S-1 1 ds1.htm REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM S-1 Registration Statement on Form S-1
Table of Contents

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 29, 2010

Registration No. 333-                

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

Tesla Motors, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   3711   91-2197729

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

3500 Deer Creek Road

Palo Alto, California 94304

(650) 413-4000

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of Registrant’s principal executive offices)

 

 

Elon Musk

Chief Executive Officer

Tesla Motors, Inc.

3500 Deer Creek Road

Palo Alto, California 94304

(650) 413-4000

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

 

 

Copies to:

 

Larry W. Sonsini

David J. Segre

Mark B. Baudler

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C.

650 Page Mill Road

Palo Alto, California 94304

(650) 493-9300

  

Kevin P. Kennedy

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

2550 Hanover Street

Palo Alto, California 94304

(650) 251-5000

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after this Registration Statement becomes effective.

 

 

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act, check the following box.  ¨

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ¨

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ¨

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Large accelerated filer     ¨    Accelerated filer   ¨
Non-accelerated filer     x  (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)    Smaller reporting company   ¨

 

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

 
Title of Each Class of Securities to be Registered  

Proposed Maximum
Aggregate Offering

Price(1)(2)

 

Amount of
Registration

Fee

Common Stock, $0.001 par value

  $100,000,000   $7,130
 
 
(1) Estimated solely for the purpose of computing the amount of the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
(2) Includes shares the underwriters have the option to purchase to cover over-allotments, if any.

 

 

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission acting pursuant to said Section 8(a) may determine.

 

 

 

 


Table of Contents

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell nor does it seek an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED JANUARY 29, 2010

             Shares

LOGO

Common Stock

 

 

This is an initial public offering of shares of common stock of Tesla Motors, Inc.

Tesla Motors is offering             of the shares to be sold in the offering. The selling stockholders identified in this prospectus are offering an additional              shares. Tesla Motors will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the shares being sold by the selling stockholders.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for the common stock. It is currently estimated that the initial public offering price per share will be between $             and $            .

Application has been made for listing on the              under the symbol “    ”.

See the section entitled “Risk Factors” on page 13 to read about factors you should consider before buying shares of the common stock.

 

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any other regulatory body has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

     Per Share    Total

Initial public offering price

   $                 $             

Underwriting discount

   $      $  

Proceeds, before expenses, to Tesla Motors

   $      $  

Proceeds, before expenses, to the selling stockholders

   $      $  

 

 

To the extent that the underwriters sell more than             shares of common stock, the underwriters have the option to purchase up to an additional              shares from Tesla Motors and              shares from the selling stockholders at the initial public offering price less the underwriting discount.

 

 

The underwriters expect to deliver the shares against payment in New York, New York on                     , 2010.

 

Goldman, Sachs & Co.   Morgan Stanley   J.P. Morgan   Deutsche Bank Securities

 

 

Prospectus dated                      , 2010


Table of Contents

LOGO


Table of Contents

LOGO


Table of Contents

LOGO


Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

     Page

Prospectus Summary

   1

The Offering

   8

Summary Consolidated Financial Data

   10

Risk Factors

   13

Special Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

   52

Market, Industry and Other Data

   52

Use of Proceeds

   53

Dividend Policy

   54

Capitalization

   55

Dilution

   57

Selected Consolidated Financial Data

   59

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

   61

Business

   89

Management

   122

Executive Compensation

   129

Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions

   150

Principal and Selling Stockholders

   156

Description of Capital Stock

   159

Shares Eligible for Future Sale

   164

Material United States Tax Considerations for Non-United States Holders

   166

Underwriting

   169

Legal Matters

   173

Experts

   173

Where You Can Find Additional Information

   173

Index to Consolidated Financial Statements

   F-1

 

 

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus and in any free writing prospectus. We, the underwriters and the selling stockholders have not authorized anyone to provide you with information different from that contained in this prospectus. We, the underwriters and the selling stockholders are offering to sell, and seeking offers to buy, shares of our common stock only in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted. The information in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date of this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any sale of shares of our common stock.

Neither we, the selling stockholders, nor any of the underwriters have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the shares of common stock and the distribution of this prospectus outside of the United States.

 

i


Table of Contents

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this prospectus. You should read the following summary together with the more detailed information appearing in this prospectus, including “Selected Consolidated Financial Data,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Risk Factors,” “Business” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes before deciding whether to purchase shares of our capital stock. Unless the context otherwise requires, the terms “Tesla Motors,” “Tesla,” “the Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” in this prospectus refer to Tesla Motors, Inc., and its subsidiaries and “Tesla store” means Tesla retail locations as well as Tesla galleries where we show potential customers our vehicles but do not consummate sales.

Overview

We design, manufacture and sell high-performance fully electric vehicles and advanced electric vehicle powertrain components. We have intentionally departed from the traditional automotive industry model by both exclusively focusing on electric powertrain technology and owning our vehicle sales and service network. We are the first and currently only company to commercially produce a federally-compliant highway-capable electric vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, which combines a market-leading range on a single charge with attractive design, driving performance and zero tailpipe emissions. Introducing the Tesla Roadster required us to develop a proprietary electric powertrain that incorporates four key components—an advanced battery pack, power electronics module, high-efficiency motor and extensive control software. We believe our core intellectual property contained within our electric powertrain will form the foundation for our planned future vehicles. Since our team combines the innovation and speed to market characteristics of Silicon Valley firms with the experience of leading automotive companies, we believe that we will be able to rapidly and cost effectively introduce additional vehicles, such as our planned Tesla Model S sedan, and stay at the forefront of the electric automobile industry.

We operate in a fundamentally different manner and structure than traditional automobile manufacturers to pursue what we believe is a historic opportunity – to create an integrated company which successfully commercializes electric vehicles without compromising on range, performance or styling. In addition to designing and manufacturing our vehicles, we sell and service them through our own sales and service network. This is different from the incumbent automobile companies in the United States who typically franchise their sales and service. We believe our approach will enable us to operate more cost effectively, provide a better experience for our customers and incorporate customer feedback more quickly into our product development and manufacturing processes. We are continuing to expand our distribution network globally and currently operate a total of 10 Tesla stores in North America and Europe.

The Tesla Roadster, our first vehicle, showcases our technology and illustrates our leadership in electric vehicle innovation. Introduced in 2008, the Tesla Roadster can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds, but produces zero tailpipe emissions. The Tesla Roadster has a battery pack capable of storing approximately 53 kilowatt-hours of usable energy, almost double the energy of any other commercially available electric vehicle battery pack. The Tesla Roadster has a range of 236 miles on a single charge, as determined by an independent third party using the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s, or EPA’s, combined two-cycle city/highway test. Recently, the EPA announced its intention to develop and establish new energy efficiency testing methodologies for electric vehicles, which we believe could result in a significant decrease to the advertised ranges of all electric vehicles, including ours. The Tesla Roadster reportedly set a new world distance record of 313 miles for a production electric car in a rally across Australia as part of the 2009 Global Green Challenge. To date, our customers have driven their Tesla Roadsters an estimated 3.0 million miles.

 

 

1


Table of Contents

As of December 31, 2009 we had sold 937 Tesla Roadsters to customers in 18 countries. In July 2009, less than one year after the date of the commercial introduction of the Tesla Roadster, we introduced a new Roadster model, the Tesla Roadster 2, with improved electric powertrain performance and interior styling, and lower production costs. At the same time we introduced the Roadster Sport, which accelerates from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.7 seconds. We delivered our first right-hand drive version of the Tesla Roadster in January 2010, which we believe further demonstrates our ability to rapidly launch new products.

We intend to continue to develop our electric powertrain technology and introduce additional vehicles, such as our planned Model S sedan. We are designing the Model S to be a four door, five passenger premium sedan that offers exceptional performance, functionality and attractive styling with zero tailpipe emissions at a compelling cost of ownership. We are designing the Model S to include a third row with two rear-facing child seats, subject to applicable safety regulations and requirements, allowing us to offer a seven passenger sedan. The drivable early prototype of the Model S was revealed to the public in March 2009 and despite a limited marketing effort, as of December 31, 2009, we had received approximately 2,000 customer reservations with a minimum refundable payment of $5,000.

The Model S, which is planned to compete in the premium sedan market, is intended to have a significantly broader customer base than the Tesla Roadster. We currently intend to begin volume production of the Model S in 2012 with a target annual production of up to approximately 20,000 cars per year. We currently anticipate introducing the base Model S at an effective price of $49,900 in the United States, assuming and after giving effect to the continuation of a currently available United States federal tax credit of $7,500 for the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles. Even without this tax credit, we believe the Model S will be competitive from a pricing perspective with other premium sedans.

In order to meet customer range expectations, we are designing the planned Model S to offer a variety of range options from 160 miles to 300 miles on a single charge, as projected using the EPA’s combined two-cycle city/highway test. The EPA has announced its intention to develop and establish new energy efficiency testing methodologies for electric vehicles, which we believe could result in a significant decrease to the advertised ranges of all electric vehicles, including ours. The Model S is being designed to be charged at home, but we are also planning to offer the capability to fast charge the vehicle in as little as forty-five minutes at commercial charging stations that we anticipate may be available in the future. The Model S battery pack is also being designed with the capability of being rapidly swapped out at specialized commercial battery pack exchange facilities that we anticipate may be available in the future.

We are designing the Model S to have an adaptable platform architecture and common electric powertrain in order to allow us to efficiently create other electric vehicles, which may include a sport utility vehicle, commercial van or a coupe. By developing our future vehicles from this common platform, we believe we can reduce their development time, and therefore reduce the required additional capital investment. Our long-term goal is to offer consumers a full range of electric vehicles, including a product line at a lower price point than the planned Model S.

