Saturday, December 22, 2007

xFruits - 21st Century Sustainable Technology - 15 new items

Earth2Tech Week in Review  

2007-12-22 20:40

Craig Rubens - Misc


In case the trivialities of the holiday season had you preoccupied, we’ve rounded up this week’s important tech news for you. So grab some eggnog, put on some sunglasses, and get excited for a potential set of Tesla keys under the tree. Meanwhile, the never-ending story of the Energy Bill has come to a resolution finally and officially.

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EVS23: A ride on the Brammo Enertia electric motorcycle? Sweet (video)  

2007-12-22 20:17

Sebastian Blanco - Aaron-Bland

Filed under: , , ,



Covering a conference like EVS23 can be a bit draining. There is so much to try and capture and post on that by the end of the event, I'm looking forwards to falling asleep in my cramped airplane seat on the way home. The last day of EVS23, though, brought with it a special treat: a chance to test out the Brammo Enertia all-electric motorcycle (see video above). With shadows still long on the parking lot pavement, Brammo's lead engineer, Aaron Bland, guided me through the bike's capabilities and gave me some riding tips. Ever since I crashed a Vespa back in high school, I have trepidations on any two-wheeled device that's not a bicycle, but this thing felt good. Not to spoil the surprise, but I'll admit right at the start that if I were to ever buy a motorcycle, the Enertia would be a serious contender for my wallet's contents.

Anyway, back to the ride. Aaron drove around the parking lot a few times. Of all the people at Brammo (and, indeed, the planet), he said, he's the guy who has put the most miles on the Enertia bikes, which, as you can guess, means he hates his job. Once I filmed a few scenes of the bike in action, it was my own turn at the handlebars.

Aaron warned me that the bike might jump at the start, because its throttle map is one of the key sticking points that needs to be resolved before the production model is unleashed on the world sometime next year. Even with his warning, and me moving my hand ever so slightly, the bike did hop a bit as I started. It wasn't uncomfortable or scary, just a "hup!", and then I was on my way.

More, much more, after the jump.

Gallery: EVS23: Brammo Enertia motorcycle



Covering a conference like EVS23 can be a bit draining. There is so much to try and capture and post on that by the end of the event, I'm looking forwards to falling asleep in my cramped airplane seat on the way home. The last day of EVS23, though, brought with it a special treat: a chance to test out the Brammo Enertia all-electric motorcycle (see video above). With shadows still long on the parking lot pavement, Brammo's lead engineer, Aaron Bland, guided me through the bike's capabilities and gave me some riding tips. Ever since I crashed a Vespa back in high school, I have trepidations on any two-wheeled device that's not a bicycle, but this thing felt good. Not to spoil the surprise, but I'll admit right at the start that if I were to ever buy a motorcycle, the Enertia would be a serious contender for my wallet's contents.

Anyway, back to the ride. Aaron drove around the parking lot a few times. Of all the people at Brammo (and, indeed, the planet), he said, he's the guy who has put the most miles on the Enertia bikes, which, as you can guess, means he hates his job. Once I filmed a few scenes of the bike in action, it was my own turn at the handlebars.

Aaron warned me that the bike might jump at the start, because its throttle map is one of the key sticking points that needs to be resolved before the production model is unleashed on the world sometime next year. Even with his warning, and me moving my hand ever so slightly, the bike did hop a bit as I started. It wasn't uncomfortable or scary, just a "hup!", and then I was on my way.

More, much more, after the jump.

Gallery: EVS23: Brammo Enertia motorcycle

 

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XR-3 three-wheeled hybrid can be yours for $170, materials and lots...  

