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A super-double-secret source deep within the bowels of the Tesla Motors engineering operation in San Carlos CA, has risked life and job to provide you, the readers of AutoblogGreen, with an early look at the upcoming Model S. While Tesla claims that unlike the Roadster, the Model S is a new, from-the-ground-up design. Nonetheless, the Model S clearly draws design inspiration from other cars, although those elements have been blended in a remarkably seamless fashion. Like the Dodge Magnum powertrain mule we saw a few days ago, the Model S appears to have a very long wheelbase. Overall, its shape is very aerodynamic, but judging from the large front air intakes, the latest battery pack still requires quite a bit of cooling. While the design has reportedly been approved for production in 2010 by Elon Musk and the board, some additional tweaking is still possible before Job 1. It sure would be interesting to see how Henrick Fisker's proposal compared to this one. Follow the jump for more secret details on Model S.

[Source: Wouldn't you like to know!]

Photo by Doug King

An attentive Tesla fan happened to be driving past the site of the future Tesla store in Menlo Park, CA recently and took a photo while sitting a traffic light. Closer inspection revealed an unusual Dodge Magnum sitting at the site. Now a Magnum with a steel wheel might not draw much attention on it's own. However, closer inspection of the image also revealed an absent tailpipe and license plate. Since development is going hot and heavy on the new Model S sedan, the photographer realized he might have stumbled across something interesting. I checked with Darryl Siry (Tesla's Marketing VP) and he confirmed that the Magnum in Question is indeed one of several different car platforms being used as mules for the WhiteStar/Model S program. As is typically the case, car makers use other existing vehicles that are similar in size and weight for various early hardware tests. In this case, the Magnum is being used for powertrain development. The Magnum body shouldn't be taken as any kind of indicator of the shape of the Model S. However, there are other clues. The Magnum has a 120 inch wheelbase and weighs in at 3,800lbs. Strip out the existing power train and other hardware and replace it with a battery pack and motor and you might be in similar range for the Model S. Since a Roadster weighs over 2,700 lbs with a carbon fiber body, the aluminum-bodied Model S is likely to be somewhere close to 4,000lbs with a battery pack in place. More hints as they become available.

[Source: Tesla Motors Club]

We received a heads up overnight that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be making an appearance later today at Tesla Motors headquarters in San Carlos, CA. According to the notice from Tesla, Schwarzenegger will make an announcement regarding the manufacturing strategy for the WhiteStar sedan. Given this announcement and what chairman Elon Musk told us last week about plans to centralize production of its cars, it seems almost certain that the factory originally planned for Albuquerque, NM will never materialize. Instead it appears the sedan will be built at a factory somewhere in the Bay Area close to Tesla's headquarters. CEO Ze'ev Drori may even reveal the name of the new car (don't get too excited about this one folks) and hopefully give us a glimpse of what it looks like. Autoblog's Damon Lavrinc will be on site at Tesla HQ at 11:30 PST with all the gory details.

[Source: Tesla Motors]

In the first two parts of our discussion, Tesla Motors Chairman Elon Musk described how he came to be a part of Tesla Motors and how he influenced the development of the Roadster. It's important to note that he never described himself as the designer or creator of the Roadster. Rather he considers himself the co-architect of the sports car.

With production of the Roadster now sort of underway and the updated drivetrain hopefully coming soon, it's time to look forward. As the self-declared Product Architect, Musk is playing perhaps an even bigger role with the next product, a sedan that we've known for some time by the code name WhiteStar. We had hoped to see WhiteStar this spring but that obviously hasn't happened yet. In the conclusion of our discussion, Musk gives out some hints about what to expect and what Tesla has learned over the past five years. Read on to learn more about what's coming next.

Make sure you read Part 1 and Part 2.

Yesterday we told about news from Tesla Chairman Elon Musk that the Silicon Valley EV startup had struck some sort of deal with Daimler. We speculated that it might be an engine supply deal for the range-extended version of the WhiteStar. Tesla Marketing VP and primary spokesman Darryl Siry declined to comment on the deal and Daimler has apparently said nothing. Lucky for us, one of our readers pointed to where Fox Business News had the video up on their site so that we could see exactly what Musk said. Unfortunately, it appears that at least on the topic of the Daimler deal, Musk said nothing beyond what we had already heard and there isn't much to be drawn from his statement beyond our existing conjectures.

However, watching the rest of the clip, it became clear that in typical Fox (and almost all of traditional media fashion) they weren't about to let facts get in the way of a good story. Reporter Liz Claman started off the puff piece by introducing Musk as the creator of the Tesla Roadster. Now whatever you may think of Musk and what has transpired at Tesla over the past 10 months, calling him the creator of this car is blatantly wrong. Martin Eberhard had the vision for Tesla and he and the team of engineers are the ones who created this car. Musk then goes on to describe the Roadster as "the only production electric car for sale in the United States of any kind." This is most definitely not true. It may be the only really desirable EV but there are plenty of others of various descriptions. Obviously all the neighborhood electric cars out there are for sale and are drivable on many roads. They certainly aren't in the same class as the Roadster but they are electric. And of course we must grudgingly acknowledge the Zap Xebra here as well even though it is technically a motorcycle. Nonetheless this is not a promising start to the five-minute interview. And given that we know of only two cars that have been delivered to customers (one of which was Musk himself) calling the Roadster in production is still very much a stretch. We know almost no one watches Fox Business News but this is ridiculous and don't even get me started on this reporter. The video is after the jump.

