2021 Tesla Model Y Long Range on 2040-cars

Auto blog

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.

Learn hidden Tesla Model S safety facts from this first responder video

We all know that crashes can happen in a Tesla Model S. What not all of us know is how to approach a smashed vehicle in such a situation. That's where a new video, Emergency Response To Electric Vehicles, with Brock Archer and Ron Moore from Boron Extrication comes in. The training video, put together with the help of Tesla Motors, does not feature any spectacular crash footage (you can get that here) but does cover things like demystifying the dangers of an EV that has crashed in a puddle of water, the way an EV's body structure could fracture while being cut and the basics of electricity flowing through a circuit. It also discusses a few pertinent questions: How do the two electrical systems (12V low-voltage system and the high-voltage powertrain system) affect first responders trying to cut their way into the passenger cabin? Do first responders know all of the different ways an EV tells you if it is currently receiving a charge when it is plugged in? How can you locate the different types of batteries? There's lots here that applies to all EVs in the 37-minute video, not just the Model S, so if you want to know more about how safe - or unsafe - they are after an accident, watch the whole thing below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Auto News Green Tesla Safety Electric Videos first responder

US Senate authorizes DOE green car loan program [UPDATE]

Tesla Motors' crush of Model 3 reservations is fresh in everyone's minds, while Fisker Automotive (or at least its bankruptcy) is a distant memory. That's one explanation for a US Senate with a Republican leadership at one time bashed the Department of Energy's loan program for green-vehicle makers but now, under bipartisan support, the Senate has OK'd about $1.6 billion more to push forward green-vehicle technology, according to Hybrid Cars. The Senate voted to authorize a $1.6-billion federal program. The US Senate voted by about a seven-to-one margin to authorize a $1.6-billion federal program for the DOE's Vehicle Technologies Office program housed under the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). This is a different program from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program, which was last funded in 2007. The feds have been green-lit to spend $339 million per year through 2020 to speed up the development of advanced-technology vehicles. The mission: to get the US new light-duty fleet to meet the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) mandate of a 54.5 miles per gallon average (which is a real-world average of around 40 mpg) by 2025. Four automakers received funding from the ATVM program in the first go-round. The list was: Tesla, Fisker, Ford and Nissan. Specifically, Tesla was loaned $465 million in 2010, and paid that loan back in 2013 – about nine years ahead of time, with interest. On the flip side, the Department of Energy was slated to loan extended-range plug-in vehicle maker Fisker $528 million, but Fisker only received $192 million before the spigot got shut off because of missed deadlines. Fisker collected enough cash to pay down some of the debt, but the government still was stuck with $168 million unpaid. And that got washed out in Fisker's 2013 bankruptcy. Nissan was awarded $1.4 billion and Ford got $5.9 billion. Senator Gary Peters (D-Michigan), one of the authors of the new bill, issued a press release about the new funding, which you can read here. The new ATVM program will also target automotive suppliers. UPDATE: This post has been updated. We inaccurately said that the ATVM had been re-authorized. In fact, the ATVM loan program "has $16 billion in remaining loan authority for automotive or component manufacturers for reequipping, expanding, or establishing manufacturing facilities in the U.S.