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Weekly Recap: The cost of Tesla's ambitious plans for growth

Tesla has ambitious plans for growth, and they won't come cheap. The electric-car maker said this week it plans to spend $1.5 billion in 2015 to expand production capacity, launch the Model X crossover and continue work on its Gigafactory, which is being built outside of Reno, NV. The company is also investing in its stores, service centers and charging network, which is expected to grow by more than 50 percent this year. Plus, it's still working on the Model 3, which is scheduled to arrive in 2017. "We're going to spend staggering amounts of money on [capital expenditures]," Tesla chairman and CEO Elon Musk said on an investor call. He then added: "For a good reason. And with a great ROI [return on investment]." They're bold plans, and Musk is clearly willing to put Tesla's money where his mouth is. That's why the company is projecting a whopping 70-percent increase in deliveries this year, for a total of 55,000 cars. A large chunk of that growth will come from the addition of the Model X crossover to Tesla's portfolio, and the company already has nearly 20,000 reservations for it. More than 30 Model X prototypes have been built, and it is expected to begin shipping to customers this summer. Musk said he's "highly confident" the vehicle, which has experienced delays, will arrive on time. The company also had more than 10,000 orders for the Model S at the start of the year. The big spending plans caused a stir, even though Tesla spent $369 million on capital expenditures in the fourth quarter alone. In a note to investors, Morgan Stanley analysts called the costs required to keep pace with Tesla's demand "eye-wateringly high," and said the $1.5-billion figure was nearly double their expectations. Still, Musk is not thinking small and suggested that his company could be as big in 10 years as Apple is now if Tesla's growth continues. His optimism comes as the company actually reported a $294-million net loss in 2014, more than its $74-million loss in 2013. The money, however, continues to roll in, and total revenues increased to $3.2 billion in 2014, up from $2 billion in 2013 and a dramatic surge from $413 million in 2012. More of the same is expected this year, and the company could reach $6 billion in revenue. As Morgan Stanley noted, it "seems Tesla is preparing to be a much larger company than we have forecasted." It's certainly spending that way.

Tesla will deliver 70 percent more vehicles in 2015

While everyone would still like Tesla Motors to announce monthly sales numbers, at least we now have the latest quarterly delivery figures from the all-electric automaker. Tesla says it delivered 9,834 vehicles in the last quarter of 2014 and built 11,627 vehicles. Tesla says the production delays for the new, dual-motor P85D version of the Model S pushed some deliveries back to the first quarter of 2015. That 11,627 is a record number of vehicles made in any quarter for the automaker and it helped Tesla hit its stated goal of building 35,000 vehicles in 2014. In its latest shareholder letter released today, Tesla said it expects to increase its number of vehicle deliveries by more than 70 percent in 2015. That includes the Model S as well as the upcoming Model X, which is going to start deliveries within the next six months. At the start of 2015, Tesla says, it had "over 10,000 orders for Model S and almost 20,000 reservations for Model X." The company says that over 30 beta versions of the X have been built and are being tested. We saw one just the other day, in fact. Regarding reports of low Model S sales in China, the letter says, "Despite initial challenges in China, we remain convinced of the vast potential of this market and are concentrating our efforts on the cities we are in currently, before launching into new cities." Tesla also reported a loss of $107.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. The company said it had a loss of 86 cents per share. Losses, adjusted for non-recurring costs and stock option expense, were 13 cents per share. The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 25 cents per share. The electric car maker posted revenue of $1.1 billion in the period, which also fell short of Street forecasts. Analysts expected $1.19 billion, according to Zacks. The automaker says its fourth-quarter profits fell from the impact of a strong dollar and delayed vehicle shipments. TSLA was down $3.49 today, a drop of 1.61 percent, to $212.80. The stock is up slightly more than 8 percent in the last 12 months but shares dropped two percent to $208.65 in aftermarket trading. View 11 Photos The AP contributed to this report.

Elon Musk is NOT happy with just 150 Model S sales in China in January

There's been some debate about how Tesla is really doing in China - a cornerstone market for the California company - and whether media stories about troubles there are overblowing the situation. Just last July it was breaking quarterly records with the help of 1,000 sales in China and we called the momentum "gangbusters." Then the news trend went the opposite direction for the rest of the year, with the company's two top managers resigning and a constant rill of speculative articles laying out the various issues Tesla was having there and why it's switching up its disclosures. Well, the issue might be overblown, but there is definitely something brewing in China. Reuters was shown a transcript of an e-mail Elon Musk sent to regional managers at the end of January after they sold 120 cars for the month. Those 120 sales were on the heels of "unexpectedly weak" sales in Q4 last year, when Musk said the China situation would "be in pretty good shape probably in the middle of" 2015. In the missive he said managers could be fired or demoted if they can't show that they're "on a clear path to positive long-term cash flow." He also wrote that that specialized roles and any personnel outside of vehicle production would need to be justified because, "There is no way that we can afford to subsidize a region of any size in the long term without causing serious harm to the company." In 2013, when Tesla was ramping up for sales in China, Musk predicted that market would be about on par with the US by this year; Tesla sold almost 19,000 cars in the US last year, and a 120-unit January won't get China anywhere near those numbers. We're sure there'll be a lot of questions about the e-mail, the Chinese market, and Tesla's projections when the company holds a conference call for analysts after presenting its 2014 results later today. For one in-country assessment of Tesla's troubles, check out this piece on Car News China. We reached out to Tesla about the China email, but were told the company had no comment.

