Google Might Be Investing in Electric Cars

Tesla wants to go public. But the electric car company, loved by California celebrities and nerds alike, had to first bare all to the SEC. So now we know Tesla is funded by a mysterious front company linked to Google. More »

Tesla Motors Moneyman Revs His Mouth on Camera

A mysterious video of a Tesla investor talking about a rumored investment in the company has popped up on YouTube. Valleywag has identified the blabbermouth: Victor Morgenstern, chairman of a Chicago private-equity fund. More »

Schwarzenegger Wants to Terminate His Tesla Roadster

When Tesla Motors launched its all-electric Roadster sports car, celebrities lined up to order one — including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now we hear he's been trying to return it for months. More »

Tesla CEO in Digital Witch Hunt

Enraged by leaks at his troubled Silicon Valley electric carmaker, CEO Elon Musk cooked up a sophisticated electronic scheme to catch the blabbers. It backfired hilariously on the brilliant entrepreneur, who's a bit blabby himself. More »

Why Tesla's Elon Musk Could Be the New Preston Tucker

Tesla Motors, the best hope of Silicon Valley's nascent clean-transportation industry, is headed over a financial cliff. The only question is how many customers the electric sportscar maker will take for a ride. More »

Tesla to borrow $40 million from investors

The slow-motion crash of Tesla Motors continues. Last week, an insider revealed the electric-car maker, once the best hope of Silicon Valley's nascent clean-transportation industry, had only $9 million in the bank. Now, Elon Musk, the investor who recently deposed the company's CEO, claims the company has commitments for another $40 million in financing from some of its current investors, a group which includes Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and former eBay president Jeff Skoll. But that money is debt, not equity. More »

Tesla CEO admits his carmaker's running out of cash

Tesla Motors, the automaker which is Silicon Valley's best hope to build an electric-car industry, will run out of cash in three months if it does not raise new financing. CEO Elon Musk has confirmed Valleywag's report that it has spent most of its customers' deposits and is running low on cash. In an interview with Reuters, CEO Elon Musk conceded that the company only has $9 million in the bank, as a concerned Tesla employee told us yesterday. Tesla's contract with customers specifies that deposits can be used for "working capital" — but last I checked, "working capital" means liquidity available to a company. It does not mean "money that has gone out the door." So Tesla may arguably be in breach of contract with the 1,200 customers who have put between $5,000 and $60,000 down for its Tesla Roadster. Tesla has only delivered 50 cars. More »