We have developed a purpose-built electric powertrain to deliver the performance objectives of the Tesla Roadster and our planned future vehicles. The battery pack has been designed to use high volume lithium-ion battery cells and allows for flexibility with respect to specific lithium-ion chemistry and battery cell manufacturers. This enables us to leverage the significant investments being made globally by the battery industry to improve battery cell performance and lower cost. Harnessing the energy of a large number of lithium-ion battery cells into an electric vehicle required us to develop sophisticated battery cooling, power, safety and management systems. Delivering the instant power and torque of electric technology also required us to develop a proprietary alternating current 3-phase induction motor and its associated power electronics. In addition, we developed extensive software systems to manage the overall efficiency, safety and controls of the

 

 

2


Table of Contents

Tesla Roadster and our planned future vehicles. These technology innovations have resulted in an extensive intellectual property portfolio. By utilizing a combination of standard components and innovative technology, we believe we have engineered what is currently the lowest cost battery pack when measured as a function of cost per kilowatt-hour.

Our electric powertrain is modular and compact, with fewer moving parts than an internal combustion engine, which we believe will enable us to easily adapt the technology to a variety of vehicle applications. We have developed a relationship with Daimler AG, or Daimler, since March 2008 to apply our technology in a battery pack and charger for Daimler’s Smart fortwo electric vehicle. We have been selected by Daimler to supply it with up to 1,000 battery packs and chargers to support a trial of the Smart fortwo electric vehicle in five European cities. We began shipping the first of these battery packs and chargers in November 2009 and started to recognize revenue for these sales in the quarter ended December 31, 2009. We intend to expand our electric powertrain production facility in Palo Alto, California to develop and market powertrain components to Daimler and other automobile manufacturers.

We have entered into a $465.0 million long-term loan under the United States Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program which will be used to finance the development of a planned integrated manufacturing facility for the Model S as well as our electric powertrain production facility. We also have been granted up to approximately $31 million in tax incentives by the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority. We believe these loans and incentives will help accelerate the time to volume production for both the planned Model S and our electric powertrain business. In addition, we believe these loans and incentives provide us significant long-term financing that should enable us to focus more of our resources on the execution of our business plans.

We were incorporated in 2003 and began selling the Tesla Roadster in 2008. As of December 31, 2009 we had 514 employees worldwide.

Since inception through September 30, 2009, we have generated $108.2 million in revenue. As of September 30, 2009, we had an accumulated deficit of $236.4 million and had experienced net losses of $30.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2006, $78.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2007, $82.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, and $31.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009.

Industry Overview

We believe incumbent automobile manufacturers are at a crossroads and face significant industry-wide challenges. The reliance on the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine as the principal automobile powertrain technology has raised environmental concerns, created dependence among industrialized and developing nations on oil largely imported from foreign nations and exposed consumers to volatile fuel prices. In addition, we believe the legacy investments made by incumbent automobile manufacturers in manufacturing and technology related to the internal combustion engine have to date inhibited rapid innovation in alternative fuel powertrain technologies.

We believe that shifting consumer preferences together with increasing government regulation and incentives will result in significant growth in the market for electric vehicles. We believe many consumers are increasingly willing to consider buying electric-based vehicles due to the environmental, economic and national security consequences of using gasoline-powered vehicles, as demonstrated by the increased sales of hybrid electric vehicles in recent years. We also believe government regulations and incentives are accelerating the growth of the electric vehicle market. Many governments in countries throughout the world are regulating vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards and offering incentives to consumers to purchase more energy efficient vehicles. According to Frost & Sullivan, a business research and consulting firm, the market for electric-

 

 

3


Table of Contents

based vehicles, which includes electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, is expected to grow to approximately 10.6 million units worldwide, or approximately 14% of new vehicles sold by 2015 from approximately 1.75 million units or 3% of new vehicles sold in 2008.

We believe incumbent automobile manufacturers face significant challenges that will continue to inhibit their ability to capitalize fully on the electric vehicle opportunity, including:

 

   

Dependence on the Internal Combustion Engine. We believe many incumbent automobile manufacturers have to date failed to aggressively pursue alternative fuel vehicle programs because of their continued need to invest in internal combustion engine technologies that support their existing revenue base and core competencies.

 

   

Limited Electric Powertrain Expertise. To date, many incumbent automobile manufacturers have pursued multiple alternative fuel programs and, in doing so, have outsourced key components of alternative fuel powertrain development. By exploring a diverse range of alternative fuel programs while simultaneously continuing to invest in the internal combustion engine, we believe incumbent automobile manufacturers have diluted their efforts to build competencies in a specific alternative fuel powertrain technology such as electric powertrains.

 

   

Profitability Pressures and Reduced Operating Flexibility. Many incumbent automobile manufacturers have recently faced deteriorating margins and liquidity, which we believe has significantly reduced their operating flexibility and their ability to invest in alternative fuel programs that they may not view as their core business.

 

   

Long and Expensive New Product Development Process. New product launches by incumbent automobile manufacturers from development to production are often lengthy and require significant capital investments.

Despite the automobile industry’s challenges, incumbent automobile manufacturers have attempted over time to respond to shifting consumer desires and government mandates by incorporating elements of electric propulsion into their vehicles by introducing hybrid powertrains. Although hybrid electric vehicles address some of the concerns associated with the historical reliance on the internal combustion engine, we believe they are a transitional technology between internal combustion engine vehicles and fully electric vehicles. The increased complexity and weight of the dual powertrain system inherent in hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles forces engineering compromises which result in a less energy efficient vehicle and generally limits performance. Consequently, these hybrid vehicles do not realize the full benefits of electric propulsion, and still consume gasoline and produce emissions. While incumbent automobile manufacturers may recognize the benefits of electric propulsion, we believe that due to technology limitations and their relatively limited expertise in battery, software, and electric powertrain technologies, incumbent automobile manufacturers have to date been unable to design and offer a commercially successful electric vehicle that offers compelling range, vehicle design and performance at an affordable cost.

Our Solution

We design, manufacture and sell high-performance fully electric vehicles and advanced electric vehicle powertrain components through our highly differentiated business model. We intend to leverage our proprietary electric powertrain system developed for the Tesla Roadster to form the basis for our planned Model S sedan. We believe our combination of engineering and management expertise from Silicon Valley and the automotive industry, together with our operational structure, will help us to rapidly innovate and to cost efficiently introduce new vehicles and technologies. By owning our sales and service network, we believe we can offer a compelling customer experience while achieving operating efficiencies and capturing sales and service revenues that incumbent automobile manufacturers do not receive in the traditional franchised dealer model. We also plan to

 

 

4


Table of Contents

leverage our electric powertrain technology to develop and sell powertrain components to other manufacturers, such as the battery packs and chargers we have recently begun to sell to Daimler.

We believe our proprietary electric powertrain system will enable us to design and develop zero emission vehicles that overcome the design, styling, and performance issues that have historically limited broad consumer adoption of electric vehicles. As a result, we believe customers of our vehicles will enjoy many benefits, including:

 

   

Long Range and Recharging Flexibility. The Tesla Roadster has been designed to provide range capabilities significantly in excess of any current and prior generation electric vehicles. We are designing our planned Model S to offer a variety of intermediate range options as well as a range option extending beyond that of the Tesla Roadster. In addition, the Tesla Roadster incorporates our proprietary on-board charging system, permitting recharging from almost any available electrical outlet, and we are designing the Model S to offer fast charging capability from higher power electrical outlets.

 

   

Energy Efficiency and Cost of Ownership. We believe our Tesla Roadster offers and our planned Model S will offer consumers an attractive cost of ownership when compared to similar internal combustion engine or hybrid electric vehicles. By using a single powertrain and customizing the systems within the electric powertrain and the rest of the vehicle, our vehicles are more energy efficient, and therefore less expensive to operate, than currently available hybrid or internal combustion engine vehicles.

 

   

High-Performance Without Compromised Design or Functionality. With the Tesla Roadster, we believe we have been able to successfully overcome the design and performance tradeoff issues that encumbered earlier electric vehicle designs. We believe the Tesla Roadster offers our customers an unparalleled driving experience with instantaneous and sustained acceleration through an extended range of speed. We intend to apply such advancements to our future vehicles.

Our Competitive Strengths

We believe the following strengths position us well to capitalize on the expected growth in the electric vehicle market:

 

   

Singular Focus and Leadership in Electric Powertrain Technology. We are focused exclusively on developing our electric vehicles and electric powertrain technology to achieve a compelling combination of range and performance in our vehicles. We intend to use our electric powertrain expertise to innovate rapidly and sustain technological and time to market advantages over incumbent automobile manufacturers.

 

   

Combination of Expertise from Silicon Valley and the Traditional Automotive Industry. Our roots in Silicon Valley have enabled us to recruit engineers with strong skills in electrical engineering, software and controls, which we have complemented with significant automotive expertise in vehicle engineering and manufacturing from other members or our team.

 

   

Proprietary Systems Integration of Vehicle and Electric Powertrain. We believe that our ability to combine our electric powertrain expertise with our vehicle engineering expertise provides a broad capability in electric vehicle design and systems integration.

 

   

Rapid Customer Focused Product Development. We have designed our product development process to rapidly react to data collected from our vehicles and the direct interaction with our customers at our company-owned stores, which we believe will enable us to rapidly introduce new vehicles and features.

 

   

Ownership of Sales and Service Network. We intend for our distribution and service network to offer a compelling customer experience while achieving operating efficiencies and capturing sales and service

 

 

5


Table of Contents
 

revenues incumbent automobile manufacturers do not generally receive in the traditional franchised distribution and service network model.

 

   

Brand Leadership. We believe the Tesla brand is well recognized in our target market and is associated with high performance, long range electric vehicles, despite limited marketing spending to date. In November 2009, Advertising Age provided testament to our brand strength by selecting Tesla as one of “America’s hottest brands” in a special report highlighting the year’s 50 top brands.

 

   

Substantial Funding in Place to Accelerate Growth. We believe our $465.0 million loan facility agreement under the United States Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program provides significant long-term financing that will enable us to focus on executing our business plans.

 

   

Capital Efficiency. We believe our rapid product development process, our modular and adaptable powertrain, our plan to design and manufacture multiple product types on a singular platform, and our ability to hold lower inventory levels while still meeting customer demand will help reduce the capital required to reach operating efficiencies. This approach is designed with the aim of allowing us to achieve profitability at relatively low volumes and create a viable long-term business.

