2013 Tesla Model S Performance Sedan 4d on 2040-cars

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Tesla dropped to 'junk bond' status by S&P

While Tesla Motors' Model S is a piece of pristine, well-designed metal, the company's bonds have now been rated as "junk." But maybe that's better than the other way around. We'll let the investors decide. Standard & Poor's gave Tesla's bonds a 'B-' rating this week, indicating so-called "junk status," Automotive News says. That means investors are saying the company has a relatively high chance of defaulting on its loans. S&P cites Tesla's short history, competition from some very large companies and relatively narrow product line (none of which are new facts), and estimates that investors would be able to recover 30 to 50 cents on the dollar should the company default. Tesla has been issuing billions of dollars in bonds this year to raise funds for its planned gigafactory somewhere in the southwestern US, a project that Tesla estimated will cost $5 billion ($2 billion from Tesla, $3 billion from partners). Tesla said earlier this month that it took a first-quarter loss of $49.8 million, compared to year-earlier net income of $11.2 million. While revenue rose 10 percent to $620.5 million, selling and administrative costs more than doubled while research and development costs jumped 48 percent. And while Tesla's share price has doubled during the past 12 months (it's at around $209 today), the company's liabilities doubled to $3.52 billion from the beginning of the year to the end of the first quarter. There's a short video on the situation from CNN Money below.

Tour a Tesla showroom, get inside Model S on Google Street View

Even in the US states (like Texas) where Tesla is not able to sell cars at one of its stores, residents can now visit a virtual EV sales space. Thanks to Google Street View and the company's high-tech cameras, a digital visit to a Tesla store in Seattle on Westlake Avenue is now possible by clicking here. A slightly misshapen exterior view is available here. Tesla Tweeted its excitement about the virtual visitor's pass – fitting for a company that has to sell some of its vehicles online – and so we spent some time clicking around in the studio. It's so immersive we almost wanted to knock on the restroom doors and touch the exposed battery pack "skateboard" in the back room. Go ahead and tour the showroom in Street View here, and see if you can figure out how to climb inside one of the Model S EVs parked inside (it's possible). We've put together a gallery of screen grabs of our favorite odd-looking and stretched images from the store as well as a fun example of how this just doesn't quite compare with being there (day turns to night instantly, if you click just right around the red Model S). Still, it's fun. If you'd like to visit another plug-in vehicle in a dealership, check out this Chevy Volt at Bachman Chevrolet. Or, why not, the Nissan Engine Museum here. Anyone got other, similar options?

Walk around the Tesla Model X EV

The Tesla Model X alighted on the Panasonic stand at the Consumer Electronics Show. We're still waiting on the production version of the falcon-doored, three-row crossover so this is the pre-production prototype that's been making the rounds for a while; Engadget sat in it two years ago, in fact. But between the two videos we've included here we now have a complete loop around the X and a skim of the inside of the dual-motored, all-wheel-drive crossover. We also get to see the falcon doors in action framing those "work of art" back seats. Also neat, a dash display shows 237 miles of range at about 80 percent charge. Despite the fact that the vehicle itself isn't brand new, it does hold some secrets. Some folks were warned off of filming the interior, for example, and that's why the Techno Buffalo piece below keeps its distance. With deliveries said to begin at the end of next year or early next year, we should be getting much closer to it soon. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: Tech Video via YouTube, Green Car Reports Green CES Tesla Crossover Electric Luxury Videos