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Filed under: Green Two big British car magazines are reporting on some of Tesla's future product plans today following the latest promotional tour by SVP Marketing Darryl Siry. There isn't a whole lot new in the articles that hasn't already been reported here and on AutoblogGreen over the past year, but there were a couple of interesting items and errors. First of all AutoCar is reporting that Tesla is planning to use the platform of the Model S sedan (formerly known as WhiteStar) for future vehicles, which makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, they are also reporting that Tesla is planning an electric SUV off that platform, so we contacted Siry to check on this. Siry told ABG that there are in fact no plans to build an SUV. An SUV body style was just used as an example to demonstrate the flexibility of the platform. Helping to achieve that flexibility is a reconfigured battery pack that lays under the floor rather than upright behind the seats as in the Roadster. This will allow...
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Filed under: Green , Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Click above for a high-res gallery of the Tesla Roadster. Tesla Motors continues its hiring spree by bringing on Deepak Ahuja to serve as the company's CFO. Ahuja comes by way of the Ford Motor Company, where he was heading up the project to bring small European Ford's to America. Prior to that, Ahuja carried various other important financial roles with Ford and Mazda. Tesla's goal of becoming "the next great American automobile company" is a brash one, but much more likely to pan out with the proper people at the helm. Considering the rate at which Tesla Motors has been bringing on talent, including the recent addition of Franz von Holzhausen as Design Director, it is clear that the budding automaker takes its goal rather seriously. See the full press release after the break. Gallery: First Drive: Tesla Roadster [Source: Tesla Motors] Continue reading Tesla hires ex-Ford exec as new CFO Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/Breaking_Franz_von_Holzhausen_to_Tesla_Motors_as_design_dir'; It's already on Wikipedia so it must be true. We've just received confirmation from Tesla Motors that the upstart electric car company has somehow managed to snag Mazda's top designer to become its new Design Director and head up a team of in-house designers at a new studio. Franz von Holzhausen is the current rock star of the automobile design world, having been the creative force behind the last few year's worth of Mazda concepts that include the Nagare and Furai , as well as overseeing the design of all Mazda production vehicles in North America since February 2005. von Holzhausen has also been a designer at both General Motors and Volkswagen. This is a major coup for Tesla, as its current Roadster was designed entirely by Lotus. The company's chairman, Elon Musk, reportedly hand-picked von Holzhausen to design the rest of...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Their plate may be filled with churning out Tesla Roadsters and developing the Model S sedan, but Tesla Motors can't seem to get a break from the lawsuits. First there was the tiff with transmission supplier Magna , followed by potential development partner Fisker , and now Tesla is facing a class action lawsuit from former Director of Public Relations, David Vespremi. Vespremi ended up on the cutting room floor during the tornado that swept through the company ranks at the end of 2007. According to Tesla VP, Darryl Siry , the firings were centered on slacking employees and mismanagement. However, Vespremi obviously did not agree. Even departed founder, Martin Eberhard, did not see rationalization in the reorganization that occurred. With that kind of reaction, it was not too surprising to see the suit get filed. The details of the lawsuit allege that Tesla Motors did not practice good faith or fair dealing...
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Filed under: Green , Hirings/Firings/Layoffs If Tesla has learned anything from the development of the Roadster over the past five years, it's that building a production car that meets present day regulations is a lot harder than anyone in Silicon Valley guessed. The process is filled with all kinds of potholes and having some people on the team with experience navigating those craters can be a big help. During AutoblogGreen's recent conversation with Tesla Chairman Elon Musk , he revealed that the company would have several experienced auto industry people coming aboard soon. The first of those new recruits has now been revealed as Mike Donoughe, Tesla's new Executive Vice President for vehicle development and manufacturing. Donoughe is a 24-year veteran of Chrysler who resigned from his VP post there three months ago, and was instrumental in the effort to redesign Chrysler's mid-sized cars. At Tesla he will be responsible for vehicle engineering for the Roadster and Model...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green Click above for high-res gallery of the Fisker Karma A few months back, Tesla Motors sued Fisker Automotive for allegedly stealing information related to the production of its upcoming plug-in electric sedan named Whitestar and using it to develop its series-hybird, the Karma . Yesterday, a judge ruled in favor of Fisker Automotive by allowing the case to go into arbitration outside the courtroom, which was apparently part of the original agreement between Tesla and Henrik Fisker in the first place. It appears that Tesla went outside that original agreement by bringing forth its lawsuit in the first place, though Tesla may have considered that contract void as the original lawsuit alleged that it was signed merely to gain access to confidential information. Although the arbitration is to be handled outside of court, the judge has scheduled a management conference this August, perhaps to be sure that negotiations are moving along...