Our Strategy

We intend to be a leading global manufacturer and direct seller of electric vehicles and electric vehicle technologies. Key elements of our strategy include:

 

   

Successfully Launch the Model S. We believe the successful launch of the planned Model S is critical to our ability to capitalize on the electric vehicle market opportunity. We are currently executing a detailed plan to finish the design, engineering and component sourcing for the Model S and to build out the manufacturing facility and obtain the equipment to support its production with the goal of commercial introduction of the Model S in 2012.

 

   

Use a Common Platform to Introduce New Models. We intend to design the Model S with an adaptable platform architecture and common electric powertrain, to provide us the flexibility to use the Model S platform to cost efficiently launch new electric vehicle models subsequent to the start of production of the Model S.

 

   

Develop Integrated Engineering and Manufacturing Capabilities. We intend to develop a substantially-integrated electric vehicle manufacturing facility, allowing our design, vehicle engineering, and manufacturing teams to work alongside one another to streamline the feedback loop for rapid product enhancements and quality improvements.

 

   

Continue to Focus on Technological Advancement and Cost Improvement. We intend to continue to further develop our proprietary electric powertrain system, specifically its range capabilities, while continuing to reduce its manufacturing cost.

 

   

Expand our Company-Owned Sales and Service Network. As of December 31, 2009, we had opened 10 Tesla owned stores in the United States and Europe, and we plan to nearly double the number of Tesla stores opened by the end of 2010, with a goal of establishing approximately 50 stores globally within the next several years in connection with the planned Model S rollout.

 

   

Leverage Industry Advancements in Battery Cells. We intend to leverage the substantial investments being made globally by battery cell manufacturers, as we have designed our powertrain technology to permit flexibility with respect to battery cell chemistry, form factor and vendor.

 

   

Build and Leverage Strategic Relationships. We intend to establish and develop strategic relationships with industry leaders to launch our planned electric vehicles and sell our electric vehicle powertrain components.

 

 

6


Table of Contents

Risks Affecting Us

Our business is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that you should understand before making an investment decision. These risks are discussed more fully in the section entitled “Risk Factors” following this prospectus summary. These include:

 

   

our limited operating history makes evaluating our business and future prospects difficult, and may increase the risk of your investment;

 

   

we have a history of losses and we expect significant increases in our costs and expenses to result in continuing losses for at least the foreseeable future;

 

   

our future growth is dependent upon consumers’ willingness to adopt electric vehicles;

 

   

we are dependent upon our ability to fully draw down on our loan facility from the United States Department of Energy, which may restrict our ability to conduct our business;

 

   

our distribution model is different from the predominant current distribution model for automobile manufacturers, which makes evaluating our business, operating results and future prospects difficult;

 

   

we are almost entirely dependent upon revenue generated from the sale of our electric vehicles, specifically the Tesla Roadster, in the near term, and our future success will be dependent upon our ability to design and achieve market acceptance of new vehicle models, and specifically the Model S;

 

   

we anticipate that we will experience a decrease in revenues and increase in losses prior to the launch of the Model S;

 

   

our production model for the non-powertrain portion of the Model S is unproven, still evolving and is very different from the non-powertrain portion of the production model for the Tesla Roadster; and

 

   

we may experience significant delays in the design, manufacture, launch and financing of the Model S.

Corporate Information

We are headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Our principal executive offices are located at 3500 Deer Creek Road, Palo Alto, California 94304, and our telephone number at this location is (650) 413-4000. Our website address is www.teslamotors.com. Information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus and you should not consider information on our website to be part of this prospectus. We were incorporated in 2003.

The “Tesla Motors” design logo, “Tesla Motors,” “Tesla Roadster,” “Model S” and other trademarks or service marks of Tesla Motors appearing in this prospectus are the property of Tesla Motors. When used herein, the term “Tesla store” means Tesla retail locations as well as Tesla galleries where we show potential customers our vehicles but do not consummate sales. This prospectus contains additional trade names, trademarks and service marks of other companies. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ tradenames, trademarks or service marks to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, these other companies.

 

 

7


Table of Contents

THE OFFERING

 

Common stock we are offering

             shares

 

Common stock offered by the selling stockholders

             shares

 

Common stock to be outstanding after this offering

             shares

 

Use of proceeds

We may use a portion of the net proceeds from this offering to fund planned capital expenditures, working capital and other general corporate purposes. Under our loan facility with the United States Department of Energy, which we refer to herein as our DOE Loan Facility, we have agreed to spend up to $33 million plus any cost overruns we may encounter in developing our anticipated powertrain and Model S manufacturing facilities. In addition to this obligation, we have agreed to set aside 50% of the net proceeds from this offering to fund a separate, dedicated account under our DOE Loan Facility to fund project costs for our anticipated powertrain and Model S manufacturing facilities that would otherwise have been funded through advances made under the DOE Loan Facility, which funds will be reimbursed by the DOE once they have been used in full. We currently anticipate making aggregate capital expenditures of between $100 million and $125 million during the year ended December 31, 2010. See “Use of Proceeds.”

 

Directed share program

The underwriters have reserved for sale, at the initial public offering price, up to              shares of our common stock being offered for sale to business associates, employees and friends and family members of our employees and Tesla customers who have received delivery of a Tesla Roadster from Tesla. The number of shares available for sale to the general public in this offering will be reduced to the extent these persons purchase reserved shares. Any reserved shares not purchased will be offered by the underwriters to the general public on the same terms as the other shares.

 

Proposed              symbol

“            ”

The number of shares of common stock that will be outstanding after this offering is based on the              shares outstanding as of September 30, 2009 and excludes:

 

   

10,627,629 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of options outstanding at September 30, 2009 at a weighted average exercise price of $0.74 per share;

 

   

25,881,673 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of options granted after September 30, 2009 at a weighted average exercise price of $2.20 per share;

 

   

9,255,035 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of a warrant granted to the DOE in connection with the closing of our DOE Loan Facility on January 20, 2010, at an exercise price of $2.5124 per share; and

 

   

40,042,380 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under our stock-based compensation plans, consisting of 35,042,380 shares of common stock reserved for issuance under our 2010 Equity Incentive Plan and 5,000,000 shares of common stock reserved for issuance under our 2010 Employee

 

 

8


Table of Contents
 

Stock Purchase Plan and shares that become available under the 2010 Equity Incentive Plan and 2010 Employee Stock Purchase Plan pursuant to provisions thereof that automatically increase the share reserves under the plans each year, as more fully described in “Management—Employee Benefit Plans.” The 2010 Equity Incentive Plan and the 2010 Employee Stock Purchase Plan will become effective on the date of this offering.

Unless otherwise indicated, all information in this prospectus assumes:

 

   

the automatic conversion of all outstanding shares of our preferred stock into an aggregate of 210,680,690 shares of common stock effective immediately prior to the closing of this offering;

 

   

a              for              stock split of our outstanding capital stock that was effected in                     , 2010;

 

   

the issuance of              shares of common stock upon the net exercise of convertible preferred stock warrants that would otherwise expire upon the completion of this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $             per share;

 

   

the filing of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation upon the completion of this offering; and

 

   

no exercise by the underwriters of their right to purchase up to an additional              shares of common stock from us and the selling stockholders.

 

 

9


Table of Contents

SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

The following summary consolidated financial data for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2007 and 2008 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements that are included elsewhere in this prospectus. The summary unaudited consolidated financial data for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 and 2009 and as of September 30, 2009 are derived from our unaudited consolidated financial statements for such periods and dates, which are included elsewhere in this prospectus. The unaudited consolidated financial statements were prepared on a basis consistent with our audited consolidated financial statements and include, in the opinion of management, all adjustments necessary for the fair presentation of the financial information contained in those statements. The historical results presented below are not necessarily indicative of financial results to be achieved in future periods.

Prospective investors should read these summary consolidated financial data together with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

    Years Ended December 31,     Nine Months Ended September 30,  
    2006     2007     2008             2008                     2009          
    (in thousands, except for share and per share data)  

Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:

         

Automotive sales (including zero emission vehicle credit sales of $3,458, $495 and $7,645, for the periods ended December 31, 2008, September 30, 2008 and 2009, respectively)

  $ —        $ 73      $ 14,742      $ 580      $ 93,358   

Cost of sales(1)

    —          9        15,883        19        85,604   
                                       

Gross profit (loss)

    —          64        (1,141     561        7,754   

Operating expenses(1):

         

Research and development (net of development compensation of $17,170 for the period ended September 30, 2009)

    24,995        62,753        53,714        41,888        11,139   

Selling, general and administrative

    5,436        17,244        23,649        13,953        25,587   
                                       

Total operating expenses

    30,431        79,997        77,363        55,841        36,726   

Loss from operations

    (30,431     (79,933     (78,504     (55,280     (28,972

Interest income

    938        1,749        529        486        97   

Interest expense

    (423     —          (3,747     (2,648     (2,506

Other income (expense), net(2)

    59        137        (963     231        (320
                                       

Loss before income taxes

    (29,857     (78,047     (82,685     (57,211     (31,701

Provision (benefit) for income taxes

    100        110        97        73        (203
                                       

Net loss

  $ (29,957   $ (78,157   $ (82,782   $ (57,284   $ (31,498

Net loss per share of common stock, basic and diluted(3)

  $ (3.39   $ (7.56   $ (4.15   $ (2.88   $ (1.51
                                       

Shares used in computing net loss per share of common stock, basic and diluted(3)

    8,824,264        10,331,420        19,929,512        19,872,823        20,928,840   
                                       

Pro forma net loss per share of common stock, basic and diluted(2)(4) (unaudited)

      $          $     
                     

Shares used in computing the pro forma net loss per share of common stock, basic and diluted(2)(4) (unaudited)

         
                     

 

 

10


Table of Contents

 

(1) Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:

 

     Years Ended December 31,    Nine Months Ended September 30,
         2006            2007            2008                2008                    2009        
    