2007-12-22 17:57

Sebastian Blanco - hybrid-kit

Filed under: , , ,



Here's an update for all of you who read AutoblogGreen with grease-covered hands: the plans for the XR-3, the hybrid (or PHEV) kit car from Robert Q. Riley, are now available. For just $170, you could receive:

15 or more D-size (24 x 36 inch) drawing sheets and a construction/technical manual of approximately 120-150 pages with approximately 150 photos and illustrations.
The XR-3 Deluxe Plans Package is priced at $200. The Deluxe version includes everything from the Standard version plus a CD-ROM and DVD. The CD-ROM will include electronic 2D CAD files (SolidWorks e-Drawing files and dxf files), 3D models in SolidWorks e-Drawing formats, links to free viewers, and a construction manual set up to run in a web browser with click-to-enlarge color photos, video clips, iges files for CNC machining, and more. The DVD will have 1 to 1-1/2 hours of video of the vehicle being built.

Sound like fun? You can get a better idea of what could be in your future by seeing (on Windows only) how the Front Wheel and Knuckle Assembly model comes together. The XR-3, as you can see above and in the gallery below, is a three-wheeled vehicle. Riley's website says the builder has great flexibility in choosing the powertrain, but the prototype's front wheels are powered by an ICE while the one back wheel is electric. According to Riley:

Proper phase-in between the two power systems is handled by a simple throttle mechanism, and a dash-mounted switch to select between ICE power, electric power, and dual power modes. In the dual power mode, the XR-3 will have lots of burst power for outstanding acceleration. If you were to use this acceleration potential to its fullest, fuel economy would be reduced to something on the order of 150 mpg over a 70 mile trip. Fuel economy will vary according the particular components chosen for the power system, and how heavy you are on the throttle pedal.

Think you've got what it takes to build-your-own? There's nothing to stop you now.

Gallery: XR-3 Kit Hybrid


[Source: XR-3 Hybrid website via Jalopnik]

 

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Birds not the only beneficiaries from switch to biodiesel in Rhode...  

2007-12-22 16:04

Sebastian Blanco - biodiesel

Filed under: ,

Save $3,000 a year using biodiesel? That's attractive, but no the only benefit for a bird sanctuary in Rhode Island. By switching to the biofuel to heat two buildings and to power a tractor, the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown not only saved money last year but also, according to Robert Cardeiro, executive director of the Sanctuary, found a "natural fit."

"It was so easy and such a good thing for us to do that it made perfect sense for us to use biodiesel," Cardeiro told the Newport Daily News. "Why wouldn't we?"

The benefits go beyond the environment. Newport Biodiesel, a local producer that was looking for more space, gets to use some land at the Sanctuary to produce the biofuel (made from "recycled cooking grease collected from Aquidneck Island restaurants") in exchange for giving some of it to the Sanctuary. Talk about a win-win. Or is that a win-win-win?

[Source: Christine McCall / Newport Daily News]

 

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Pelosi to EPA head on CA waiver denial: "I vigorously disagree with...  

2007-12-22 14:10

Lascelles Linton - CA

Filed under: ,

EPA Johnson

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, chimed in on the head of the EPA, Stephen Johnson's, decision to deny California's waiver request to regulate tailpipe emissions. Pelosi really disagrees with Johnson and supports an inquiry into the decision. Here is part of a letter to Stephen from Pelosi:

I vigorously disagree with your rationale for that decision and I strongly support the inquiry into your decision-making process announced by Congressman Henry Waxman, the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. In particular, I find implausible your inference that the passage this week of the "Energy Independence and Security Act" eliminated the need for the waiver requested by California. Surely you and others in the Bush Administration were aware that the Congress rejected requests from the Administration to waive the Environmental Protection Agency's longstanding authority to regulate emissions and to grant states waivers under the Clean Air Act. Citing the passage of our new law as a justification for denying California's request defies the legislative history as well as the explicit language of the "Energy Independence and Security Act."

It's just not Johnson's week.