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Filed under: Convertibles , Hybrids/Alternative , Sports/GTs , Green Much has been made of the issues that Tesla Motors encountered with its original two-speed transmission. The fledgling EV automaker was unable to find a supplier that could engineer a two-speed gearbox capable of allowing the Tesla Roadster to hit 0-60 in four seconds and meet specified targets for its range. The two-speed box was eventually dropped in favor of what has been called "powertrain 1.5", which uses a single-speed gearbox and other improvements to the electric motor and inverter to achieve Tesla's seemingly incongruous goals of performance and efficiency. JB Straubel, Chief Technical Officer Tesla Motors, recently posted an update on the progress of powertrain 1.5 on the company's blog, and be warned, if you're not up to date on how highly complex electric motors and transmissions work (like us), you'll probably get lost. The basic nuts and bolts of it amount to a Tesla Roadster that...
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Sedans/Saloons , Government/Legal , Green Click above for more Fisker-supplied spy shots of the Karma Isn't it fitting that Fisker Automotive's upcoming series-hybrid sports sedan is named Karma ?. After having commissioned Fisker to help design its second product, the Whitestar sedan, Tesla Motors sued Fisker claiming it stole trade secrets that were then used on the Karma. Following that lawsuit, Tesla was then sued by Magna , one of its former transmission suppliers, Tesla's suit against Fisker came several weeks after Tesla themselves were sued by Magna Powetrain who had been contracted to develop a new transmission for the Roadster and now Fisker is slapping the upstart electric car company with its own arbitration suit. That's karma for you, right there. Fisker will attempt to first derail Tesla's original lawsuit by seeking to have it moved from San Mateo, CA to Orange County, after which it will then try to prove that Tesla is attempting...
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Filed under: Convertibles , Sports/GTs , Etc. , Green , Plants/Manufacturing Martin Eberhard first conceived of what ultimately became Tesla Motors and the Tesla Roadster when he couldn't get AC Propulsion to build him a TZero . Since he wanted a battery-powered sports car, Eberhard set out to bring together a team that would build his dream car. Of course, it was always his intention to buy the first car for himself, but creating a car company from scratch is not a low budget proposition. Hence Eberhard had to bring in some investors to fund the program. PayPal founder Elon Musk came in big with a pile of cash in return for which he requested the first car. After some haggling, Eberhard agreed to take Roadster number 2 and things moved along. As we now know, Tesla encountered some speed bumps along the way and production got delayed by many months. The first production model was completed in December 2007, and delivered to Musk in February. Series production officially kicked off on...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Hybrids/Alternative , Green Click above for high-res gallery from Tesla's Flagship Store grand opening Tesla Motors has found enough time in between suing and getting sued by its suppliers to open its first dealership in Los Angeles, CA today. Located on the corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda boulevards, the $2 million dealership sprawls 10,000 square feet and features poured concrete floors, an exposed ceiling of ductwork and beams, mirrors and potted plants. This is no Chipotle, however, as the first Tesla dealership will be staffed by salaried Tesla employees, not traditional salespeople who work on commission. Another dealership is in the works near Silicon Valley closer to the company's HQ, but we're not sure when that one will open. Clearly modeled on the highly successful Apple Store experiment, the Tesla factory store is as much about educating the public and building brand awareness as it is about selling Tesla Roadsters. And that's a...