(in thousands)

Cost of sales

   $ —      $ —      $ 26    $ 16    $ 54

Research and development

     17      95      125      82      193

Selling, general and administrative

     6      103      286      124      202
                                  

Total

   $     23    $   198    $ 437    $ 222    $ 449
                                  

 

(2) In January 2010, we issued a warrant to the DOE in connection with the closing of the DOE Loan Facility to purchase shares of our Series E convertible preferred stock. This convertible preferred stock warrant will become a warrant to purchase shares of our common stock upon the closing of this offering. Beginning on December 15, 2018 and until December 14, 2022, the shares subject to purchase under the warrant will become exercisable in quarterly amounts depending on the average outstanding balance of the DOE Loan Facility during the prior quarter. Since the number of shares of common stock ultimately issuable under the warrant will vary, this warrant will be carried at its estimated fair value with changes in fair value reflected in other income (expense), net, until its expiration or exercise. Potential common shares issuable upon exercise of the DOE warrant will be excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share of common stock until such time as we generate a net profit in a given period.
(3) Our basic net loss per share of common stock is calculated by dividing the net loss by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding for the period. The diluted net loss per share of common stock is computed by dividing the net loss by the weighted-average number of common shares, excluding common shares subject to repurchase, and, if dilutive, potential common shares outstanding during the period. Potential common shares consist of stock options to purchase common stock and warrants to purchase convertible preferred stock (using the treasury stock method) and the conversion of our convertible preferred stock and convertible notes payable (using the if-converted method). For purposes of all these calculations, potential common shares have been excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share of common stock as their effect is antidilutive since we generated a net loss in each period.
(4) Pro forma basic and diluted net loss per share of common stock has been computed to give effect to the conversion of the convertible preferred stock into common stock. Also, the numerator in the pro forma basic and diluted net loss per share calculation has been adjusted to remove gains and losses resulting from remeasurements of the convertible preferred stock warrant liability as it is assumed that these warrants will be exercised immediately prior to a qualifying initial public offering and will no longer require periodic revaluation.

 

 

11


Table of Contents

Our consolidated balance sheet data as of September 30, 2009 is presented:

 

   

on an actual basis;

 

   

on a pro forma basis to give effect to (i) the conversion of all outstanding shares of our convertible preferred stock into 210,680,690 shares of our common stock, (ii) the issuance of             shares of our common stock upon the assumed net exercise of convertible preferred stock warrants that would otherwise expire upon the completion of this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the mid-point of the range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus and (iii) the initial funds borrowed under our DOE Loan Facility in              2010 of $            ; and

 

   

on a pro forma as adjusted basis to give effect to the pro forma adjustments as well as the sale of             shares of common stock by us in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the mid-point of the range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

 

     As of September 30, 2009
     Actual     Pro
Forma
   Pro Forma As
Adjusted(1)
    

(Unaudited)

(in thousands)

Consolidated Balance Sheet Data:

       

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 106,547        

Restricted cash(2)

     3,580        

Property and equipment, net

     19,473        

Working capital

     70,951        

Total assets

     155,916        

Convertible preferred stock warrant liability

     1,010        

Capital lease obligations, less current portion

     711        

Long-term debt, less current portion(3)

     —          

Convertible preferred stock

     319,225        

Total stockholders’ deficit

     (230,645     

 

(1) Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, the midpoint of the range reflected on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease, as applicable, our cash and cash equivalents, working capital, total assets and total stockholders’ equity (deficit) by approximately $             million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.
(2) The restricted cash represents security deposits related to lease agreements, equipment financing, as well as security held by a vendor as part of the vendor’s standard credit policies. On a pro forma basis, the restricted cash also represents the portion of the proceeds from this offering that we are required to hold in a separate dedicated account pursuant to our DOE Loan Facility to fund certain costs of our powertrain and Model S manufacturing facility projects.
(3) On January 20, 2010, we entered into a loan agreement with the United States Federal Financing Bank, or the FFB, and the DOE, pursuant to the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program, or the ATVM Program. Under such facility, the FFB has made available to us two multi-draw term loan facilities in an aggregate principal amount of up to $465.0 million. Up to an aggregate principal amount of $101.2 million will be made available under the first term loan facility to finance up to 80% of the costs eligible for funding under the ATVM Program for the build out of a facility to design and manufacture lithium-ion battery packs, electric motors and electric components. Up to an aggregate principal amount of $363.9 million will be made available under the second term loan facility to finance up to 80% of the costs eligible for funding under the ATVM Program for the development of, and to build out the manufacturing facility for the Model S sedan. See the section titled “Business—Governmental Programs, Incentives and Regulations—United States Department of Energy Loans” below for additional information.

 

 

12


Table of Contents

RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risks and all other information contained in this prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes, before investing in our common stock. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, also may become important factors that may adversely affect us and our prospects materially. If any of the following risks materialize, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be materially harmed. In such case, the price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose some or all of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

Our limited operating history makes evaluating our business and future prospects difficult, and may increase the risk of your investment.

You must consider the risks and difficulties we face as an early stage company with limited operating history. If we do not successfully address these risks, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition will be materially and adversely harmed. We were formed in July 2003. We began delivering our first performance electric vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, in early 2008, and as of December 31, 2009 we had only sold 937 production vehicles to customers, almost all of which were sold in the United States and Europe. Our revenues were approximately $14.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 and approximately $93.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009. We have a very limited operating history on which investors can base an evaluation of our business, operating results and prospects. To date we have derived our revenues principally from sales of the Tesla Roadster and related sales of zero emission vehicle credits, and to a lesser extent on products and services related to electric powertrain sales. We intend in the longer term to derive substantial revenues from the sales of our planned Model S sedan electric vehicle which is at an early stage of development and which we do not expect to be in production until 2012. We have no operating history with respect to the Model S electric vehicle and have only recently begun the component procurement process for the Model S, which limits our ability to accurately forecast the cost of the vehicle. In addition, we have not yet completed the site selection process for the location of our manufacturing facility to produce such vehicles, finalized the design or completed our engineering, manufacturing or component supply plans for the Model S. In addition, to date our powertrain sales and powertrain research and development compensation have been exclusively generated under arrangements with Daimler AG, or Daimler, for the development and sale of a battery pack and a charger for Daimler’s Smart fortwo electric vehicle. Blackstar Investco LLC, or Blackstar, an affiliate of Daimler, holds more than 5% of our outstanding capital stock. Other than our arrangement with Daimler, we have not entered into a development or sales agreement for our electric powertrain business. There are no assurances that we will be able to secure future business with Daimler.

It is difficult to predict our future revenues and appropriately budget for our expenses, and we have limited insight into trends that may emerge and affect our business. In the event that actual results differ from our estimates or we adjust our estimates in future periods, our operating results and financial position could be materially affected.

In addition, our revenues to date have included amounts we receive from selling zero emission vehicle, or ZEV, credits to other automobile manufacturers, pursuant to certain state regulations. We have entered into an agreement with an automobile manufacturer for the sale of the ZEV credits that we earn from the sale of vehicles that we manufactured between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009, and we have until June 30, 2010 to sell these ZEV credits under the agreement. We are currently negotiating to extend this agreement for vehicles manufactured in 2010 and 2011. As of December 31, 2009, we had sold credits for 340 vehicles under this agreement and for the year ended December 31, 2008 and the nine months ended September 30, 2009, we recognized revenue from the sale of ZEV credits of $3.5 million and $7.6 million, respectively. We may not be

 

13


Table of Contents

able to enter into another agreement to sell these credits on equivalent terms and if this occurs, our financial results will be harmed.

We have a history of losses and we expect significant increases in our costs and expenses to result in continuing losses for at least the foreseeable future.

We incurred a net loss of approximately $31.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 and have incurred net losses of approximately $236.4 million from our inception through September 30, 2009. We have had net losses in each quarter since our inception. We believe that we will continue to incur operating and net losses until at least the time we begin significant deliveries of the Model S, which is not expected to occur until 2012, or possibly later. Even if we are able to successfully develop the Model S, there can be no assurance that it will be commercially successful. If we are to ever achieve profitability it will be dependent upon the successful development and successful commercial introduction and acceptance of automobiles such as the Model S, which may not occur.

We expect the rate at which we will incur losses to increase significantly in future periods from current levels as we:

 

   

design, develop and manufacture our planned Model S;

 

   

design, develop and manufacture components of our electric powertrain;

 

   

develop and equip manufacturing facilities to produce our Model S;

 

   

build up inventories of parts and components for our Model S;

 

   

develop and equip manufacturing facilities to produce our electric powertrain components;

 

   

open new Tesla stores;

 

   

expand our design, development, maintenance and repair capabilities;

 

   

increase our sales and marketing activities; and

 

   

increase our general and administrative functions to support our growing operations.

Because we will incur the costs and expenses from these efforts before we receive any incremental revenues with respect thereto, our losses in future periods will be significantly greater than the losses we would incur if we developed our business more slowly. In addition, we may find that these efforts are more expensive than we currently anticipate or that these efforts may not result in increases in our revenues, which would further increase our losses.

In addition, as of December 31, 2007, 2008 and September 30, 2009, we had recorded a full valuation allowance on our United States net deferred tax assets as at this point we believe it is more likely than not that we will not achieve profitability and accordingly be able to use our deferred tax assets in the foreseeable future. In addition, we have not yet determined whether this offering would constitute an ownership change resulting in limitations on our ability to use our net operating loss and tax credit carry-forwards. If an ownership change is deemed to have occurred as a result of this offering, utilization of these assets could be significantly reduced.

Our future growth is dependent upon consumers’ willingness to adopt electric vehicles.

