Carlos Ghosn & The Coalition Push for more, more, more
Nissan-Renault CEO Carl Ghosn seems to be taking career advice from Frank White lately; wherever there is an opportunity to start making some money, he wants in. Recognizing that full size vehicles were a cash cow in the U.S., Ghosn wanted his cut. Shortly after taking the reins of Nissan in June of 1999, he built a factory in Mississippi to start churning out big trucks like the Titan and the Armada.
Now, the field has… Continue Reading
California anchors Tesla with $28.8M tax break
Tesla Motors, the hyped electric car company, just nabbed another win (in a long line of them since the spring), earning approval for a $28.8 million tax break from California’s Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (a branch of the Treasurer’s office). The change will save them taxes on $320 million worth of equipment.
It’s hard not to view the break as a big thank you note from the state. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has… Continue Reading
Chevy Volt poised to resuscitate dying automotive town Flint, Mich.
Flint, Mich., the small automotive city northwest of Detroit known best for being featured in Michael Moore’s first documentary, Roger & Me, has been in dire straits for a while. When the movie came out in 1989, it was already suffering from mass unemployment. Now, 20 years later, it may have a chance to rebrand itself as a home to General Motors’ Chevy Volt — perhaps the most practical electric vehicle primed to hit the… Continue Reading
Fox News errantly calls shenanigans on EV makers Tesla and Fisker
Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive — the two electric vehicle companies that recently received generous loans from the U.S. Department of Energy — felt the full wrath of Rupert Murdoch’s media machine last week. First, the Wall Street Journal cast a skeptical eye on Fisker’s $535 million DOE loan, suggesting that investor Al Gore pulled some strings. Shortly after, Fox News analysts Martha MacCullum and David Williams mistakenly reported that both companies are actually European,… Continue Reading
Green investing bounces back from recession
Venture Capital investment in green technology companies has jumped to tie pre-recessionary levels, according to a new report out of Greentech Media. With $1.9 billion spread over 112 deals, this year’s third quarter trounced figures from earlier this year, signaling a stronger than anticipated comeback for the sector, which took a beating during the economic downturn last fall.
To put the recent numbers in context: the second quarter this year saw $1.2 billion distributed across 85… Continue Reading
Electric car maker Fisker nails down plans for 2011 profitability
Fisker Automotive, prime Tesla Motors competitor and maker of the luxury plug-in hybrid vehicle known as the Karma, has announced plans to sell 15,000 cars and apply for government funds in order to hit profitability by 2011. The Southern California company plans to launch production later this year.
In order to turn a profit in such a short time frame, Fisker says it will need to be selling at least 15,000 cars — each with a… Continue Reading
Westly Group closes $120M fund for cleantech
The Westly Group, the firm founded and managed by former California state controller and financial officer Steve Westly, just closed a $120 million fund to fuel revenue-generating cleantech companies. With 13 companies already in the Menlo Park, Calif. firm’s portfolio — including crown jewel investment Tesla Motors — it will be interesting to see which ideas it chooses to back.
Electric vehicles will continue to be an area of emphasis for the firm, which also plans… Continue Reading
Tesla continues winning streak with new $82.5M
Tesla Motors, the anointed leader in the electric vehicle market, has raised $82.5 million in a sixth round of funding from Daimler, Fjord Capital Partners, Aabar and other undisclosed investors. The amount has been tacked on to the $50 million the San Carlos, Calif. company brought in from Daimler, when the Mercedez-Benz producer took a 10 percent stake in May. All told, Tesla — valued at an estimated $550 million by Daimler — has raised… Continue Reading
Think secures $47M, will begin making electric cars again soon
Think, the Norwegian maker of cute, recyclable electric cars, suspended production last December after running out of money. But the company has emerged from court-protected bankruptcy with its debt restructured and $47M in new funding led by U.S. firm Ener1, Finnish Valmet Automotive and Norway’s Investinor.
“This means we can re-start production of the TH!NK City as soon as possible,” CEO Richard Canny said in a prepared statement. Besides its creative use of uppercase and punctuation,… Continue Reading
ZAP lands $25M, branches into full-size electric vehicles
ZAP, a company known for building electric motorcycles and three-wheel cars, has just raised $25 million in capital and plans to use the money to jump headlong into full-size electric vehicles. To buoy this effort, it is also seeking $200 million in stimulus loans from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Santa Rosa, Calif.-based ZAP is uniquely positioned for several reasons. Due to its well-developed scooter business — which has been around since 1994 — it has… Continue Reading
Tesla spared from raising equity to match federal loans
Tesla Motors, recent recipient of $465 million in low-cost federal loans via the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, won’t have to raise new matching funds to qualify like other recipients. Instead, it says it will dig into its revenue from car sales and its 10 percent stake sale to Daimler (estimated at $50 million) to hit the equity mark needed to get the loans.