Click image for photo gallery

While we've been hearing about the Tesla WhiteStar sedan for a long, long time, the idea of combining a Tesla Roadster with a BMW 5 Series is too good to pass on. With the kind of backing that Tesla has and the sheer amount of hype surrounding their first product, the Roadster (above), we're expecting great things if and when the WhiteStar sedan finally makes an appearance. Later this spring is the when unveiling should take place.

On to Number 2.

You know how it goes, when there's smoke... Tesla Motors is reportedly suing Fisker Automotive for stealing inside design ideas. As rumors indicated earlier this week, Henrik Fisker apparently was hired by Tesla to style their upcoming Whitestar sedan. The styling was not to Tesla's liking, either by accident or on purpose - likely depending on who you ask -- so Fisker's designs were rejected. At that time, Tesla claims that Fisker and some associates took what they learned from Tesla and started their own project, which was unveiled recently, ironically enough, as the Karma sedan.

We should point out that it's too early to know where the truth lies when it comes to this story. Tesla is suing for the money it paid Fisker for design work along with unknown damages. There's been no response as of yet from Fisker. We'll surely be keeping you up-to-date when we find out more.

[Source: The New York Times]

Click above for high-res live gallery of the Fisker Karma

For more than year, fans of Tesla Motors hoping for a more practical and affordable (relatively speaking) electric vehicle have been waiting for details on project WhiteStar. Rumors have run the gamut from something based on a Ford Fusion (no dice) to outright cancellation (not yet). The only consistent element has been the intention to build a battery-powered four-door sedan. The latest rumor to crop up has been that the styling of the car was the work of one Henrik Fisker. You might recall that Fisker unveiled a styling buck for a planned plug-in hybrid sedan bearing his own name at this years Detroit Auto Show.

As the story goes, Fisker was contracted by Tesla to design the bodywork for the WhiteStar, then later dismissed by the San Carlos company. Tesla VP Darryl Siry declined to confirm or deny the veracity of the story. Our sources however indicate the final look of the WhiteStar retains nothing of Fisker's drawings. Siry has confirmed that Tesla will reveal the WhiteStar later this spring after they have begun customer deliveries of the Roadster. The new sedan will start off as a battery-only vehicle but it is being designed to accommodate a range extended configuration as well.

[Source: Street Import Online, via Autoblog]

BusinessWeek has just published a profile of one of our favorite car companies Tesla Motors. The article doesn't really have much in the way of new information aside from the code name to the WhiteStar follow up. If all goes according to plan we should see the BlueStar in about five years with a targeted price of around $30,000. If you haven't been following the tale of Tesla Motors, the new article is a pretty decent primer that wraps up the story so far.

San Carlos, CA Tesla is being set up in much the same way as most Silicon Valley companies, with venture capital funding and the internal staff handling product design and development while manufacturing is outsourced. Employees also get stock options in the company. Even a different kind of car company needs some engineers with experience and they've hired a bunch of Detroit veterans at their facility in Rochester Hills, MI.

[Source: BusinessWeek, thanks to Darryl for the tip!]

Up until now, we've had the price breakdown of Tesla Motors' products as follows:

• 2007-2008 Roadster - $92,000-$100,000
• 2010 WhiteStar - $50,000
• 2013 (?) sedan compact - $30,00

Obviously, with the WhiteStar and the later sedan compact not ready until a few years down the road, things are likely to change. And change they have. CNet is reporting that the base price for the standard WhiteStar will remain "close" to $50,000, but the premium model will run ya between $65,000 and $70,000. And for the extra twenty grand, you get a faster 0-60 time (by only by .7 seconds. Yes, that's point-seven Tesla has let us know it's going to be more than .7 seconds the performance specs are not yet finalized, but that the higher-end version will be able to accelerate quicker and have a higher range. David Vespremi, Tesla's Director of Public Relations, tells us that, "the difference between the two is analogous to a base 5 series and M5 - so the implication that we misled anyone by increasing the
price is not accurate. From inception, WhiteStar has always been planned - and talked about - as a platform on which we would have both a base model and a higher-spec variant (at a corresponding higher price)." I hope by using his own words I can stop making mistakes) and other upgrades. We'll know more the closer we get to the 2010ish WhiteStar release date.

Click through to CNet to see how a $65,000 car fits in the American auto market.

UPDATE: Sorry for the errors there, folks. Trying to write too quickly today.
UPDATE 2: Added more clarifications, because I can't seem to get things right today.