Our growth is highly dependent upon the adoption by consumers of, and we are subject to an elevated risk of any reduced demand for, alternative fuel vehicles, generally, and electric vehicles in particular. If consumers do not adopt electric vehicles, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results will be harmed. The market for alternative fuel vehicles is relatively new, rapidly evolving, characterized by rapidly changing technologies, price competition, additional competitors, evolving government regulation and industry standards,

 

14


Table of Contents

frequent new vehicle announcements and changing consumer demands and behaviors. Factors that may influence the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles, and specifically electric vehicles, include:

 

   

perceptions about electric vehicle quality, safety (in particular with respect to lithium-ion battery packs), design, performance and cost, especially if adverse events or accidents occur that are linked to the quality or safety of electric vehicles;

 

   

the limited range over which electric vehicles may be driven on a single battery charge;

 

   

the decline of an electric vehicle’s range resulting from deterioration over time in the battery’s ability to hold a charge;

 

   

concerns about electric grid capacity and reliability, which could derail our past and present efforts to promote electric vehicles as a practical solution to vehicles which require gasoline;

 

   

the availability of alternative fuel vehicles, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles;

 

   

improvements in the fuel economy of the internal combustion engine;

 

   

the availability of service for electric vehicles;

 

   

consumers’ desire and ability to purchase a luxury automobile or one that is perceived as exclusive;

 

   

the environmental consciousness of consumers;

 

   

volatility in the cost of oil and gasoline;

 

   

consumers’ perceptions of the dependency of the United States on oil from unstable or hostile countries, and government regulations and economic incentives promoting fuel efficiency and alternate forms of energy;

 

   

access to charging stations, standardization of electric vehicle charging systems and consumers’ perceptions about convenience and cost to charge an electric vehicle;

 

   

the availability of tax and other governmental incentives to purchase and operate electric vehicles or future regulation requiring increased use of nonpolluting vehicles;

 

   

perceptions about and the actual cost of alternative fuel; and

 

   

macroeconomic factors.

In addition, recent reports have suggested the potential for extreme temperatures to affect the range or performance of electric vehicles. For example, certain recent reports have suggested that electric vehicles operated in colder temperatures may experience a reduced overall range as batteries may lose the ability to hold a charge more rapidly in cold weather. If such reports gain widespread acceptance, our ability to market and sell our vehicles may be adversely impacted.

Additionally, we may become subject to regulations that may require us to alter the design of our vehicles, which could negatively impact consumer interest in our vehicles. For example, our electric vehicles make less noise than internal combustion vehicles. We are aware of advocacy groups, such as U.S. National Federation of the Blind, which are lobbying for regulations to require electric vehicle manufacturers to adopt minimum sound standards. We believe the relative quiet of our vehicles is one of its appealing aspects and any requirement to change this aspect may negatively affect consumer interest in our vehicles.

The influence of any of the factors described above may cause current or potential customers not to purchase our electric vehicles, which would seriously harm our business, operating results, financial condition and prospects.

 

15


Table of Contents

The range of our electric vehicles on a single charge declines over time which may negatively influence potential customers’ decisions whether to purchase our vehicles.

The range of our electric vehicles on a single charge declines principally as a function of usage, time, and charging patterns. For example, a customer’s use of their Tesla vehicle as well as the frequency with which they charge the battery of their Tesla vehicle can result in additional deterioration of the battery’s ability to hold a charge. We currently expect that our battery pack will retain approximately 60-65% of its ability to hold its initial charge after approximately 100,000 miles or 7 years, which will result in a decrease to the vehicle’s initial range. Such battery deterioration and the related decrease in range may negatively influence potential customer decisions whether to purchase our vehicles, which may harm our ability to market and sell our vehicles.

The operation of our vehicles is different from internal combustion engine vehicles and may be unfamiliar to customers.

We have designed our vehicles to minimize inconvenience and inadvertent driver damage to the powertrain. In certain instances, these protections may cause the vehicle to behave in ways that are unfamiliar to drivers of internal combustion vehicles. For example, we employ regenerative braking to recharge the battery in most modes of vehicle operation. Our customers may become accustomed to using this regenerative braking instead of the wheel brakes to slow the vehicle. However, when the vehicle is at maximum charge, the regenerative braking is not needed and is not employed. Accordingly, our customers may have difficulty shifting between different methods of braking. In addition, we use safety mechanisms to limit motor torque when the powertrain system reaches elevated temperatures. In such instances, the vehicle’s acceleration and speed will decrease. Finally, if the driver permits the battery to substantially deplete its charge, the vehicle will progressively limit motor torque and speed to preserve the charge that remains. The vehicle will lose speed and ultimately coast to a stop. Despite several warnings about an imminent loss of charge, the ultimate loss of speed may be unexpected. There can be no assurance that our customers will operate the vehicles properly, especially in these situations. Any accidents resulting from such failure to operate our vehicles properly could harm our brand and reputation, result in adverse publicity and product liability claims, and have a negative affect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. In addition, if consumers dislike these features, they may choose not to buy additional cars from us which could also harm our business.

Developments in alternative technologies or improvements in the internal combustion engine may materially adversely affect the demand for our electric vehicles.

Significant developments in alternative technologies, such as advanced diesel, ethanol, fuel cells or compressed natural gas, or improvements in the fuel economy of the internal combustion engine, may materially and adversely affect our business and prospects in ways we cannot anticipate. Any failure by us to develop new or enhanced technologies or processes, or to react to changes in existing technologies, could materially delay our development and introduction of new and enhanced electric vehicles, which could result in the loss of competitiveness of our vehicles, decreased revenue and a loss of market share to competitors.

If we are unable to keep up with advances in electric vehicle technology, we may suffer a decline in our competitive position.

We may be unable to keep up with changes in electric vehicle technology and, as a result, may suffer a decline in our competitive position. Any failure to keep up with advances in electric vehicle technology would result in a decline in our competitive position which would materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. Our research and development efforts may not be sufficient to adapt to changes in, or create the necessary technology, independently. As technologies change, we plan to upgrade or adapt our vehicles and introduce new models in order to continue to provide vehicles with the latest technology, in particular battery cell technology. However, our vehicles may not compete effectively with alternative vehicles if we are not able to source and integrate the latest technology into our vehicles. For example, we do not manufacture battery cells which makes us dependent upon other suppliers of battery cell technology for our battery packs.

 

16


Table of Contents

We are dependent upon our ability to fully draw down on our loan facility from the United States Department of Energy, which may restrict our ability to conduct our business.

Our plan for manufacturing the Model S and for developing our electric powertrain facility depends on our ability to fully draw down on our loan facility from the United States Department of Energy, or the DOE, under the DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program, or ATVM Program. We have entered into a loan facility with the Federal Financing Bank, or the FFB, that is guaranteed by the DOE and which we refer to as the DOE Loan Facility. Our DOE Loan Facility provides for a $465.0 million loan facility under the DOE’s ATVM Program to help finance the continued development of the Model S, including the planned build out and operation of a manufacturing facility, and to finance the planned build out and operation of our electric powertrain manufacturing facility. We cannot, however, access all of these funds at once, but only over a period of up to three years through periodic draws as eligible costs are incurred. Our ability to draw down these funds under the DOE Loan Facility is conditioned upon several draw conditions. For the Model S manufacturing facility project, the draw conditions include our achievement of progress milestones relating to the design and development of the Model S and the planned Model S manufacturing facility, including an environmental assessment of such facility approved by the DOE and the completion of the National Environmental Policy Act process. For the electric powertrain manufacturing facility, the draw conditions include our achievement of progress milestones relating to the development of the powertrain manufacturing facility and the successful development of commercial arrangements with third parties for the supply of powertrain components. Additionally, the DOE Loan Facility will require us to comply with certain operating covenants and will place additional restrictions on our ability to operate our business. We are unaccustomed to managing our business with such restrictions and others that are associated with a significant credit agreement. If we are unable to draw down the anticipated funds under the DOE Loan Facility, or our ability to make such draw downs is delayed, we may need to obtain additional or alternative financing to operate our Model S and electric powertrain manufacturing facilities to the extent our cash on hand is insufficient. Any failure to obtain the DOE funds or secure other alternative funding could materially and adversely affect our business and prospects. Such additional or alternative financing may not be available on attractive terms, if at all, and could be more costly for us to obtain. As a result, our plans for building our Model S and electric powertrain manufacturing plants could be significantly delayed which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Our DOE Loan Facility documents contain customary covenants that include, among others, a requirement that the project be conducted in accordance with the business plan for such project, compliance with all requirements of the ATVM Program, and limitations on our and our subsidiaries’ ability to incur indebtedness, incur liens, make investments or loans, enter into mergers or acquisitions, dispose of assets, pay dividends or make distributions on capital stock, prepay indebtedness, pay management, advisory or similar fees to affiliates, enter into certain affiliate transactions, enter into new lines of business, and enter into certain restrictive agreements. These restrictions may limit our ability to operate our business and may cause us to take actions or prevent us from taking actions we believe are necessary from a competitive standpoint or that we otherwise believe are necessary to grow our business.

Our distribution model is different from the predominant current distribution model for automobile manufacturers, which makes evaluating our business, operating results and future prospects difficult.

Our distribution model is not common in the automobile industry today, particularly in the United States. We plan to continue to sell our performance electric vehicles over the internet and in company-owned Tesla stores. This model of vehicle distribution is relatively new and unproven, especially in the United States, and subjects us to substantial risk as it requires, in the aggregate, a significant expenditure and provides for slower expansion of our distribution and sales systems than may be possible by utilizing a more traditional dealer franchise system. For example, we will not be able to utilize long established sales channels developed through a franchise system to increase our sales volume, which may harm our business, prospects, financials condition and operating results. Moreover, we will be competing with companies with well established distribution channels.

 

17


Table of Contents

As of December 31, 2009, we had opened 10 Tesla owned stores in the United States and Europe, 8 of which have been open for less than one year. We have only limited experience distributing and selling our performance vehicles through our Tesla stores. As of December 31, 2009 we had only sold 937 Tesla Roadsters to customers, primarily in the United States and Europe. Our success will depend in large part on our ability to effectively develop our own sales channels and marketing strategies. Implementing our business model is subject to numerous significant challenges, including obtaining permits and approvals from local and state authorities, and we may not be successful in addressing these challenges.

