Wednesday 15th October 2008

Breaking News: Tesla in Financial Difficulties?

Report: Half of workforce laid off at Tesla

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Tesla Motors, the electric sports car company, has been forced to lay off around 100 people, according to reports in the US. The carmaker is in the process of rolling its Lotus-esque two-seater out across the world, and some believed it was the future for high performance motoring.

But website jalopnik.com is quoting a source, who says that around half the staff are leaving, including CEO Ze’ev Drori. The car was the new darling of the eco-aware celebrity car fan and we were expecting big things.

The Tesla, at $109,000, was undoubtedly expensive, but had received good reviews. The company had recently unveiled plans for a £143million factory in San Jose and there was even talk of an electric saloon.

The roadster has a 0-60mph time of 3.9 second and a 13,000rpm redline, all with an economy equivalent to 135mpg. There is no official confirmation about the lay-offs yet so we are hoping it could just be a rumour. We will keep you up to date…

[VladD]

Not too surprising really. It's overpriced and makes no noise so will only ever be bought by excessively rich people who care more about image that substance.

[VladD]

For me the Tesla just didn't make sense. I have a BMW 750 that is very quiet. I use it for commuting up and down the M5. I like the fact that it is quiet. It's ideal for the purpose that I bought it for, refined quiet commuting.

I also have a Subaru Impreza. It is not quiet. I use it for driving fun at the weekends. I love the sound of the boxer engine and I love the performance.

Having an electric 7 series would make sense to me. Having an electric sports car does not. The missing sound would detract too much from the experience.

[VladD]

Kozy said:

odyssey2200 said:

Seriously though guys

How many of us would have bought a car that costs £60,000 and had a limeted fuel range, could not be topped up in a filling station to continue your journey and had to be connected over night before it could be used again?

For just over half that you could but an Elise and drive around the world, as long as you couyld fund one of the Millions of petrol stations out there.

It's obviously not being marketed at people like you though is it?

Nice car in your profile. Don't suppose you could design a decent looking boot lid for the BMW 6 series?