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Filed under: Coupes , Sports/GTs , Government/Legal , Green Click above for high-res gallery of the Fisker Karma Fisker Automotive may be knee-deep in a legal battle with electric car pioneer Tesla Motors, but the fledgling automaker is still committed to producing its stunning Karma plug-in electric vehicle by Q4 2009. Henrik Fisker and crew have received so much negative press regarding the pending lawsuit that it issued a press release to ensure prospective buyers that that the Karma was on its way, but also to explain where its PHEV technology originates. Fisker calls the lawsuit "nonsense," and points out that his design company, Fisker Coachbuild, has non-exlusive design contracts with many automakers. The press release, which is available after the jump, shows that Fisker is getting its PHEV tech from a company called Quantum Technologies, which has also created electric vehicles for the U.S. Armed Forces. The release doesn't specifically address Tesla's contention...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green Birthing a car is always difficult, and Tesla has seen its share of problems. The biggest hurdle to getting its all-EV Roadsters in customers' garages has been the transmission. Initially the company wanted to have a two-speed unit, but the unit from its first supplier, X-Trac, wasn't durable enough. Tesla then contracted Magna to help build a tranny, before a final try at designing its own transmission also ended abortively. In the end, to get cars rolling out the door, changes were made to the motor so that a single-speed transmission could be fitted. Magna doesn't seem upset that it was just a stepping stone - that's business. What the company would like, however, is to get paid for the work it performed. Magna is also telling Tesla "told you so" by claiming to have suggested a single-speed unit back in 2006. To recover its $5.6 million, Magna has filed suit in San Mateo to force the issue, which coincidentally...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Government/Legal , Green As we recently reported , rumors have been swirling regarding Henrik Fisker's involvement with Tesla Motors and its upcoming electric sedan prototype known as the WhiteStar. As is often the case, there's apparently some truth to the scuttlebutt, as Tesla has filed a lawsuit claiming that Fisker Automotive is using stolen design ideas from Tesla sourced when Fisker Coachbuild was employed by the young EV automaker for the styling of its sedan. According to Tesla chairman Elon Musk, "We could not use the Fisker styling. The styling was substandard compared to what he unveiled for his product. He gave us an inferior work product, and it's obvious why." In the process of working for Tesla, the lawsuit contends that Henrik Fisker and a few of his associates stole design ideas and confidential information related to the design of hybrid and electric cars. Fisker has since announced his upcoming...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Green , Rumormill Click above for high-res live gallery of the Fisker Karma A site of which this blogger previously wasn't aware is reporting that the body of the soon-to-be-revealed Tesla WhiteStar sedan was originally penned by one Henrik Fisker. According to Street Import Online, a mole deep within San Carlos has spilled the beans that the designer who recently unveiled his own plug-in hybrid super sedan , the Fisker Karma (above), had previously been contracted by Tesla Motors for its second product. According to Street Import Online, Tesla had backed out of a deal to have Fisker create the body for the WhiteStar electric sedan but kept the design. We contacted Tesla's Marketing VP Darryl Siry to verify the accuracy of this story, and Siry declined to either confirm or deny the report, which you can interpret however you choose. If the story is true, it may well have prompted Fisker to pursue building a similar vehicle under...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Earnings/Financials click above for more high-res pics of our first drive of the Tesla Roadster In the near future, you may be able to jump on the Tesla Motors bandwagon without coughing up $100k in spare change to finance a Roadster. Just a few days after receiving the first production vehicle to carry the Tesla name, company chairman Elon Musk revealed that chances are high the automaker will go public before the close of 2009. The move could even occur within the year. A few factors will most likely be involved in the timing of a shift from the private sector, though. For instance, positive consumer response once the Tesla Roadster hits the streets will help entice potential shareholders. Investors will also look at company profitability, which Mr. Musk believes should arrive in 2009. Another topic the Tesla Chairman touched on was a little development known as Blue Star. He said the project may involve teaming up with another manufacturer to bring...
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