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Only a year after Tesla Motors and CEOElon Musk extracted themselvesfrom the $465-million taxpayerstimulus loan that brought critical scrutiny to the company’s performance, the electric automaker has once again put itself under the spotlight that comes with taking government corporate welfare. Today the company will announce its plans to build a battery manufacturing plant near Reno . The new gambit was the culmination of competition that pitted at least five states against one another for the “privilege” of hosting Tesla’s “Gigafactory” – named so because of the amount of stored power they plan to produce. Cost to build the...

RENO, Nev. – Tesla Motors has chosen Nevada as the site for a massive, $5 billion factory that will pump out batteries for a new generation of electric cars, a person familiar with the company's plans said Wednesday. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made, said work would soon resume at an industrial park outside Reno. Four other states -- California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico -- were vying for the project and the estimated 6,500 jobs it will bring.

Imagine owning the most popular automaker in the United States. Now imagine a special ​interest group eliminating your ability to serve over 10 million Americans unless you did business with their unique cartel. That's in essence what happened right before Labor Day weekend, when the Georgia Auto Dealer Association filed a petition with state officials seeking to cancel Tesla's license to sell its cars in the state of Georgia. Tesla's crime? Selling 173 cars directly from a factory-owned store located 25 miles away from Atlanta, the only Tesla retail location in Georgia. The dealers say Tesla can only sell 150...

From the start, little has been typical about Tesla Motors' plan for a $5 billion factory to make batteries for a new generation of electric cars. It's not just the project's massive scale, the cutting-edge technology, or even the bonanza of 6,500 good-paying jobs. It's how Tesla is deciding where to build. Through a series of unusual plays, Tesla has five states bidding up subsidy packages to land the coveted plant. The winner is expected to offer the luxury car-maker publicly financed incentives exceeding a half-billion dollars.

One of the hottest clashes in technology pits two pathmakers in the new era of electric cars—Tesla and General Motors. Both are developing pure electrics that cost roughly $35,000, travel 200 miles on a single charge, and appeal to the mass luxury market. The stakes are enormous. Most electrics have less than 100 miles of range. Experts regard 200 miles as a tipping point, enough to cure many potential electric-car buyers of “range anxiety,” the fear of being stranded when their battery expires. If GM and Tesla crack this, sales of individual electrics could jump from 2,000 or 3,000 vehicles...

Consumer Reports, which last year gave top marks to electric carmaker Tesla Motors Inc.’s Model S sedan, now says the car it owns has had “more than its share of problems.” While the car has impressed staff at the influential U.S. consumer magazine with its “smoothness, effortless glide and clever, elegant simplicity,” there have been many quirks that might dampen consumers’ experiences, Consumer Reports said in a statement on Monday. […] “Just before the car went in for its annual service, at a little over 12,000 miles, the center screen went blank, eliminating access to just about every function of...

The Washington Department of Commerce said it mounted an aggressive effort that included the personal involvement of Inslee. The company would reportedly create 6,000 jobs to build batteries for a projected 500,000 Tesla cars to be built by 2020. Among the reasons given for Tesla’s reluctance to locate here is that we’re not a “right to work state.” Controversial labor issues with Boeing and other companies have scared off some prospective companies. But beyond this grand project are some shady financial issues... This despite Consumer Reports fiascos that occurred in testing some Tesla models – which either caught fire in...

It’s official: Tesla Motors has broken ground on a stretch of land outside Reno that could serve as the site for its forthcoming $5 billion battery factory. But not so fast: they’re not the only one in the mix. In a letter to shareholders, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was careful in saying the Reno site “could potentially be” the location for the Gigafactory, expected to create 6,500 jobs. “Consistent with out strategy to identify and break ground on multiple sites, we continue to evaluate other locations in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas,” Musk wrote. The news followed weeks of...

Based on reports that have emerged over the past few weeks, it looks like California is back in the running as a location for Tesla's Gigfactory — a massive facility that will build the advanced lithium-ion batteries needed to get the electric carmaker to the next level. Nevada, Texas, New Mexico — these were the states that appeared to be in a better position to become the Gigafactory's home than California.But there's been some chatter about Elon Musk and his company potentially taking over an old U.S. Navy facility near San Francisco. And now, according to the Los Angeles Times'...

Tesla Motors makes beautiful, quality electric automobiles. Don't just take it from us; Consumer Reports rated the Tesla Model S the "best overall" car in its 2014 Top Picks report (which includes all non-electric cars as well). Yet, despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk's ongoing effort to expand his EV empire, state after state in the United States is pushing back. Not because those states are against electronic vehicles, Musk or even Tesla; it's about the way Tesla wants to sell its cars. Specifically, it's about money. WHAT TESLA WANTS You know how Apple has stores where it sells its computers,...

