Tesla lost $31.5m in first nine months of 2009
Tesla revealed on Friday that it is to kill the Roadster electric sports car in 2011 - inadvertently dropping a hint that a new Elise could be on the way for 2012.
California-based Tesla Motors filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) where it plans to raise up to $100 million (£62.9 million) by offering part of its stock to public investors.
In part of the proposal filed to the SEC, Tesla declares it will drop the roadster before its planned Model S saloon comes on stream. "Prior to the launch of our Model S," says Tesla, "we anticipate our automotive sales may decline, potentially significantly as we do not plan to sell our current generation Tesla Roadster after 2011."
Roadster dies before Model S arrives in 2012
What lies behind the move, we suspect, is that Tesla will lose its current roadster platform when a new Lotus Elise comes on stream. The SEC filing may be hinting at this when it says that the end of Roadster production will be "due to planned tooling changes at a supplier for the Tesla Roadster".
Either way, Tesla says it hopes to be getting the successor to the Roadster in production in 2013, a year after the Model S is due to go on sale.
So what are the prospects for potential investors being asked to stump up $100 million? Don't ask us - we're lousy at corporate finance, and we forgot to charge the PH crystal ball overnight. (Ouch! Ed.)
For its own part, Tesla says it has lost "approximately $236.4 million from inception through Sept. 30, 2009", a figure that included $31.5 million in the first three-quarters of 2009 alone.
The company, which employs more than 500 people, says it has found homes for 937 Roadsters in two years.