Related:

• Tesla officially declares Albuquerque to be WhiteStar, USA

[Source: CNet]

As my fellow blogger Sam pointed out recently, Darryl Siry, Vice President of Marketing for Tesla Motors, recently wrote on their site's blog that "The Media Need to Toughen Up on the Subject of EVs". This is true on many levels, and it could be argued that the media needs to toughen up when it comes to reporting in general. But, this is not the subject of this particular editorial. But, in the spirit of doing exactly what he asked the media to do, let's consider some of the hard questions facing hopeful electric vehicle manufacturers in the coming years.

Darryl mentioned, as did Tesla Motors CEO Martin Eberhard in Sam's interview, that Tesla perceives themselves as different than other new electric vehicle manufacturers. Indeed, they see themselves as more like GM, Ford, Toyota and Nissan. Are they? I am not sure, as they have yet to produce a single vehicle for public consumption, as compared to the almost too numerous to mention vehicles those other companies have sold. This begs the question, is Tesla getting ahead of themselves? Are they really competing directly with GM and Toyota?

Continue reading my thoughts after the break.

AutoblogGreen interviewed Tesla Motors CEO Martin Eberhard for AutoblogGreen Podcast #1. We covered what's happening with testing of the Roadster, development and manufacturing of the WhiteStar sedan and more. This is a transcript of that interview.

ABG: This is Sam Abuelsamid from AutoblogGreen and I'm talking today with Martin Eberhard, who is the CEO of Tesla Motors. And for anybody who's been following AutoblogGreen, I'm sure you're familiar with Tesla Motors, but why don't we start off first, Martin, I'd like to thank you for joining us today and sharing what's going on with Tesla. And why don't we start off by giving a little bit of background on yourself and how you got involved in this project.

Martin Eberhard: Well, thanks, I'm glad to join you. I started off I guess as a consumer, somebody who was looking to buy a car that was a fun car to drive but also getting more and more concerned about the gasoline consumption of my driving. And I got interested in electric cars just about when the zero emissions mandate was about to be wiped out and so I was considering some of the electric cars that were on the market. I didn't particularly like them, but I thought about maybe I would convince myself to get one. And just about when I had talked myself into that, they disappeared from the market. I looked at some of the smaller electric car companies that you write about in your blog and none of those guys were I guess at that point actually producing any cars that you could buy. You know, a couple of them spent some time for example with AC Propulsion and I tried to convince them to build me a Tzero, unsuccessfully. And after a while I found that there weren't really any companies out there that were trying to make a real car company out of decent electric cars. Eventually, I managed to talk myself into doing it myself.

Continue reading the ABG interview with Martin Eberhard after the jump to learn more about the Roadster, batteries and WhiteStar.

The bidding war is over, and Albuquerque, New Mexico is now officially the location of the new WhiteStar electric sedan factory. This location is not a complete surprise, as we reported two days ago, but I'm sure folks in North Carolina and elsewhere are disappointed.

The WhiteStar plant will employ 400 people, and Governor Richardson is glad to report they will be "high wage" jobs that pay between $24,000 and $100,000 a year, and have "excellent benefits and stock options." Construction on the plant will start, at the latest, by April. There's no word on when the first WhiteStars will roll off the line, but Tesla Motors has never been a company that moves slow.

Tesla's official notice on the plant opening is here.

Related:

• New Mexico official reportedly preparing for Tesla to open factory in Albuquerque
• Tesla close to deciding on a location for new factory

[Source: Tesla Motors]

The San Jose Mercury News is reporting that the first Silicon Valley based car-maker is close to selecting a location for a factory to build their second model (WhiteStar). By early March they are expected to choose between two sites with one being the East Bay city of Pittsburg. They are looking at all the usual issues that come with such a decision, such as labor costs, distance from suppliers and of course the single most important factor, the tax breaks they get from the local and state governments. Albuquerque, NM is reportedly the other finalist, with the state of New Mexico offering up $20 million in bribes, incentives. The Tesla roadster will be assembled by Lotus at their plant in Hethel, England alongside the Elise upon which it is based. The WhiteStar sedan that is being developed at the new Michigan Tech Center, will be assembled at the new plant.

Related:

• Tesla WhiteStar plant coming to ... somewhere in America
• Official announcement on Tesla's Michigan Technical Center

[Source: San Jose Mercury News]

Michigan may have received the nod for Tesla's new Technical Center, but the location of the factory where future Tesla models will be built remains unknown. According to the Greensboro News-Record in North Carolina, the town of Alamance has been offering itself up like a, well, like a place ready for Tesla. But Tesla Motors CEO Martin Eberhard won't tell where the plant will be, only that California, New Mexico and Arizona are the current frontrunners. Wherever this plant sets up shop, it'll make up to 13,000 of the upcoming WhiteStar sedans a year. In a nicely worded understatement, Eberhard told the News-Record that the WhiteStar is a four-door sedan that's less costly than the Roadster and a little less "hot." No kidding.

The regular production Roadster will start its life later this year in overseas plants, at a rate of a "few thousand" a year.



[Source: Michelle Jarboe and Donald W. Patterson / Greensboro News-Record]