The incident began when police received a call from a Tesla dealership stating that an individual was “tampering or messing with” one of the vehicles, according to Sgt. Campbell with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Division. Officers responded to the dealership and a pursuit began at about 12:45 a.m., Campbell said. During the pursuit, the Tesla reached speeds of up to 100 mph, according to Campbell. The pursuit ended on La Brea Avenue between Fountain and Lexington avenues a short time later when the driver of the Tesla hit two other cars and a lamp post, Campbell said. A...

FREMONT -- Tesla Motors, which is on a mission to bring electric cars to the masses, now has another goal -- to become a leading employer of America's military veterans. "We want to be known throughout the veteran community as a great place to work," Arnnon Geshuri, Tesla's vice president of human resources, said in an interview. "Veterans are a great source of talent for Tesla, and we're going after it." "Tesla has risen to the top" among companies known for creating veteran-friendly workplaces, said Ted Daywalt, president and CEO of VetJobs, the nation's leading military job board. "They have...

Sam RoJune 30, 2014 Today is the 106th anniversary of a historic explosion that still has no clear explanation. It happened in Tunguska, a remote forest area in the middle of Siberia. The blast had the power of 15 megatons of TNT, roughly a thousand times that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima Japan. The event was so powerful that it was felt and heard a thousand miles away. Locals believed the blast was supernatural, caused by a god that was punishing people for their wickedness. Scientists, on the other hand, believed it was a meteor. Here's Where It...

NLPC has extensively documented howTesla Motors has taken advantage of market distortions to reap revenues – including government mandates, subsidies, and taxpayer support – not the least of which have been so-called “zero emission credits” from the state of California. But much of the revenue Tesla enjoyed last year – which often meant the difference between profit and loss – was credited based upon theoreticaltechnological capabilities and not ones actually put into practice. CEO Elon Musk has also relied on accounting gimmicks to enhance his bottom line over the last 18 months, during which a couple of quarterly earnings...

Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas is out with an awesome and slightly hilarious note in which he argues Tesla is now, maybe, the most important car company in the world. "Not even two years after the delivery of the first Model S, Tesla Motors has transformed from fledgling start-up to arguably the most important car company in the world. We are not joking."

Why Tesla's Elon Musk Must Sell 6 Million Electric Cars To Make History   By John Voelcker 4,097 views Jun 5, 2014 23 Comments Follow John Reddit This! Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Henry J. Kaiser and Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla Motors [Kaiser image courtesy Kaiser Permanente] Many entrepreneurs have tried to start car companies in the U.S. over the past century, but the last person to do so from the ground up with a brand that survives to this day was Walter P. Chrysler.He started his company in December 1924--which indicates the magnitude of the challenge faced by...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri lawmakers are set to begin a last-minute fight over whether electric car manufacturers like Testa Motors should be able to sell their product directly to consumers. With only a week left in session, the Missouri Senate quietly attached language to House Bill 1124 that would effectively bar Tesla from selling directly to consumers in Missouri. Similar hurdles for the company have popped up in other states. Supporters of the legislation believe the current franchise-based model for selling automobiles has served the state’s economy and its consumers well, and that they don’t understand why Tesla will...

Although Tesla reported a profit of $17 million on $713 million in revenue, their financials were reported using non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) figures. Which means that my current checking account, according to non-GAAP figures, is probably somewhere in the high seven figures. Using GAAP numbers, Tesla lost nearly $49.8 million, on revenues of $620 million. Despite the loss, Tesla delivered 6,457 units, and expects to sell 35,000 Model S units this year. Tesla also announced that their Model X SUV will be delayed again, until 2015. But the bad news was interrupted today by a major development for Tesla....

Tesla has identified four states — Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas — as the competitors for the plant. One of the four is expected to be chosen for the initial ground breaking, which Musk said Wednesday will take place next month. There most likely will be another ground breaking to follow not long after the first. “All four states are still in the running, because of their eagerness and capability,” Simon Sproule, Tesla’s vice president of communications and marketing, said Thursday. He declined to say which state or states are in the lead, nor would he give a date...

In an interview, Tesla’s Elon Musk did not quite name a winner, or even a few finalists for the company's proposed battery "gigafactory," but he did announce that he would pick two sites for construction as the company hedges its bets and emphasizes speed.Musk was quoted by Bloomberg as saying in an interview: “What we’re going to do is move forward with more than one state, at least two, all the way to breaking ground, just in case there’s last-minute issues. The No. 1 thing is we want to minimize the risk timing for the gigafactory to get up and running.”The...