Recharge Wrap-up: Mirai earns Toyota "Most Innovative" honor, Tesla cold-weather range

A Tesla driver has graphed the effect of cold weather on the driving range of his Model S. Rob at Teslarati kept track of the amount of miles driven and energy used and mapped that against temperature readings to find how the colder temperatures affect efficiency. The results were an average of 10 miles of range lost for every 10-degree drop in temperature. Also, he calculated that drivers will lose about 25 percent more range when the roads are slippery. Read more at Teslarati. Albany Engineered Composites (AEC) is teaming with automotive engineering and consulting company Ricardo to provide lightweight components to the automotive industry. AEC produces composites for the aerospace industry, and having proven themselves in that field, they show promise for helping automakers make their cars lighter and more efficient without sacrificing structural integrity. "The agreement announced today is excellent news for our global automotive customers as we work to find further weight reductions in vehicles to meet future CO2 reductions," says Ricardo CEO Mark Garrett. With carbon composite prices expected to drop, Garrett believes this is an "attractive solution" for structural components. Read more at Ricardo's website. Toyota Motor Europe (TME) wants to recover all of its hybrid batteries for remanufacturing. TME currently recovers 91 percent of Toyota and Lexus batteries at the end of the vehicles' lives through dealerships, and is now working with independent end-of-life vehicle treatment operators to recover the rest. Beyond just being recycled, Toyota is looking into remanufacturing batteries for other vehicles or for stationary energy storage systems. Read more in the press release below. Fast Company Magazine has recognized Toyota as one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies for 2015 for its Mirai fuel cell sedan. "Toyota plans to do for fuel cells what its Prius did for hybrids: make them ubiquitous and top of mind for environmentally conscious consumers," says Fast Company. The article also notes that Toyota has also made its fuel cell patent public and invested in hydrogen fueling infrastructure. Toyota is ranked number 18 in the Most Innovative list, just below Tesla. Read more at Fast Company.

Connecticut might allow direct Tesla sales

Add Connecticut to the list of states that may let Tesla Motors sell its electric vehicles directly to the public without third-party dealerships. And add Connecticut dealership organizations to the list of groups decrying such an allowance. The cold weather has no impact on that rather heated discussion, apparently. Late last week, Connecticut legislators discussed the possibility of exempting Tesla from the current state law requiring a third-party distributor to sell cars, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Tesla, which already has a vehicle-repair facility in Milford, may be allowed to have a handful of dealerships throughout the Nutmeg State. The issue gained momentum last month when Art Linares, a Republican senator from Connecticut, had to go to a dealership in White Plains, NY, to buy his Tesla Model S. That effort has given credence to the argument that the state is losing business and revenue-collecting opportunities by forcing buyers to go to neighboring states such as New York or Massachusetts to shop for and ultimately buy a Tesla. Earlier this month, Arizona's House Commerce Committee moved a little closer to allowing direct Tesla sales there by voting in favor of House Bill 2216. States like Texas, Michigan and New Jersey remain holdouts in preserving the current dealership laws and preventing direct Tesla sales.

Why Tesla Model X is late (hint, it could be the falcon doors)

Watching Tesla Motors first show off its Model X SUV at a blingy event three years ago, this reporter heard a lot of "oohs" and "ahhs" when the car's falcon-winged rear doors reached for the sky. Now, those doors are likely causing the automaker's engineers to emit a lot of "args" and, likely, a bunch of unprintables. Such is the price of progress. Initially slated to start production in late 2013, Tesla has pushed back production of the Model X to sometime this year. Company CEO Elon Musk has already said that the doors are a challenge, but Green Car Reports talked with some unnamed suppliers to learn more about how, exactly, those doors are creating delays. It turns out, those heavy doors require large torsion springs that need to be perfected. Additionally, making sure the door seals are sufficient, as well as ensuring that those doors can withstand enough abuse to give the Model X a top safety rating are also keeping the SUV from going into production. Last November, Musk, responding to a question from Goldman Sachs' Patrick Archambault, confirmed that the Model X would have a third-quarter 2015 launch, and that the doors were causing much of the delay. Additional issues have popped up with the production of the model's second row of seats and the company's efforts to replace the Model X's side mirrors with video cameras – which would improve aerodynamics (always key for an electric vehicle's single-charge range) – are being stymied by rules that say mirrors are still required for safety.

