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Technology Stocks : The Electric Car, or MPG "what me worry?" -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric who wrote (874)	1/6/2009 12:49:24 PM
From: Eric	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17519

Just received an email from Tesla Motors a few minutes ago this morning. Here are some clips from it: The Century Mark and Beyond We marked Tesla’s 100th customer delivery in early December. No 100 was Sam Perry, a Silicon Valley business consultant and campaign fundraiser for Barack Obama, who was standing next to Oprah Winfrey in Chicago’s Grant Park on Nov. 4. Oprah – a complete stranger – sobbed on Sam’s shoulder during Obama’s victory speech. Sam joins “Who Killed the Electric Car” writer and director Chris Paine, software engineer and astronomer Bill Arnett and venture capitalist and former Compaq chairman Ben Rosen, who all blog and rave about their driving experiences. Production Update We delivered about 150 Roadsters in 2008, and we plan to ramp up production from 15 per week to about 30 per week later this year. Tesla is no longer just a Silicon Valley startup cranking out interesting prototypes – we’re a legitimate production company and the newest member of the global automotive industry. And we’re racking up positive reviews among serious automotive critics. Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program This fall, Tesla submitted applications for about $400 million in low-interest federal loans through the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program to help fund two future projects: one would help finance the Model S assembly plant, and the other would help finance a powertrain manufacturing facility to expand powertrain sales to other companies. Roadshows All Around Tesla took its “Roadshow” to five cities in 2008: Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Atlanta. These popular events give loyal customers the opportunity to drive Roadsters months before they are expected to take ownership of their own cars. All customers may invite a friend – ideally someone also interested in buying a Roadster! – for a day of fun on a closed course with lots of hairpin turns and straightaways. Though these aren’t instrumented tests by professional drivers, we are sure that many customers have gotten very close to achieving the maximum acceleration of 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds, based on screams from passengers! Upcoming Attractions Later this year, we want to host Roadshows in other regions, and we are working hard on launching service locations in New York, Miami, Chicago and Seattle. We will also be taking part this month in the North American International Auto Show, one of the most important auto industry events worldwide. This will mark the first time Tesla will have a display on the show floor, as befitting our status as a production automaker and the newest member of the global auto industry. Tesla CEO, Chairman and Product Architect Elon Musk is keynoting the annual Society of Automotive Analysts conference on Jan. 13, and Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen will be a judge in the Eyes on Design Awards. We will be staffing our display on the show floor of Cobo Hall starting with the media preview beginning Jan. 11, through the public show, which runs Jan. 17-25. Maybe we’ll see you there!