You must consider our business and prospects in light of the risks, uncertainties and difficulties we encounter as we implement our business model. For instance, we will need to persuade customers, suppliers and regulators of the validity and sustainability of our business model. We cannot be certain that we will be able to do so, or to successfully address the risks, uncertainties and difficulties that our business strategy faces. Any failure to successfully address any of the risks, uncertainties and difficulties related to our business model would have a material adverse effect on our business and prospects.

We may face regulatory limitations on our ability to sell vehicles directly or over the internet which could materially and adversely affect our ability to sell our electric vehicles.

We sell our vehicles from our Tesla stores as well as over the internet. We may not be able to sell our vehicles through this sales model in each state in the United States as many states have laws that may be interpreted to prohibit internet sales by manufacturers to residents of the state or to impose other limitations on this sales model, including laws that prohibit manufacturers from selling vehicles directly to consumers without the use of an independent dealership or without a physical presence in the state. For example, the state of Texas prohibits a manufacturer from being licensed as a dealer or to act in the capacity of a dealer, which would prohibit us from operating a store in the state of Texas and may restrict our ability to sell vehicles to Texas residents over the internet from out of state altogether without altering our sales model. The state of Kansas provides that a manufacturer cannot deliver a vehicle to a Kansas resident except through a dealer licensed to do business in the state of Kansas, which may be interpreted to require us to open a store in the state of Kansas in order to sell vehicles to Kansas residents. In some states where we have opened a “gallery,” which is a location where potential customers can view our vehicles but is not a full retail location, it is possible that a state regulator could take the position that activities at our gallery constitute an unlicensed motor vehicle dealership and thereby violates applicable manufacturer-dealer laws. For example, the state of Colorado required us to obtain dealer and manufacturer licenses in the state in order to operate our gallery in Colorado. In addition, some states have requirements that service facilities be available with respect to vehicles sold in the state, which may be interpreted to also require that service facilities be available with respect to vehicles sold over the internet to residents of the state thereby limiting our ability to sell vehicles in states where we do not maintain service facilities.

The foregoing examples of state laws governing the sale of motor vehicles are just some of the regulations we will face as we sell our vehicles. In many states, the application of state motor vehicle laws to our specific sales model is largely untested under state motor vehicle industry laws, particularly with respect to sales over the internet, and would be determined by a fact specific analysis of numerous factors, including whether we have a physical presence or employees in the applicable state, whether we advertise or conduct other activities in the applicable state, how the sale transaction is structured, the volume of sales into the state, and whether the state in question prohibits manufacturers from acting as dealers. As a result of the fact specific and untested nature of these issues, and the fact that applying these laws intended for the traditional automobile distribution model to our sales model allows for some interpretation and discretion by the regulators, the manner in which the applicable authorities will apply their state laws to our distribution model is unknown. Such laws, as well as other laws governing the motor vehicle industry, may subject us to potential inquiries and investigations from state motor vehicle regulators who may question whether our sales model complies with applicable state motor vehicle industry laws and who may require us to change our sales model or may prohibit our ability to sell our vehicles to residents in such states.

 

18


Table of Contents

To date, we are registered as both a motor vehicle manufacturer and dealer in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois and Washington and we are licensed as a motor vehicle dealer in the state of New York. We have not yet sought formal clarification of our ability to sell our vehicles in any other states.

Furthermore, while we have performed an analysis of the principal laws in the European Union relating to our distribution model and believe we comply with such laws, we have not performed a complete analysis in all foreign jurisdictions in which we may sell vehicles. Accordingly, there may be laws in jurisdictions we have not yet entered or laws we are unaware of in jurisdictions we have entered that may restrict our vehicle reservation practices or other business practices. Even for those jurisdictions we have analyzed, the laws in this area can be complex, difficult to interpret and may change over time.

We are almost entirely dependent upon revenue generated from the sale of our electric vehicles, specifically the Tesla Roadster, in the near term, and our future success will be dependent upon our ability to design and achieve market acceptance of new vehicle models, and specifically the Model S.

We currently generate substantially all of our revenue from the sale of our Tesla Roadsters and the sale of the related zero emission vehicle credits. We began production of our Tesla Roadster only in 2008, and our second planned vehicle, our Model S, is not expected to be in production until 2012, requires significant investment prior to commercial introduction, and may never be successfully developed or commercially successful. There can be no assurance that we will be able to design future models of performance electric vehicles that will meet the expectations of our customers or that our future models, including the Model S, will become commercially viable. In particular, it is common in the automotive industry for the production vehicle to have a styling and design different from that of the concept vehicle, which may happen with the Model S. We believe the design of the early prototype Model S is one of the key reasons why we have received approximately 2,000 reservations for the vehicle as of December 31, 2009. To the extent that we are not able to build the production Model S to the expectations created by the early prototype, customers may cancel their reservations and our future sales could be harmed. Additionally, historically, automobile customers have come to expect new and improved vehicle models to be introduced frequently. In order to meet these expectations, we may in the future be required to introduce on a regular basis new vehicle models as well as enhanced versions of existing vehicle models. As technologies change in the future for automobiles in general and performance electric vehicles specifically, we will be expected to upgrade or adapt our vehicles and introduce new models in order to continue to provide vehicles with the latest technology. To date we have limited experience simultaneously designing, testing, manufacturing and selling our electric vehicles.

We anticipate that we will experience a decrease in revenues and increase in losses prior to the launch of the Model S.

Prior to the launch of our Model S, we anticipate our automotive sales may decline, potentially significantly as we do not plan to sell our current generation Tesla Roadster after 2011 due to planned tooling changes at a supplier for the Tesla Roadster, and we do not currently plan to begin selling our next generation Tesla Roadster until at least one year after the launch of the Model S, which is not expected to be in production until 2012. Furthermore, except for our arrangements with Daimler, we do not currently have any significant arrangements in place with third parties for the development or purchase of components in our electric powertrain business. There are no assurances that we will be able to secure future business with Daimler as it has indicated its intent to produce all of its lithium-ion batteries by 2012 as part of a joint venture with Evonik Industries AG. As a result, we anticipate that we will generate limited, if any, revenue from selling electric vehicles after 2011 until the launch of our Model S. The launch of our Model S could be delayed for a number of reasons and any such delays may be significant and would extend the period in which we would generate limited, if any, revenues from sales of our electric vehicles. The expected decrease in revenues for the periods prior to the launch of the Model S may be significant and could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition and our ability to fund operating losses could seriously constrain our growth.

 

19


Table of Contents

A large amount of our Tesla Roadster sales revenue in 2009 was due to the fulfillment of orders from reservations taken in prior years.

As of December 31, 2009 we had sold 937 Tesla Roadsters to customers, almost all of which were sold in the United States and Europe, of which a large number were reserved by customers in prior years. Of these Tesla Roadsters, we delivered and recognized revenue on 324 in the quarter ended September 30, 2009 as we made a significant effort to increase our production capacity in order to accelerate deliveries to customers. As a result, our revenues in the quarter ended September 30, 2009 were significantly higher than in prior quarters. Additionally, to date many of our Tesla Roadster sales have been made to persons who had pre-existing relationships with our management team or who are affluent individuals with a strong interest in owning a novel product. It may be difficult to attract high numbers of new Tesla Roadster customers who do not have pre-existing relationships with us or who are attracted to buy the Tesla Roadster after its initial novelty phase. We may not have a significant wait list of orders for our Tesla Roadster in the future, and we may not be able to maintain or increase our vehicle sales revenue in future quarters. This may be the case even though we will make significant investments to expand our network of Tesla stores and sales personnel. Furthermore, potential customers may decide to defer purchasing the Tesla Roadster in anticipation of our planned next generation Tesla Roadster or Model S.

We have received only a limited number of current reservations for Tesla Roadsters and Model S sedans, all of which are subject to cancellation.

As of December 31, 2009, we had unfilled reservations for approximately 220 Tesla Roadsters and approximately 2,000 Model S sedans, all of which are subject to cancellation by the customer up until delivery of the vehicle. All of our reservations are refundable, subject to a cancellation fee and we have had a significant number of customers who submitted reservations for the Tesla Roadster or the Model S cancel those reservations. Our customers have historically cancelled, and may cancel, their reservations for many reasons, including the customer’s inability to fund the purchase, the customer’s decision to forego the purchase during the economic downturn, the customer’s lack of confidence in our long-term viability and our ability to deliver the promised vehicle, the customer’s concern over the ultimate price of the vehicle, including the price of its options, or the potentially long wait from the time a reservation is made until the time the vehicle is delivered. In addition, given the long lead times that we have historically experienced between customer reservation and delivery on the Tesla Roadster and that we expect to experience on the Model S, there is a heightened risk that customers that have made reservations may not ultimately take delivery on vehicles due to potential changes in customer preferences, competitive developments and other factors. For example, when we delayed the introduction of the original Tesla Roadster in fall 2007, we experienced a significant number of customers that cancelled their reservations and requested the return of their reservation payment. If we encounter delays in the introduction of the Model S, we believe that a significant number of our customers could cancel their reservations. As a result, no assurance can be made that reservations will not be cancelled and will ultimately result in the final purchase, delivery, and sale of the vehicle. Such cancellations could harm our financial condition, business, prospects and operating results.

If we are unable to design, develop, market and sell new electric vehicles and services that address additional market opportunities, our business, prospects and operating results will suffer.

We may not be able to successfully develop new electric vehicles and services, address new market segments or develop a significantly broader customer base. To date, we have focused our business on the sale of high-performance electric vehicles and have targeted relatively affluent consumers. We will need to address additional markets and expand our customer demographic in order to further grow our business. In particular, we intend the Model S to appeal to the customers of premium sedans, which is a much larger and different demographic from that of the Tesla Roadster. Successfully offering a vehicle in this vehicle class requires delivering a vehicle with a higher standard of fit and finish in the interior and exterior than currently exists in the Tesla Roadster, at a price that is competitive with other premium sedans. We have not completed the design, component sourcing or manufacturing process for the Model S, so it is difficult to forecast its eventual cost,

 

20


Table of Contents

manufacturability or quality. Therefore, there can be no assurance that we will be able to deliver a vehicle that is ultimately competitive in the premium sedan class. Our failure to address additional market opportunities would harm our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

Our production model for the non-powertrain portion of the Model S is unproven, still evolving and is very different from the non-powertrain portion of the production model for the Tesla Roadster.

