amount of capital," Musk told the Detroit Free Press.

"If we don't get any government funding, then what we need to do is wait until the capital markets recover, which could be a year or two years from now."

Tesla is trying to secure $400 million of federal funding from the bailout money reserved to help Detroit’s Big Three develop more fuel-efficient models.

The fledgling electric car-maker had previously insisted that it had very secure finances, despite laying off tens of workers in recent months.

With the aid, Elon Musk – who made his millions from PayPal – claimed Tesla could be selling 20,000 examples of the Model S per annum by 2011.

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scotty5 11 December 2008

Re: Tesla asks for cash

Is this Elon Musk not another John DeLorean?

Leave this type of car for the big guns to manufacture. Or perhaps the US taxpayer's own car manufacturer GM Chrysler could build it.

North 11 December 2008

Re: Tesla asks for cash

I think they want the money for the new car as opposed to the current one? As far as I know, they secured $40m for current operations. Found this on Wiki:

"Tesla's third round included investment from prominent entrepreneurs including Google co-founders Sergey Brin & Larry Page, former eBay President Jeff Skoll, Hyatt heir Nick Pritzker and added the VC firms Draper, Fisher, Jurvetson, Capricorn Management and The Bay Area Equity Fund Managed by JP Morgan.[1]"

With those investors they should be putting in the money; they made the investment in the first place (or third place!); I guess it would be different if they were all skint....but they are not!! (maybe JP Morgan!); they pulled that designer across from Mazda and so they had intent......I have faith in the US congress they will sort them, but personally I think the investors should cough up........at least some i.e. like about $200m!....

Mini1 11 December 2008

Re: Tesla asks for cash

Personally, I think Tesla deserve the money more than GM or Chrysler, mainly because Tesla are certain to use the money for genuinely good, interesting electric cars. Money was originally set aside for growing electric manufacturers, not GM or Chrysler. They've got themselves into quite a mess.