Related:
[Source: House.gov]

 

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No Joy in Mudville  

2007-12-22 12:09

Art Vatsky - aiam

Filed under: ,

I attended a luncheon where Michael J. Stanton, President and CEO of the Association of American Manufacturers, Inc (AIAM) was the speaker. AIAM represents 14 firms who import and/or build vehicles in the U.S. The biggest, by far, are Toyota, Honda and Nissan, followed by Subaru, Kia, Hyundai and several others, including Ferrari. As Stanton stated, "Our member firms produce 31 percent of the vehicles made in the US and 40 percent of those sold." Stanton acknowledged that the new law will raise fuel economy standards to 35 MPG by 2020 which will decrease CO2 emissions compared to current (that is, 32 year old) legislation. Sadly though, if signing the Energy Bill was a victory and something to celebrate, that celebration is mainly happening in Detroit and Farm Belt corporate offices. It will also resound in the executive suites of OPEC member nations.

Mr. Stanton's celebratory comments extended to the EPA decision to not grant the California CO2 waiver. The AIAM is apparently satisfied with some CO2 reduction but not too much. He raised the canard that it is not good business to have two U.S. standards for fuel economy. However, he did not mention that AIAM is already busily responding to EU and Asian fuel efficiency standards or that, if there is to be one US standard, why not choose the tighter one - the California standard that 16 other states have already agreed to accept - worth about 43 MPG by 2016? (Actually, the info packets distributed included a comment that 95 percent of the vehicles made by AIAM members already meet current CA standards.) Or, since CO2 is a world-wide problem, why not combine all the various continental standards into one global standard so that no nation's drivers overly burden the world's atmosphere. After all, we all share the same air. Finally, if we cease meeting different national standards, the combined engineering power should be able to reach a very high but reasonable efficiency standard.

I still think that driving is mainly about getting somewhere comfortably using the fewest resources. Improving fuel economy seems to be a wise investment in keeping the US auto industry alive. If we make them for a world market who knows, maybe we could export a few?

 

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Peugeot to new EU CO2regulations: Bring it on!  

2007-12-22 10:17

Sam Abuelsamid - european-carbon-dioxide-limits

Filed under: , ,



While Volkswagen and other carmakers have been complaining bitterly about the new European CO2 emissions limits and the penalties for not meeting them, at least one company is saying "Bring it on!". Peugeot is reminding people that their 308 HDi 90 emits only 120g/km of CO2. The 308 is a C-class hatchback similar in size to a Ford Focus equipped with a 90hp 1.6L turbodiesel. On the EU highway cycle it achieves 61.9mpg (U.S.) which is far better than any similarly-sized car in the US market. Peugeot is well on its way to meeting the new rules and their German competitors better get with the program or it's going to cost them a bundle.

[Source: Peugeot]

21st December 2007

THE PEUGEOT 308 GOES FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
  • Peugeot 308 HDi 90 only emits 120g/km of CO2
  • Already over 100,000 examples produced
  • Priced from only £11,995 on-the-road

With stories on CO2 emissions filling the media, customers purchasing one of Peugeot's new 308 HDi 90 models can feel happy they are driving a family car that emits only 120 g/km of CO2.

The Peugeot 308 HDi 90 is one of the newest members of the Peugeot 308 range which was launched in September this year, and has already seen over 100,000 models produced.

The 308 HDi 90 is available in both three and five door versions and in two trim levels. It is powered by a 1.6 litre HDi diesel engine which produces a maximum power of 90 bhp and a maximum torque of 161 lb ft at only 1750 rpm. This state of the art diesel engine combines both great driveability with low fuel consumption (74.34 mpg - Extra Urban drive cycle) and very low CO2 emissions of 120g/km.

With fuel prices steadily rising, understanding the costs involved in running a car become more important. Therefore purchasing a new Peugeot 308 HDi 90 with its low emissions (Vehicle Excise Duty of only £35) and its ability to travel over 800 miles on a tank full of fuel, makes perfect sense.

 

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Popular Mechanics test-drive the Aptera and comes back impressed  

2007-12-22 08:29

Xavier Navarro - 300mpg

Filed under: , , ,



So, Popular Mechanics' senior automotive editor Ben Stewart is a lucky man. He recently drove for 20 miles in the Aptera's teardrop-shaped new electric car. He filmed the drive and got 10 inside-scoop shots. He came back very impressed.

