Watching the morning news, the GM bailout discussion goes on. On Scarborough, Mark Spellun from Plenty Magazine touted that GM is on the track to produce cars that will get over 40 miles per gallon by 2020. That's right...2020! Where have we heard this before, say about 20 years ago? Enough is enough, it's time to invest in Tesla.
Remember the great documentary that came out two years ago, "Who Killed the Electric Car?". A friend of mine produced that great film and garnered some much needed attention from the media and the public. Yes, as we all remember the EV series, they were captured and destroyed by GM. Think what would have happened if the EV's had been allowed to survive, developed and improved over the past 15-20 years.
Company's like Tesla Motors are producing ground breaking electric vehicles. Look at these stats:
2009 Tesla Roadster
Performance Specifications
Style 2-seat, open-top, rear-drive sports car
- Drivetrain: Single speed fixed gear with electrically actuated parking lock mechanism and mechanical lubrication pump
- Motor: 375 volt AC induction air-cooled electric motor with variable frequency drive. Output 248 peak horsepower (185kW) and 276 ft/lbs (375 nm) of torque. Redline 14,000 rpm.
- Chassis: Resin-bonded and riveted extruded aluminum monoquoque. Four-wheel independent suspension featuring upper and lower unequal length wishbones and co-axial coil spring telescopic dampers.
- Brakes: Hydraulically operated. Tandem master cylinder with vacuum servo and anti-lock braking system.
- Acceleration: 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds
- Top Speed: 125 mph (electronically limited
- Range: About 220 miles(based on EPA combined city/highway cycle
- Battery Life: Five years or 100,000 miles
- Battery: Custom microprocessor-controlled lithium-ion battery with 6,831 individual cells. Weight 992 lbs.
- Full Charge: About 3.5 hours using the Tesla Motors High Power Connector.
Cost prohibitive to say the least, much of this is due to their inability to mass produce like GM. But, the technology is there, working, and being expanded upon. Recently in an article in Bloomberg after raising $40M in convertible debt offering. They are taking a real beating by the credit crunch, but have some big stake players supporting them, while GM flounders deservedly so.
Closely held Tesla, pinched by the global financial crisis, cut its full-time workforce by 24 percent in October and said it will have a one-year delay to 2011 of its second model, a $60,000 sedan. Musk said the share sale that might have come as soon as this year is now scrubbed, with no new timetable.
``This is maybe the worst financial environment since the Great Depression,'' said Musk, who received almost $300 million from public offerings of online companies PayPal and Zip2 Corp.
Previous private funding rounds have raised $147 million, said Rachel Konrad, a spokeswoman. Investors include Google Inc. founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and California-based venture funds Vantage Point and JP Morgan Bay Area Equity Fund.
Well at least Paulson's shouting from the rooftops not to bail out GM. Perhaps he may know something...like GM is a bottomless money-sucking pit that is 20 years behind in new technology car development? Hey Paulson, Congress, and the new Obama team, throw a bone to the real change innovators out there!
To see Mark Spellun's interview on MSNBC this morning HERE
Tesla Motors
Great listing of action sites supporting the EV movement action sitesBloomberg