During yesterday’s showroom opening, the San Carlos, Calif.,… Continue Reading
Tesla opens showroom in New York with new Roadster model
It’s a big news day at Tesla Motors, the electric car maker that just saw 4 percent of its shares go to Abu Dhabi firm Aabar Investments, earlier this week. It also opened a shiny new 4,700 square-foot showroom in Chelsea, the heart of Manhattan’s upper-crusty art gallery scene (that’s W. 25th Street, for locals — see right). Its first matter of business: showcasing the company’s new 2010 model Roadster.
Previously, Tesla only had showrooms in… Continue Reading
Daimler passes 4 percent of Tesla to Abu Dhabi firm
Just two months ago, Daimler made news with its purchase of a 10 percent stake in electric vehicle front-runner Tesla Motors — but it’s already scaled back its ownership, offloading 40 percent of its holdings to Aabar Investments, a firm based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Daimler — which claims that it always planned to sell off this part of its stake — says the deal is part of a strategic collaboration with the… Continue Reading
Tesla founder sues company, CEO Elon Musk
Martin Eberhard, founder of Tesla Motors, the anointed darling of the electric vehicle industry, has filed suit against the company and its current leader, Elon Musk (right), who he accuses of slander, mismanagement, and, bizarrely, giving him a damaged Tesla roadster (the firm’s first product).
Hostility between Eberhard and Musk is nothing new. The co-founder departed in 2007 after losing too many boardroom skirmishes to Musk (at that time the company’s lead investor). But when he… Continue Reading
Solazyme wins big with $57M for renewable oil
Solazyme, producer of renewable oil derived from algae, just raised $57 million in third-round funding to bring its total capital to more than $76 million. In addition to producing so-called green fuels, the San Bruno, Calif., company is expanding its eco-friendly chemicals business — an increasingly common move for companies in the biofuel space. It is also exploring nutritional and cosmetics opportunities.
The bulk of the funding came from VantagePoint Venture Partners, which has made a… Continue Reading
Tesla gets much-needed infusion from Daimler
Daimler, the German auto maker known for its ownership of Mercedes-Benz, has acquired a nearly 10 percent stake in Tesla Motors, the anointed electric car company to watch. And the deal — worth an unspecified tens of millions of dollars — couldn’t come at a better time, with the latter running on less capital than it would like as it develops its hyped Model S sedan.
Tesla’s financial woes are well documented. Late last year, the… Continue Reading
Mitsubishi jumps into U.S. electric car race with i MiEV . . . in Oregon?
Venture-backed electric car companies have been getting the lion’s share of attention these days. Fisker Automotive just raised a cool $85 million to produce its hybrid-electric Karma, and Tesla Motors has been abuzz since unveiling its Model S sedan. But that doesn’t mean the traditional auto titans are down and out. Just today, Mitsubishi announced plans to bring its all-electric i MiEV vehicle to the U.S.
This is a pretty big milestone: The car will be… Continue Reading
Fisker zooms ahead with $85 million for battery-powered car
Fisker Automotive, maker of the jaw-dropping battery-powered Karma sports car (see above), announced that it’s landed $85 million in venture capital to begin production. The money came from Eco-Drive Capital Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The Irvine, Calif. company has now raised more than $100 million for its vehicle, expected to sell for a little less than Tesla’s comparable roadster, at $87,900 a pop. It says it’s already fielded 1,300 reservations for the… Continue Reading
Pre-orders for Tesla’s new sedan top 500
Tesla Motors announced today that it has already received 520 orders for its recently unveiled Model S sedan, an all-electric vehicle capable of carrying seven passengers. Unlike the company’s flashier and more expensive roadster, the car is designed to fit the needs of middle-class families.
Reservations for the Model S started pouring in after its Los Angeles debut last week. Eventually, Tesla plans to offer its vehicles through its own retail stores slated to open in… Continue Reading
Tesla unveils electric sedan with sky-high hopes
Tesla Motors, still one of the major players in the electric vehicle game despite recent financial woes, has finally unveiled its hotly anticipated Model S sedan, slated to go on sale in late 2011. With a price tag of $50,000, the car is certainly more practical for prospective buyers than Tesla’s first submission — its $109,000 roadster (beautiful, but unrealistic in today’s economy). The San Carlos, Calif. company has clearly pinned its hopes on this… Continue Reading