Stewart writes about two Aptera models that are almost production-ready at $30,000 and below: for next year, get ready for the all-electric, 120-mile-range Typ-1 e (this is what Stewart drove); then, by 2009, look for the range-extended gasoline hybrid Typ-1 h, which Aptera says will hit 300 mpg.

The article shows photos from the manufacturing process, analysing construction techniques and design features, such as the 0.11 Cx aerodynamic drag. It also has information on the batteries and capacitors used to boost power. As for the design, Stewart says that the Aptera got more attention than anything he had driven.

Read it yourself.

Gallery: Aptera


[Source: Popular Mechanics, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

 

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Drive a Ford Truck? That'd better not be a scooter in the bed!  

2007-12-21 20:17

Jeremy Korzeniewski - built ford tough

Filed under: , ,



"Built Ford Tough is a mantra for truck and owner alike. F-Series leaves no room for compromise. It's reputation for toughness has been earned on the farms, work sites and roads across America. So, if you're going to drive the toughest truck, then you've got a responsibility to man-up and do your part. There's a code of conduct when you're behind the wheel of an F-Series. We're here to enforce it. We're here to protect and serve the brand."

So says Ford with it's "Built Ford Tough Rules" team. Not compromising apparently means no scooters. Rule number 2 excludes transporting scooters from acceptable Ford F-Series truck usage. We imagine that those who ride or rebuild scooters might need a truck to transport them. If that is the case, you'd better look at a brand other than Ford for your needs.

PS - We do realize that this is satire. We're aren't really offended : )

[Source: Ford via Autoblog]

 

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EPA and Accion offer truckers microloans for SmartWay fuel efficiency...  

2007-12-21 19:33

Xavier Navarro - EPA

Filed under: , ,

The EPA and Accion (a non-profit organisation in New York and New Jersey) have created a partnership to provide long-haul truckers with microloans with special conditions. The agreement comes under EPA's SmartWay program, which aims to reduce pollution generated by road freight.

With these microloans, truckers will be able to improve long-haul trucks by acquiring the SmartWay Upgrade Kit. What's in the kit? Well, ways to reduce idling, add low rolling resistance tires, move to advanced aerodynamics, and upgrade the truck's exhaust after-treatment devices. This will allow truckers to reduce emissions and spend less money on fuel. The microloans also helps drivers keep credit ratings intact.

Related:
[Source: Accion]

 

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Chevron Sued Over Green Washing  

2007-12-21 19:16

Craig Rubens - Big Green


A $6 million lawsuit has been filed against Chevron Technology Ventures, the oil giant’s technology investment and commercialization arm, over what was proposed to be one of the largest biodiesel plants in North America. Houston-based Standard Renewable Energy is alleging that Chevron breached their limited partnership agreement, undermining the project and causing revenue losses. The suit also claims that while Chevron used its involvement to “green wash” their media image they withheld financial and technical assistance. Green washing involves the exaggeration and misrepresentation of a company’s commitment and actions to be environmentally conscious.

"We strongly refute claims laid out in the suit," Chevron spokesman Donald Campbell told the Galveston Daily News. Chevron is a minority partner in the project; it has invested in the plant five separate times over the last two years, amounting to a 22 percent stake. Construction cost overruns have plagued the project and the construction firm, J.M. Davidson Inc., says it’s owed $4.2 million. Chevron, meanwhile, insists that it is not obligated to invest any more money into the plant. This comes after Chevron CTO Donal Paul told us that when it comes to fuel startups, "Scale-up is the key."

With biofuel production falling on hard times, perhaps the Galveston plant could grace our ongoing biofuel obituary series. The plant, located in Galveston, Texas, is run by BioSelect Fuels, a subsidiary of Standard Renewable Energy. The plant currently produces about 20 million gallons of biodiesel. Plans had been to increase production to 60 million gallons by the fall of 2007 and up to 110 million gallons by 2008, which would have made it one of largest facilities in the country.

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Possible Saab 9-1X sketch?  

