I recently saw this, which looked interesting:
Tesla delivers 500th Roadster to New Jersey man
Kind of cool for a fast little battery powered car. Then today I saw this:
The Energy Department is lending money to the Ford Motor Co. and two other automakers from a $25 billion fund to develop fuel-efficient vehicles, congressional officials say. [...snip...] Nissan has applied for an undisclosed amount of assistance, while Tesla has sought $450 million.
Really? $450M? And they have delivered 500 vehicles to date. At roughly $100,000 per unit, that's a grand total of $50M in revenue. Not income, but revenue. Makes me wonder if they are in the business of making green cars or seeking green from the federal government as their core business. Wouldn't you like to see the business plan that shows how this money is ever going to be paid back? I can imagine the looks I'd get down at the bank if I asked for $9 in loans for every $1 in revenue I'd taken in over the last three years.
Seriously, if it were that good of an idea and Tesla had a business plan that showed a reasonable expectation of a profit, don't you think they could find $450M in private capital, for a product that gets such positive press? But hey, why bother when being green can generate so much green? Even if it is all deficit spending that will probably never be paid back.
Posted by Charles Austin at June 23, 2009 01:38 PM