Our future business depends in large part on our ability to execute on our plans to develop, manufacture, market and sell our planned Model S electric vehicle. To date our revenues have been principally derived from the sales of our Tesla Roadster. The Tesla Roadster has only been produced in low volume quantities and the body is assembled by Lotus Cars Limited, or Lotus, in the United Kingdom, with the final assembly by us at our facility in Menlo Park, California for sales destined in the United States. We plan to manufacture the Model S in higher volumes than our present production capabilities in our planned manufacturing facility. As a result, the non-powertrain portion of the production model for the Model S will be substantially different and significantly more complex than the non-powertrain portion of the production model for the Tesla Roadster. In addition, we plan to introduce a number of new manufacturing technologies and techniques, such as a new painting process and aluminum spot welding systems, which have not been widely adopted in the automotive industry. Our Model S production model will require significant investments of cash and management resources and we may experience unexpected delays or difficulties that could postpone our ability to launch or achieve full manufacturing capacity for the Model S, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition.

Our production model for the Model S is based on many key assumptions, which may turn out to be incorrect, including:

 

   

that we will be able to identify and secure an appropriate facility for the manufacturing of our Model S;

 

   

that we will be able to secure the funding necessary to build out and equip the manufacturing facilities in a timely manner, including meeting milestones and other conditions necessary to draw down funds under our loan facility with the DOE;

 

   

that we will able to develop and equip the manufacturing facilities for the Model S without exceeding our projected costs and on our projected timeline;

 

   

that the equipment we select will be able to accurately manufacture the vehicle within specified design tolerances;

 

   

that our computer aided design process can reduce the product development time by accurately predicting the performance of our vehicle for passing relevant safety standards, including standards that can only be met through expensive crash testing;

 

   

that we will be able to obtain the necessary permits and approvals, including those under the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, as well as building and air quality permits, to comply with local zoning, environmental and similar regulations to operate our manufacturing facilities and our business on our projected timeline;

 

   

that we will be able to engage suppliers for the necessary components on terms and conditions acceptable to us and that we will be able to obtain components on a timely basis and in the necessary quantities;

 

   

that we will be able to deliver final component designs to our suppliers in a timely manner;

 

   

that we will be able to attract, recruit, hire and train skilled employees, including employees on the production line, to operate our Model S manufacturing facility;

 

   

that we will be able to maintain high quality controls as we transition to an in-house manufacturing process; and

 

   

that we will not experience any significant delays or disruptions in our supply chain.

 

21


Table of Contents

If one or more of the foregoing assumptions turns out to be incorrect, our ability to successfully launch the Model S on time and on budget if at all, and our business prospects, operating results and financial condition may be materially and adversely impacted.

We have no experience to date in high volume manufacturing of our electric vehicles. We do not know whether we will be able to develop efficient, automated, low-cost manufacturing capability and processes, and reliable sources of component supply, that will enable us to meet the quality, price, engineering, design and production standards, as well as the production volumes required to successfully mass market the Model S. Even if we are successful in developing our high volume manufacturing capability and processes and reliable sources of component supply, we do not know whether we will be able to do so in a manner that avoids significant delays and cost overruns, including as a result of factors beyond our control such as problems with suppliers and vendors, or in time to meet our vehicle commercialization schedules or to satisfy the requirements of customers. Any failure to develop such manufacturing processes and capabilities within our projected costs and timelines could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition.

We may experience significant delays in the design, manufacture, launch and financing of the Model S which could harm our business and prospects.

Any delay in the financing, design, manufacture and launch of the Model S could materially damage our brand, business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. Automobile manufacturers often experience delays in the design, manufacture and commercial release of new vehicle models. We experienced significant delays in launching the Tesla Roadster. We initially announced that we would begin delivering the Tesla Roadster in June 2007, but due to various design and production delays, we did not physically deliver our first Tesla Roadster until February 2008, and we only achieved higher production of this vehicle in the quarter ended December 31, 2008. These delays resulted in additional costs and adverse publicity for our business. We may experience similar delays in launching the Model S, and any such delays could be significant.

We have not selected a facility in which to manufacture and assemble our Model S although we intend to begin production of the Model S in 2012. In addition, final designs for the Model S and the site selection and plans for the build out of the planned manufacturing facility are still in process, and various aspects of the Model S component procurement and manufacturing plans have not yet been determined. We are currently evaluating, qualifying and selecting our suppliers for the planned production of the Model S. However, we may not be able to engage suppliers for the remaining components in a timely manner, at an acceptable price or in the necessary quantities. In addition, we will also need to do extensive testing to ensure that the Model S is in compliance with applicable NHTSA safety regulations and EPA regulations prior to beginning mass production and delivery of the vehicles. Our plan to begin production of the Model S by 2012 is dependent upon the timely availability of funds, upon our finalizing the related design, engineering, component procurement, testing, build out, and manufacturing plans in a timely manner and upon our ability to execute these plans within the current timeline.

We intend to fund the build out of this manufacturing facility using existing cash, cash from this offering and cash obtained through the DOE Loan Facility. Our ability to draw down these funds under the DOE Loan Facility is conditioned upon several draw conditions. These draw conditions include our achievement of progress milestones relating to the design and development of the Model S and the planned Model S manufacturing facility, including completion of an environmental assessment of such facility approved by the DOE and the completion of the National Environmental Policy Act process. If we are unable to draw down the anticipated funds under the DOE Loan Facility on the timeline that we anticipate, our plans for building our Model S and electric powertrain manufacturing plants could be significantly delayed which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We face significant barriers in our attempt to produce our Model S, and if we cannot successfully overcome those barriers our business will be negatively impacted.

We face significant barriers as we attempt to produce our first mass produced vehicle, our Model S. We currently have a drivable early prototype of the Model S, but do not have a full production intent prototype, a

 

22


Table of Contents

final design, a manufacturing facility or a manufacturing process. The automobile industry has traditionally been characterized by significant barriers to entry, including large capital requirements, investment costs of designing and manufacturing vehicles, long lead times to bring vehicles to market from the concept and design stage, the need for specialized design and development expertise, regulatory requirements and establishing a brand name and image and the need to establish sales and service locations. As a manufacturer and seller of only electric vehicles, we face a variety of added challenges to entry that a traditional automobile manufacturer would not encounter including additional costs of developing and producing an electric powertrain that has comparable performance to a traditional gasoline engine in terms of range and power, inexperience with servicing electric vehicles, regulations associated with the transport of lithium-ion batteries and unproven high-volume customer demand for fully electric vehicles. In addition, while we are designing the Model S to have the capability to swap out its battery pack, there are no specialized facilities today to perform such swapping. While we may offer this service in the future at our stores, no assurance can be provided that we will do so, or that any other third party will offer such services. We must successfully overcome these barriers as we move from producing the low volume Tesla Roadster to the Model S which we plan to produce at much higher volumes. If we are not able to overcome these barriers, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition will be negatively impacted and our ability to grow our business will be harmed.

Any changes to the Federal Trade Commission’s electric vehicle range testing procedure or the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s energy consumption regulations for electric vehicles could result in a reduction to the advertised range of our vehicles which could negatively impact our sales and harm our business.

The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, requires us to calculate and display the range of our electric vehicles on a label we affix to the vehicle’s window. The FTC specifies that we follow testing requirements set forth by the Society of Automotive Engineers, or SAE, which further requires that we test using the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s, or EPA’s, combined city and highway testing cycles. The EPA recently announced that it would develop and establish new energy efficiency testing methodologies for electric vehicles. Based on initial indications from the EPA, we believe it is likely that the EPA will modify its testing cycles in a manner that, when applied to our vehicles, could reduce the advertised range of our vehicles by up to 30% as compared to the combined two-cycle test currently applicable to our vehicles. However, there can be no assurance that the modified EPA testing cycles will not result in a greater reduction. To the extent that the FTC adopts these procedures in place of the current procedures from the SAE, this could impair our ability to advertise the Tesla Roadster as a vehicle that is capable of going in excess of 200 miles. Moreover, such changes could impair our ability to deliver the Model S with the initially advertised range, which could result in the cancellation of a number of the approximately 2,000 reservations that have been placed for the Model S. Although the real life customer experience of the range of our electric vehicles will not change due to the changes in the FTC or EPA standards, the reduction in the advertised range could negatively impact our sales and harm our business.

We have no experience with using common platforms in the design and manufacture of our vehicles.

If we are unable to effectively leverage the benefits of using an adaptable platform architecture, our business prospects, operating results and financial condition would be adversely affected. We intend to design the Model S with an adaptable platform architecture and common electric powertrain so that we can use the platform of the Model S to create future electric vehicles. We have no experience with using common platforms in the design and manufacture of our vehicles and the design of the Model S is not complete. We may make changes to the design of the Model S that may make it more difficult to use the Model S platform for future vehicles. There are no assurances that we will be able to use the Model S platform to bring future vehicle models to market faster or more inexpensively by leveraging use of this common platform or that there will be sufficient customer demand for additional vehicle variants of this platform.

 

23


Table of Contents

If we are unable to reduce and adequately control the costs associated with operating our business, including our costs of manufacturing, sales and materials, our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects will suffer.

If we are unable to reduce and/or maintain a sufficiently low level of costs for designing, manufacturing, marketing, selling and distributing and servicing our electric vehicles relative to their selling prices, our operating results, gross margins, business and prospects could be materially and adversely impacted. We have made, and will be required to continue to make, significant investments for the design, manufacture and sales of our electric vehicles. When we first began delivering our Tesla Roadster in early 2008, our marginal costs of producing the Tesla Roadster exceeded our revenue from selling those vehicles. Revenue from the sales of our Tesla Roadster as well as from zero emission vehicle, or ZEV, credits did not exceed costs of sales related to our Tesla Roadster, until the nine months ended September 30, 2009. There can be no assurances that our costs of producing and delivering the Model S will be less than the revenue we generate from sales at the time of the Model S launch or that we will ever achieve a positive gross margin on sales of the Model S.