2007-12-21 18:49

Jeremy Korzeniewski - 9-1x

Filed under: , , , ,



Is that an AMC Gremlin that I see in profile above? Nope... it's a sketch from TopSpeed of what the impending new Saab 9-1X could look like. We've seen some other possible drawings of what shape the new Swedish beauty might take, and all of them have a few peculiar design elements. Saab is known as a "quirky" brand due to their unusual tendencies like placing the ignition between the seats and offering a "blackout" option for the instruments. In fact, many Saab loyalists have been upset with the direction the company has taken after being acquired by General Motors, as their vehicles are losing their "edge," so to speak. If drawings like the one above prove at all accurate, though, we'd expect that those same loyalists will be back on the Saab wagon soon enough... but are there enough of them around to make Saab cater to them as opposed to the masses? We could find out as soon as the 2008 London Motor Show, according to TopSpeed. Along with the funky new look, diesel and hybrid powertrains may also be a part of the equation. Don't forget that Saab is big into E85 with their BioPower vehicles too.

[Source: TopSpeed via Winding Road]

 

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Big Green Business of Cellphone Recycling  

2007-12-21 17:03

Craig Rubens - Energy


Phones In 2007, 60 percent of all cellphones purchased worldwide will be replacement phones, according to a new report from ABI Research. The report, entitled “Handset Recycling and Refurbishment,” makes clear that this huge turnover is also a huge economic opportunity — it forecasts that by 2012, the market for recycled handsets will generate over $3 billion in revenue.

By weight, a cellular phone is about 25 percent metal, mostly copper, but also considerable amounts of silver, gold, palladium, and platinum. Yet in 2003, only 1 percent of discarded handsets were recycled.

cell phone break downHandsets simply have not been designed to be easily recycled. The current “recycling” process all-too often involves simply burning the plastic casings away so that precious metals can be pried out by hand. Handset manufacturers, however, are getting better, and the ABI report specifically sites the efforts of Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG, all of whom are designing mobile phones that are easier to recycle and contain a minimum of hazardous elements.

All of this bodes well for the growing e-waste recyclers. Handset-specific recyclers, like ReCellular, Fonebak, and Eazyfone are flourishing in a niche market while bigger recyclers like BuyMyTronics are constantly adding more recyclable devices to their list.

Good thing, too: A Geological Survey Fact Sheet estimates that by 2009 there will be 2.6 billion handsets in use globally, with 1 billion units sold in that year alone. We have a lot of handset recycling ahead of us.

cell phone life cycle

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Orion and the Fluorescent Renaissance  

2007-12-21 14:00

Kevin Kelleher - Big Green


Tired of the same old ethanol and solar-panel stocks? The word in some quarters, including a recent appraisal from Investors Business Daily, is that an up-and-coming trend is…fluorescent light bulbs.

Snicker if you must, but that notion is receiving some validation this week on Wall Street with the successful IPO of Orion Energy Systems (OESX). Orion, a 13-year-old company based in Plymouth, Wisc., went public Wednesday at $13 a share and promptly shot up 65 percent to $21.41 at the end of its first day of trading. On Thursday, it pulled back a bit, to close at $19.85 — but that level was still 53 percent above its offer price.

That’s the best post-IPO performance of any company going public in more than a month, and not bad for a company braving the markets a week before the IPO dead zone known as the holiday season. NetSuite did it, as did Orion; but shares of the others, including Gushan, which went public this week with a cloud or two hanging over it, is basically flat with its $9 a share offering price.

What’s the big deal about fluorescent lights, which have been making complexions look ashen and mottled in millions of offices for decades? They have gotten brighter and throw off more natural light, powerful enough to light up cavernous spaces, while remaining much cheaper and energy efficient than the standard high-intensity discharge lights. As IBD summed it up:

Fluorescent lamps … have traditionally been used only for ceilings lower than 15 feet or so. For big rooms — like warehouses and factory floors — they’re too dim and diffuse. Orion, though, offers high-intensity fluorescent, or HIF, lighting. Thanks to technological fiddling, HIF is bright enough to light even humongous indoor spaces.

