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Tesla selling like gangbusters in China

"Will it play in Peoria?" asks the age-old question about how Broadway shows would be received in Middle America. Well, apparently Tesla Motors plays well in Beijing. It's part of Tesla chief Elon Musk's grand plan, of course. The California-based maker of the battery-electric Model S has delivered about 1,000 of the vehicles in China since shipments started there in April, Bloomberg News says, citing Dougherty & Co. analyst Andrea James, Barclays Plc analyst Brian Johnson and Wedbush Securities analyst Craig Irwin. Tesla also started shipping its first right-had drive Model S sedans to the UK in June. It is estimated that all those deliveries helped push Tesla's second-quarter global vehicle deliveries close to the 7,550 mark, which is more than the company forecast and would set a new quarterly record (Tesla's second-quarter results will be announced later today). It would also mark about a 45 percent jump from Tesla's 2Q sales a year ago. The Model S is priced at about $120,000 US in China (the culprits include the top-of-the-line battery pack as standard equipment and steep taxes that the government charges on vehicle imports) but that hasn't swayed status-conscious buyers from footing the bill, apparently. Tesla declined to comment on the China sales estimate when contacted by AutoblogGreen but we may learn more later today.

Elon Musk buys James Bond's Lotus submarine, wants to install Tesla powerplant

Remember when we reported the long-lost-but-found-again Lotus Esprit submarine used in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me had sold at auction in London for $966,560 (well, $863,000 plus a 12-percent buyer's premium)? At the time, the buyer's identity remained a mystery, but Jalopnik has reported and confirmed that the man with money to burn is none other than billionaire Elon Musk, CEO of both Tesla Motors and SpaceX. What's even more shocking (maybe not for Musk) is that he wants to install a Tesla electric powertrain in it and make it transform into a road-going car.
The story of the submersible Lotus' journey from movie star to prized possession of the eccentric Musk is remarkable. After filming ended in the '70s, the car was shipped to Long Island, NY and placed in a storage container that was paid in advance by the studio for 10 years. After the money ran out, the contents of the container were sold off Storage Wars-style in 1989 and won by an area couple. It was shown in public on occasion throughout the years, but its value remained a mystery until the gavel fell in London last month. While far from the most valuable Bond car to be auctioned off (that honor goes to the Aston Martin DB5 used in Goldfinger and Thunderball, which sold for $4.6 million at auction in 2010), the Lotus submarine is definitely the most unique.
Also worth noting is that the Lotus sub is more than just a prop. Without the aid of CGI, the film's producers needed an actual submarine that looked like a Lotus Esprit, and so they hired a company called Perry Oceanographic in Florida to build it and hired former US Navy Seal Don Griffin to pilot the sub during the film.

Tesla Announces Details Of Proposed Gigafactory Battery Plant

It's another day and electric automaker Tesla Motors is in the news once again. Tesla announced Wednesday that they will be offering $1.6 billion in convertible senior notes to the public. According to the press release, Tesla will use these funds to assist in "the development and production of its 'Gen III' mass market vehicle, the development of the Tesla Gigafactory and other general corporate purposes." The "Gigafactory" is a proposed lithium-ion battery plant that will sit on an estimated 500-1000 acres of land, employ around 6,500 employees and have an estimated vehicle output of 500,000 units per year in 2020, according to the automaker. That amount of vehicles will require an estimated 50 gigawatt hours of energy per year in battery pack production. That's more energy in lithium-ion batteries than was produced globally in 2013. Construction of the Gigafactory is anticipated to take place during 2014 and all of 2015, followed by equipment installation in 2016. First production launch is scheduled for 2017. In keeping with the environmentally friendly theme, the Gigafactory will be "heavily powered" by both solar and wind energy, and according to our colleagues at Autoblog Green, "will also use older Tesla packs for storage." Tesla still hasn't announced in which state the factory will be built, but it has been narrowed down to four: Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas. More details can be read in this PDF document released by Tesla and in the press release below. TESLA ANNOUNCES $1.6 BILLION CONVERTIBLE NOTES OFFERING WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2014 PALO ALTO, Calif., February 26, 2014 – Tesla announced today an offering of $1.6 billion aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes in an underwritten registered public offering. Of the total offering, Tesla will offer $800 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2019 and $800 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2021. In addition, Tesla intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $120 million in aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2019 and an additional $120 million in aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2021, for a total potential offering size of up to $1.84 billion. Tesla intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to accelerate the growth of its business in the U.S.