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Tesla Motors stock breaks $200 mark for first time

It seems not that long ago that the air had been let out of Tesla Motors high-flying stock price. The company didn't adequately thrill the market when it disclosed its third-quarter 2013 financial results last November and TSLA price plummeted quickly enough to trigger a temporary halt to short sales. Immediately after that, the infamous Tenessee CarBQ happened, adding to the loss of altitude. Shares that had been, at one point, worth as much as $193.37 spent the last half of November 2013 bumbling along in the $120 neighborhood. If you had chosen that low point to invest, we imagine you are wearing a very self-satisfied smile today. That's because the TSLA stock has more than reversed all previous losses and reached a high of $201.91. The most dramatic part of that rise came this week as the price saw a gain of $30. By the end of the day today, TSLA settled at $196.62, up just six cents from the close of trading yesterday. Whether or not the stock has been buoyed by anticipation of the upcoming fourth-quarter financial reporting – estimated to happen a week from now – is hard to say. Certainly the fears over future battery supply constraints have been calmed, and we expect the upcoming call to have even more concrete details about the giga-factory. If you think you know the reason for the recent rise, please feel free to share with the rest of the class in the Comments. Featured Gallery Tesla Model S View 24 Photos News Source: NASDAQ Green Tesla Electric tsla nasdaq

What does the open patents deal mean for Tesla ... and BMW?

Gift to the world or trade bait? Tesla Motors announced this week it would open its patents for other automakers to use. That has analysts guessing whether the California-based electric-vehicle maker is looking to either swap trade secrets with other automakers or to expand the proverbial pie that represents the plug-in vehicle market. For its part, Tesla says the answer is B. BMW, which is establishing its i sub-brand of plug-in vehicles, would be a natural collaborator with Tesla, Forbes says. In fact, executives from the two companies met in Europe this week. Details were not released, but a BMW spokesman said, "Both companies are strongly committed to the success of electromobility and discussed how to further strengthen the development of electromobility on an international level." While Tesla brings battery technology to the table, BMW offers its carbon-fiber advancements that lighten vehicle-body weight. Those advancements are key to range-extending efforts and could do wonders for Tesla on its journey to help spur technology for the sake of getting more of the general public to accept plug-in technology as a viable first-car option. Then again, Forbes says Tesla, whose investors include Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler and Toyota, may be keeping its best technologies to itself by not patenting certain advancements at all. What's in Tesla's patent pool? uAutoInsurance analyzed Tesla's 249 patents and found that 104 of them related to battery technology, while 28 pertained to recharging activity, which wasn't surprising (about a quarter of those 249 patents couldn't readily be categorized). Tesla also has nine patents related to sunroof technology. The company is based in California, after all.

Tesla launches Model S in UK, says Euro factory could be upcoming [w/video]

With the first UK deliveries of the 49,900-pound (about $84,000 at today's rates) Tesla Model S completed, it's time for the company to get back to business. For CEO Elon Musk that means discussing a long-anticipated rumor - a dedicated European production facility to build the luxurious EVs from the ground up.
Obviously, though, such a hefty investment would need to be worth the company's while, which is why Musk told Automotive News Europe that sales will need to hit 160,000 units before a factory is considered. The company has recorded over 3,400 sales in Europe during the first four months of 2014, which actually surpasses the 2,000 cars sold in the US.
Tesla currently maintains a factory in the Netherlands, although it only installs batteries in cars shipped from Tesla's Fremont, CA facility, rather than building cars from scratch. The factory, in Tilburg, is set to expand, while a new research and development facility is set to open in the UK in 2015 or 2016, according to Musk.