All told, Orion has installed 971,000 HIF lighting systems. Many of the customers who need to light up such large spaces are Fortune 500 companies. Indeed, Orion has installed its systems inside 78 of them, including Coca-Cola, General Electric, and Toyota. A graphic at the top of its prospectus lists a dozen or so additional big brands: Anheuser-Busch, The Gap, Kroger, Pepsico, Crate & Barrel, and so on.

In addition, Orion sells its InteLite intelligent lighting controls and the Apollo Light Pipe, which uses lenses to collect and focuses daylight into a facility in a way that consumes no electricity.

Orion pitches itself as equal parts green play and cost-cutting tool. A flash image on its site — a takeoff on Times Square’s National Debt Clock or the Census Bureau’s population clock — ticks off both dollars and carbon dioxide. In six years, Orion claims to have saved companies $262.5 million and removed 6.8 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.

Somehow, I’m doubting that it was those numbers that got investors interested in Orion’s IPO. Instead, it was strong revenue growth rates year after year, along with a recent rise in profit margins across the board. Both of those bode well for Orion’s future financial performance.

Profit Margins at Orion Are Rising

After growing 53 percent in fiscal 2006 and 45 percent in fiscal 2007, revenue at Orion rose 73 percent in the six months through Sept. 30, 2007. Along with that accelerated growth rate, the company is seeing margins rise: Operating margin went to 10 percent in the last six months from 2.5 percent a year ago.

Orion is a small but growing player in a developing sector. One only needs to look at the stock of LED maker Cree (CREE) — so far this year it’s gone from $15 to $34 and back down to $22 — to see the risks that could lie ahead for Orion. Divergent expectations can make for a volatile stock. But for now, Orion is having a good run right out of the gates.

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Tesla's Chairman and New CEO Talk Transmission Snags and Raising...  

2007-12-21 08:00

Katie Fehrenbacher - Startups


The two people most responsible for helping Tesla get its first car to its customers look and sound a bit overwhelmed. Chairman Elon Musk calls into an interview with Earth2Tech from his home, sick enough that he says he held meetings the day before with an ice pack held to his forehead. Ze'ev Drori, Tesla's new CEO, only two weeks into the job, describes his first weeks to us as "a lot of activity, and a lot of things to be done."

It's not surprising that the Silicon Valley electric car company’s executives are working like Santa's elves on Christmas Eve. They've set a goal of getting the company's first vehicle -– the Roadster -– to a limited amount of customers in the first quarter of 2008. To meet that deadline they are overcoming a technology snag: the transmission. Two suppliers failed to make Tesla's transmission up to snuff, the executives say, and the company is now working with new companies in the hopes of figuring out a fix fast. The first cars they ship will actually have an interim, one-speed transmission, which the company will swap out for a two-speed transmission.

It's not a hiccup without a financial consequence, either. Musk tells us that Tesla is raising an internal round from himself and other current investors of $40 million that will close next month. (The company has already raised over $100 million in funding). And Musk tells us to think of the early limited Tesla's with the interim transmission as the software version of "public beta." The company hopes that it will move into full production in the second half of 2008.

And that's not to mention that Drori is the third CEO in the last several months. He replaced the interim CEO, who in turn replaced founder Martin Eberhard, who wasn't exactly happy about the abrupt transition. But the craziness is all to get the flashy, sleek, electric sports car into the hands of its first celebrity customers. Here's an edited excerpt of our interview with Tesla's Elon Musk and Ze'ev Drori: teslaimage1.jpg
















Q. You've been the CEO for two weeks, what's your first impression?

Ze'ev: There is a lot of activity, and a lot of things to be done. And we are doing it. We will get the car out there into the hands of our customers.

Q. So you guys are on schedule with the car, first quarter of 2008?

Ze'ev: Yes.

Elon: The primary schedule driver is the transmission. We had two suppliers in a row fail to deliver and so we are on our third now, actually we are running multiple paths, so that is driving our schedule. We will have limited production of cars in the first half of next year, but it will be quite limited, a very small trickle of cars, and then full production in the later half of the year.