Arizona may soon allow direct Tesla EV sales

Arizona was one of a handful of states in the southwestern US to lose out on getting Tesla Motors' massive gigafactory (Nevada won those honors last year). But one can't exactly accuse state legislators of being sore losers. That's because some Arizona politicos are looking to free up state laws and allow for direct automaker-to-consumer sales for the electric vehicles, says Hybrid Cars. Last week, Arizona's House Commerce Committee voted in favor House Bill (HB 2216), which gets the state at least one step towards the approval of Tesla sales. The catch is that, for one, Tesla can't have an established relationship with a dealer (we don't think that's an issue), and, two, Tesla will have to build a service center in Arizona for repairs, recalls or warranty issues. "Consumers should be allowed the choice of how they wish to purchase their vehicles and the Commerce Committee vote validates that choice," Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson wrote in an e-mail to AutoblogGreen. "Tesla looks forward to working with legislators as this bill moves through the legislative process." For now, though, Arizona remains in the same boat as Michigan (home to the Big Three US automakers), Texas (which is fiercely protective of its existing dealership interests) and New Jersey in barring Tesla sales within its borders. A number of other states, such as Georgia and Connecticut, continue to be in play in terms of working on laws that may allow for Tesla to sell to its citizens.

Credit Suisse says Tesla remains 'top stock pick'

Plunking down $100,000-plus on a Tesla Model S? A dubious (though probably really fun) investment. Spending about $218 on a share of the company? That might be a far better bet. Credit Suisse Group called Tesla a "top stock pick" in the automotive industry earlier this week. The selling point is the company's battery technology and the prospect of falling lithium-ion battery costs from the gigafactory Tesla is building in Nevada. Specifically, Tesla may be able to bring down battery costs enough to make its electric vehicles price-competitive with conventional vehicles by 2017, all while saving the typical driver about $2,000 in annual refueling costs (excluding any extra spending on tires thanks to a yippee quotient that comes with driving a Model S). Also pushing up Credit Suisse' value of the company is the upcoming introduction of the Model X SUV. Credit Suisse, which has a $325 target price on the company, is making the recommendation after a wild years of ups and downs that ended up with TSLA stock almost exactly where it was 12 months ago (it's actually down about a dollar). That said, shares have jumped more than tenfold since the California-based company went public in 2010, so it's been a very good buy for the long-term investor. Featured Gallery Tesla Model S View 10 Photos News Source: Bidnessetc Green Tesla Electric

Elon Musk says Apple offering $250,000 signing bonus to poach Tesla employees

The talent pool in Silicon Valley is filled with sharks. Google, Apple, Oracle, eBay, Amazon, Nvidia, Adobe, HP and Electronic Arts all draw from the finite workforce of northern California, so unsurprisingly, competition for new hires is extremely fierce. Elon Musk, founder of Tesla Motors, offers proof of that, claiming that Silicon Valley stalwart Apple has offered his employees whopping $250,000 signing bonuses and 60-percent pay increases. But don't worry, Tesla is just as guilty of poaching Apple's employees. Bloomberg has the interesting story that focuses not so much on the inter-hiring between the two companies, but on their similarities, which includes drawing parallels between their mercurial – some may say iconoclastic – founders. It all makes for fascinating reading, giving insight into the games played between top employers in one of the country's most competitive job markets. Head over and have a look. Related Video:

Why stories of low Tesla Model S sales should be salted

Trying to guess Tesla Model S sales in the US has become a parlor game of sorts. Thing is, it's a game not worth playing, Daily Kanban says. We're on board with that. Guessing Model S sales with any sort of accuracy is difficult, if not impossible, because Tesla, unlike other automakers, doesn't publish monthly sales figures (it only does so quarterly). Additionally, the California-based company lumps its global sales into one quarterly total. That means domestic Model S sales aren't disclosed either. So, when Tesla publishes its 2014 sales figures later this month, that's all the public will know: the 2014 global sales of the Model S. No more, no less. Daily Kanban went on its rant largely because some publications sounded an alarm of sorts by saying Model S sales plunged between December and January. The site also compared estimates by Autodata, Automotive News and Inside EVs with actual US registrations (as captured by Polk Automotive) and basically uncovered a lot of spitting into the wind. For the record, we stopped calculating Model S estimates in our green-car monthly sales estimates because of such lack of transparency. Here's hoping that Tesla eventually starts making its US sales figures public, but until then (and we'll likely be waiting a long time), it's anyone's guess. Featured Gallery 2015 Tesla Model S P85D: Detroit 2015 View 18 Photos News Source: Daily Kanban Green Tesla Electric ev sales