Tesla Motors

Tesla Motors Inc. reported a larger-than-expected loss in the fourth quarter, but its revenue of $306 million beat expectations. For the three months that ended Dec. 31, the electric car maker said it lost $90 million, or 79 cents a share. Excluding one-time charges, the company posted a loss of $75 million, or 65 cents; analysts had expected a loss of 53 cents a share. The results released Wednesday were considered decent but not stellar for the Palo Alto, Calif., company, and shares fell 99 cents, or 2.6%, to $37.55 in after-hours trading.

Tesla Motors Inc. reported another good-not-great quarter, renewing concerns about its ability to quickly churn out enough electric vehicles to sustain the company for the long term. The company plans to ramp up the introduction of Tesla Model S cars to consumers worldwide, saying it was "on a journey" this year to expand the line and turn profitable, Chairman Elon Musk and Chief Financial Officer Deepak Ahuja wrote in a letter to shareholders Wednesday. "Our intention is not to make customers wait six months for a car," Musk said in a call with analysts.

The Tesla Model S may be a silent car, but other automakers will no doubt hear it coming. In its first crack at a premium sedan, the Silicon Valley electric-car maker has matched or beaten the likes of the Audi A7 or Mercedes-Benz CLS - products of a century of German engineering. Similarly packaged as a sleek four-door coupe, the Model S delivers the performance and polish implied by its $89,770 price. All that's missing is the roar of internal combustion. Ask the folks at Tesla Motors Inc. how they pulled this off and they'll say Tesla isn't a car company.

Nov. 9, 2012 update: Tesla has responded to several of these issues. Please see below for details. Beyond the all-electric drivetrain on the Tesla Model S, a host of interior gadgets makes the car unique - most notably the giant in-dash screen, for navigating both the Web and the highways. But we've noticed a few electronic gremlins so far in our weeklong test drive. Without warning or provocation, the lower part of the dash display suddenly developed an odd pixelation glitch (see above photo)

Electric car company Tesla Motors Inc. is rapidly increasing its ability to turn out cars but is still losing money. The Palo Alto automaker said Monday that it lost $105 million in the third quarter compared with $65 million in the same period a year earlier.  But the company's revenue jumped 88% to $50 million as it starts to deliver its Model S luxury electric hatchback to customers. Tesla built just 350 cars and delivered only 250 to customers during the third quarter, but the company is now producing cars at its factory in Fremont at a rate of about 200 a week, or 10,000 annually.

Re "Tesla sparks dealer ire," Oct. 26 The car dealers and their legal mouthpieces are trying to pull the same shenanigans with Tesla Motors, which sells its cars directly to consumers instead of through franchisees, that the liquor distribution cartel has been doing to small-time brewers and distillers in most states with the mandatory three-tier system. I've got something for these big businesses to try on for size: their beloved free market. They want influence in the courts and state legislatures when it benefits only them, which is the exact opposite of the free market.

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.

Electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc. cut its revenue projections as supplier problems and production delays hurt sales of its Model S sporty hatchback. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday, the Palo Alto automaker said it has had trouble producing the number of vehicles it anticipated since launching production of the car in June. Tesla said it will generate $44 million to $46 million in third-quarter sales, compared with the roughly $80 million analysts had projected based on the company's production goals.

Maybe most recognizable for sharp, crudely drawn comics explaining dog behavior or the music industry , Web comic strip the Oatmeal has moved into the fundraising arena with a recent campaign in support of a Nikola Tesla museum in Shoreham, N.Y. The comic's creator Matthew Inman called Tesla, the Serbian American inventor of alternating current,  "the greatest geek who ever lived" in a recent strip (which, be forewarned, features the...

Here's a novel idea for an automaker: Open stores in an area where people are not shopping for cars. That's the strategy of Tesla Motors, the builder of high-end electric cars. The Palo Alto automaker opened its 12th North American store and second in Southern California on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica on Friday. It's flanked by an Adidas store and Club Monaco, a trendy apparel seller. Parking is a block away in a public garage. Think Apple rather than Chevrolet.