Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)
Tesla Popularity Contest: Model S Mania in Washington State (BusinessWeek)
With all the ecstatic news around Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)—topping $20 billion in market value this week, winning quality awards, destroying safety tests—it’s easy to overlook just how few of these mean, green electric machines have made it onto the roads so far. While the company is on pace to deliver 21,000 vehicles this year, only about 12,700 of the Model S luxury sedan have been delivered to date. With the help of Hedges & Co., an Ohio-based auto-research firm, we crunched the numbers on new vehicle registrations for the first half of 2013 to figure out where to find the most Teslas.
Why Electric Cars Are Safer (DesignNews)
Tesla Motors’s recent five-star sweep in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) safety ratings shed light on an important aspect of electric cars: They’re inherently safer than vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s Model S served as a prime example of those safety advantages, recording the highest (five-star) ratings in frontal, side, rollover, and overall crash categories. The Model S joined the 2013 and 2014 models of the Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) Focus EV, which also captured five-star NHTSA safety ratings across the board.
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) CEO Believes Market Is Being Very “Generous” (Pulse2)
Recently the Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model S sedan was named as the safest car on the road by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Earlier this month, we reported that Tesla Motors opened 7 more Superchargers in Oregon and Norway. The company also opened up an assembly plant in the Netherlands. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is now worth around $20.52 billion in terms of market cap, putting them at about double Fiat’s size and around one-third of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F). About a year ago, they were trading at around $28 per share and today it is at $169.
Electric Losers, Round Two (WSJ)
A leading candidate for the biggest government failure in recent years is the $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM), which stopped doling out loans in 2011 after funding such debacles as Fisker Automotive. But this is the Obama Administration, where nothing in government fails, so naturally new Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz wants to revive it. …Secretary Moniz will no doubt tout the case of Tesla, another luxury-car company that earlier this year repaid its $465 million loan ahead of schedule. Tesla’s stock price is soaring, and this is supposed to be the success story of government venture capital. But Tesla still benefits from other government subsidies—such as the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric-car buyers and the emissions credits Tesla has cashed in on at the expense of traditional car makers. Let’s see how Tesla does when it takes off the taxpayer training wheels.
Here’s Why Investors Are Betting on Tesla’s Tech Prowess (WallStCheatSheet)
With a market capitalization of $20 billion, shareholders are valuing Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) more like a technology company than an automaker. There is some reason for their enthusiasm. Sales have been great in California, the company’s home base and the largest U.S auto market. The California New Car Dealers Association on Monday reported sales results for the first six months of 2013, and Tesla’s Model S was the third-best selling luxury sedan after Daimler’s (DDAIF.PK) Mercedes-Benz E Class and BMW’s 5 Series models. In fact, this particular piece of news sent shares of the electric vehicle manufacturer to a new all-time high of $173. When the company’s stock price surged past $172.75 during that rally, its market capitalization hit $20 billion.
FASTEST Battery swap by Tesla Motors Tesla S battery swap vs Audi A8 fuel stop (YouTube)
