Saturday, September 19, 2009

Electric Sports-Car Maker Tesla Gets $82.5 Million Investment

Tesla Motors Inc., maker of an electric sports car that can accelerate to 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds, received an $82.5 million equity investment from a group led by Fjord Capital Management.

“It was an opportunistic investment,” Elon Musk, chief executive officer of San Carlos, California-based Tesla, said today in an interview at the Frankfurt Motor Show. “We were not looking for money.”

Daimler AG, which invested $50 million in Tesla this year along with Aabar Investments PJSC, the Abu Dhabi fund that’s the German carmaker’s biggest shareholder, contributed to the offering to keep its stake at just under 10 percent, Musk said.

The money may be used to fund Tesla’s establishment of retail stores globally. The company, which introduced its all- electric roadster in February 2008, was profitable in the second quarter, Musk said.

Porsche Planning All-Electric Sports Car

2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic

The German automaker whose name is synonomous with "sports car" is planning an all-electric vehicle. This is no third party hack of an existing car either. While speaking at the Frankfurt Motor Show on Tuesday, Porsche president and CEO, Michael Macht, announced that the company is working hard on an electric sports car.

As to why Porsche doesn't already offer an EV, Macht said that current battery technology is not "sufficient to meet Porsche's strict requirements."

"An electric sports car would therefore only make sense for Porsche if it offers performance and a cruising range similar to that of current sports cars in the market,” he clarified. Macht went on to suggest the possibility of future, more fuel efficient models including a hybrid 911, noting that the company has been committed to hybrids since Ferdinand Porsche built the first one over 100 years ago.

Porsche's dedication to driving satisfaction is refreshing in a world where mpg is the topic du jour in Congress. As automakers like Tesla have proven, fuel efficiency and fun don't have to be mutually exclusive.