Tesla Motors Inc

Tesla, the San Carlos, Calif.-based electric car company, said Tuesday that it had been selected to provide the batteries and chargers for Daimler's Smart EV electric car and would deliver 1,000 of the batteries this year and next. "Daimler just gave me permission this morning to announce the news," said Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, best known as the co-founder of PayPal.

Tesla Motors Inc. is poised to turn a profit for the first time, based on stronger-than-expected sales of its premium electric cars. The Palo Alto automaker sold about 4,750 of its Model S sedans in the first quarter, about 250 more than it projected in February. The automaker on Monday predicted "full profitability" in an amendment to its guidance for first-quarter performance. "There have been many car start-ups over the past several decades, but profitability is what makes a company real," Tesla co-founder and Chief Executive Elon Musk said in a statement.

When electric-car company Tesla Motors Inc. started selling its flagship Model S luxury hatchback earlier this year, it eschewed the traditional dealership network to open its own stores. But that's not sitting well with U.S. auto dealers, who have controlled new-vehicle sales for nearly a century. The nation's roughly 18,000 new-car dealers got a cut of every one of the 12.8 million new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. last year, from the biggest domestic sport-utility vehicle to the tiniest Japanese import.

When electric car maker Coda Automotive Inc. introduces its first model this year, the independent Southern California manufacturer will pioneer a new EV profile: the unassuming four-door five-seater. If cars came in flavors, Coda's debut would be classic vanilla. Understated by design, it's a car for do-gooders who don't need to flaunt their green credentials. Think Honda Civic, only all electric and homegrown. Today, Coda is opening its first-ever storefront on L.A.'s Westside in the Westfield Century City mall.

A plan to sell an electric version of Toyota's RAV4 sport utility vehicle two years from now demonstrates that the alliance between Tesla Motors Inc. and the Japanese automaker is more than just window dressing, analysts said. Tesla and Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday that they were developing the vehicle and that Tesla was working on a fleet of prototypes to begin testing. The venture is the first project announced by the companies since Toyota purchased 3.2% of Tesla for $50 million this year.

Tesla Motors Inc. has yet to deliver the much-touted Model S — the electric sedan it is making at its auto factory in Fremont, Calif. — but that didn't stop the automaker from taking reservations for a sport utility vehicle it doesn't expect to begin selling until 2014. The Palo Alto, Calif., maker of electric vehicles unveiled the Model X, an electric-powered SUV, and said interested buyers could put down a $5,000 deposit to reserve one, though the vehicle's price hasn't been set yet. The Model X looks more like a crossover than a traditional utility and features unusual gull-wing doors that lift up and out. Tesla plans to start manufacturing the vehicle at the end of 2013, with sales to begin the following year.

Tesla Motors Inc., aiming to be the first high-volume electric-car maker, hired a manufacturing chief who led Chrysler's development of the Jeep Wrangler and minivans with fold-flat seats. Michael Donoughe, 49, will become an executive vice president at Tesla. Donoughe was with Chrysler from 1983 until last March.

In the latest chapter of an ongoing battle against traditional dealer networks, Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk has taken his fight to Texas, telling lawmakers his company could sell as many as 2,000 cars next year if allowed to open its own stores. Musk testified Monday before a committee of the Texas Legislature in support of HB 3351 and SB 1659, bills  that would allow U.S.-based manufacturers of 100% electric- or battery-powered vehicles to sell directly to Texas consumers.

Tesla Motors Inc., aiming to be the first high-volume electric car maker, raised $40 million more from Silicon Valley investors to ensure that it could begin production next month after delays and a management shake-up. Tesla is closing the "funding round right now," Chairman Elon Musk said. San Carlos, Calif.-based Tesla collected $100 million earlier from backers including Google Inc. founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and venture capital firms such as Palo Alto-based Technology Partners.