Q. What is limited vs. full production?

Elon: It is a little too early to say, but it will not be a large number. Those cars will have a transmission which is not the final transmission. It will have an interim transmission. It will still be safe, but it won't have the performance characteristics that we promised. And there may be some durability issues, not something that is made to last 10 years, but it should be fine for several months.

We'll have to swap that out, and we don't want to make a whole bunch of cars with that transmission. But it will give us some good feedback for real-world driving conditions. All the crash tests and safety tests are done. One might think of this as a public beta, if it were software.

Q. Will that swapping out those transmissions take a significant amount of investment that wasn't planned on?

Elon: It will require more investment than expected, yes. And so myself and other current investors are doing a substantial internal round right now. It will be $40 million dollars. It will close next month.

Q. It was big news that the CEO left and you joined Tesla. What was your reasoning to join?

Ze'ev: I decided to join because I think Tesla is one of the most exciting startups that I've seen in recent memory. Imagine being on the forefront of technology, serving both the nation and the world in fact, with an environmentally friendly vehicle that can free ourselves from the dependency of foreign oil. I can’t think of anything more exciting than that.

Q. Do you have a comment on the CEO transition process?

Ze'ev: It is not unusual for CEOs to leave in the lifespan of the company. CEOs are very good at the start-up, but not good at the middle stage or as the company becomes much larger. Very seldom you find a CEO who is good for all three phases. The founder of the company was a very talented engineer and he served very well.

Q. If there is an exit for an alternative car startup like Tesla, what would it be?

Elon: I wouldn't call it an exit, but from the standpoint of achieving liquidity the plan is to do an IPO at some point. But I would expect to sell a very limited number of shares at this point. This is very much a long-term effort.

Q. What kind of sales down the line does the company need to reach profitability?

Elon: For the profitability on the Roadster, I would say 2009, so not very far away. But bear in mind, we will be doing additional products, in particular the Sedan, which we are working on right now. That will be an order of magnitude more cars and higher production than the Roadster. The Roadster will be 2,000 a year when we reach mass production and the Sedan will be on the order of 10,000 to 20,000 units per year.

So from a profitability standpoint for the company, we'd have to think of the first full year of production of when WhiteStar took place. And that is dependent on the WhiteStar schedule. Perhaps on the order of three years or four years from now. But for Roadster, 2009 probably.

Q. Were you surprised that the car would be delayed by technical issues to such an extent?

Elon: Well, it is pretty normal I suppose for new technology, particularly for things that are pretty revolutionary, to get delayed. And I guess it didn't come as a huge surprise. It is delayed more than I would like. So maybe it is more of a surprise than I would like.

Overall I think where we are right now, is that we have a handle on the fundamental technologies. We have the vexing problem with the transmission, it is not an inherently difficult item, but if you have two suppliers screw the pooch on you…

We've got to solve this transmission problem, we've got to make sure that we're keeping our costs under control and that we're tackling the various challenges to get into production.

Ze’ev: When you develop a new technology, you do expect some delays. The surprise was that the relatively simple thing is the thing that really tripped us in terms of the delivery time. Not the complicated thing, the technology that we control, we have that mastered and are OK. But the transmission is the thing that tripped us.

Q. Do you see yourself as overthrowing Detroit? How does Tesla fit into the traditional auto industry?

Elon: Well, it is not really overthrowing Detroit, but to help steer Detroit in the direction of electric cars. If our goal was to overthrow Detroit, we wouldn't be talking to them about supplying them with electric drive trains. We really want to be helpful with Detroit. Anything we can do to accelerate the number of electric miles driven and make that revolution to happen faster.

But we don't expect that we are going to be a serious competitive threat to the major car companies certainly for a very long time. Just consider the scale that we are at. There are 17 million cars bought in North America a year, and how many will Tesla be making a year even with the WhiteStar volume? Maybe 20,000 a year. Maybe with our third car maybe we'll be at 300,000 to a half a million, which would be pretty incredible. That is still a small percentage of the cars sold in the country.

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Posted by Chad S at 8:59 PM

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