We incur significant costs related to procuring the raw materials required to manufacture our high-performance electric cars, assembling vehicles and compensating our personnel. We will also incur substantial costs in constructing and building out our Model S and powertrain manufacturing facilities, each of which could potentially face cost overruns or delays in construction. Additionally, in the future we may be required to incur substantial marketing costs and expenses to promote our vehicles, including through the use of traditional media such as television, radio and print, even though our marketing expenses to date have been relatively limited. If we are unable to keep our operating costs aligned with the level of revenues we generate, our operating results, business and prospects will be harmed. Many of the factors that impact our operating costs are beyond our control. For example, the costs of our raw materials and components, such as lithium-ion battery cells or carbon fiber body panels used in our vehicles, could increase due to shortages as global demand for these products increases. Indeed, if the popularity of electric vehicles exceeds current expectations without significant expansion in battery cell production capacity and advancements in battery cell technology, shortages could occur which would result in increased materials costs to us.

The automotive market is highly competitive, and we may not be successful in competing in this industry. We currently face competition from established competitors and expect to face competition from others in the future.

The worldwide automotive market, particularly for alternative fuel vehicles, is highly competitive today and we expect it will become even more so in the future. As of December 31, 2009, no other mass produced performance highway capable electric vehicles were being sold in the United States or Europe. However, we expect competitors to enter these markets within the next several years with some entering as early as the end of 2010 and as they do so we expect that we will experience significant competition. With respect to our Tesla Roadster, we currently face strong competition from established automobile manufacturers, including manufacturers of high-performance vehicles, such as Porsche and Ferrari. In addition, upon the launch of our Model S sedan, we will face competition from existing and future automobile manufacturers in the extremely competitive luxury sedan market, including Audi, BMW, Lexus and Mercedes.

Many established and new automobile manufacturers have entered or have announced plans to enter the alternative fuel vehicle market. For example, Nissan has announced that it is developing the Nissan Leaf, a fully electric vehicle, which it plans to bring to market in late 2010. BYD Auto has also announced plans to bring an electric vehicle into the United States market in 2010, and Ford has announced that it plans to introduce an electric vehicle in 2011. In addition, General Motors, Toyota, Ford, and Honda are each selling hybrid vehicles, and certain of these manufacturers have announced plug-in versions of their hybrid vehicles. For example, General Motors has announced that it is developing the Chevrolet Volt, which is a plug-in hybrid vehicle that operates purely on electric power for a limited number of miles, at which time an internal combustion engine engages to recharge the battery. General Motors announced that it plans to begin selling the Chevrolet Volt in 2010.

 

24


Table of Contents

Moreover, it has been reported that Daimler, Lexus, Audi, Renault, Mitsubishi and Subaru are also developing electric vehicles. Several new start-ups have also announced plans to enter the market for performance electric vehicles, although none of these have yet come to market. Finally, electric vehicles have already been brought to market in China and other foreign countries and we expect a number of those manufacturers to enter the United States market as well.

Most of our current and potential competitors have significantly greater financial, manufacturing, marketing and other resources than we do and may be able to devote greater resources to the design, development, manufacturing, distribution, promotion, sale and support of their products. Virtually all of our competitors have more extensive customer bases and broader customer and industry relationships than we do. In addition, almost all of these companies have longer operating histories and greater name recognition than we do. Our competitors may be in a stronger position to respond quickly to new technologies and may be able to design, develop, market and sell their products more effectively.

Furthermore, certain large manufacturers offer financing and leasing options on their vehicles and also have the ability to market vehicles at a substantial discount, provided that the vehicles are financed through their affiliated financing company. We do not currently offer discounts or leasing options on our vehicles, which may put our vehicles at a competitive disadvantage. While we have recently arranged for financing options on our vehicles in the United States through a third-party lender, we do not provide direct financing for the purchase of the Tesla Roadster to our customers, unlike most of our competitors.

We expect competition in our industry to intensify in the future in light of increased demand for alternative fuel vehicles, continuing globalization and consolidation in the worldwide automotive industry. Factors affecting competition include product quality and features, innovation and development time, pricing, reliability, safety, fuel economy, customer service and financing terms. Increased competition may lead to lower vehicle unit sales and increased inventory, which may result in a further downward price pressure and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects. Our ability to successfully compete in our industry will be fundamental to our future success in existing and new markets and our market share. There can be no assurances that we will be able to compete successfully in our markets. If our competitors introduce new cars or services that compete with or surpass the quality, price or performance of our cars or services, we may be unable to satisfy existing customers or attract new customers at the prices and levels that would allow us to generate attractive rates of return on our investment. Increased competition could result in price reductions and revenue shortfalls, loss of customers and loss of market share, which could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Demand in the automobile industry is highly volatile.

Volatility of demand in the automobile industry may materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. The markets in which we currently compete and plan to compete in the future have been subject to considerable volatility in demand in recent periods. For example, according to automotive industry sources, sales of passenger vehicles in North America during the quarter ended December 31, 2008 were over 30% lower than those during the same period in the prior year. Demand for automobile sales depends to a large extent on general, economic, political and social conditions in a given market and the introduction of new vehicles and technologies. As a new automobile manufacturer and low volume producer, we have less financial resources than more established automobile manufacturers to withstand changes in the market and disruptions in demand. As our business grows, economic conditions and trends in other countries and regions where we sell our electric vehicles will impact our business, prospects and operating results as well. Demand for our electric vehicles may also be affected by factors directly impacting automobile price or the cost of purchasing and operating automobiles such as sales and financing incentives, prices of raw materials and parts and components, cost of fuel and governmental regulations, including tariffs, import regulation and other taxes. Volatility in demand may lead to lower vehicle unit sales and increased inventory, which may result in further downward price pressure and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and

 

25


Table of Contents

operating results. These effects may have a more pronounced impact on our business given our relatively smaller scale and financial resources as compared to many incumbent automobile manufacturers.

Difficult economic conditions may affect consumer purchases of luxury items, such as our performance electric vehicles.

Over the last 18 months, the deterioration in the global financial markets and continually challenging condition of the macroeconomic environment has negatively impacted consumer spending and we believe has adversely affected the sales of our Tesla Roadster. The automobile industry in particular was severely impacted by the poor economic conditions and several vehicle manufacturing companies, including General Motors and Chrysler, were forced to file for bankruptcy. Sales of new automobiles generally have dropped during this recessionary period. Sales of high-end and luxury consumer products, such as our performance electric vehicles, depend in part on discretionary consumer spending and are even more exposed to adverse changes in general economic conditions. Discretionary consumer spending also is affected by other factors, including changes in tax rates and tax credits, interest rates and the availability and terms of consumer credit.

If the current difficult economic conditions continue or worsen, we may experience a decline in the demand for our Tesla Roadster or reservations for our Model S, either of which could harm our business, prospects and operating results. Accordingly, any events that have a negative effect on the United States economy or on foreign economies or that negatively affect consumer confidence in the economy, including disruptions in credit and stock markets, and actual or perceived economic slowdowns, may harm our business, prospects and operating results.

Our financial results may vary significantly from period-to-period due to the seasonality of our business and fluctuations in our operating costs.

Our operating results may vary significantly from period-to-period due to many factors, including seasonal factors that may have an effect on the demand for our electric vehicles. Demand for new cars in the automobile industry in general, and for high-performance sports vehicles such as the Tesla Roadster in particular, typically decline over the winter season, while sales are generally higher as compared to the winter season during the spring and summer months. We expect sales of the Tesla Roadster to fluctuate on a seasonal basis with increased sales during the spring and summer months in our second and third fiscal quarters relative to our fourth and first fiscal quarters. We note that, in general, automotive sales tend to decline over the winter season and we anticipate that our sales of the Model S and other models we introduce may have similar seasonality. However, our limited operations history makes it difficult for us to judge the exact nature or extent of the seasonality of our business. Also, any unusually severe weather conditions in some markets may impact demand for our vehicles. Our operating results could also suffer if we do not achieve revenue consistent with our expectations for this seasonal demand because many of our expenses are based on anticipated levels of annual revenue.

We also expect our period-to-period operating results to vary based on our operating costs which we anticipate will increase significantly in future periods as we, among other things, design, develop and manufacture our planned Model S and electric powertrain components, build and equip new manufacturing facilities to produce the Model S and electric powertrain components, open new Tesla stores with maintenance and repair capabilities, incur costs for warranty repairs or product recalls, if any, increase our sales and marketing activities, and increase our general and administrative functions to support our growing operations.

As a result of these factors, we believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our operating results are not necessarily meaningful and that these comparisons cannot be relied upon as indicators of future performance. Moreover, our operating results may not meet expectations of equity research analysts or investors. If this occurs, the trading price of our common stock could fall substantially either suddenly or over time.

 

26


Table of Contents

Marketplace confidence in our liquidity and long-term business prospects is important for building and maintaining our business.

If we are unable to establish and maintain confidence about our liquidity and business prospects among consumers and within our industry, then our financial condition, operating results and business prospects may suffer. Our vehicles are highly technical products that require maintenance and support. If we were to cease or cut back operations, even years from now, buyers of our vehicles from years earlier might have much more difficulty in maintaining their vehicles and obtaining satisfactory support. As a result, consumers may be less likely to purchase our vehicles now if they are not convinced that our business will succeed or that our operations will continue for many years. Similarly, suppliers and other third parties will be less likely to invest time and resources in developing business relationships with us if they are not convinced that our business will succeed. For example, during the economic downturn of 2008, we had difficulty raising the necessary funding for our operations, and, as a result, in the quarter ended December 31, 2008 we had to lay off approximately 60 employees and curtail our expansion plans. In addition, during this period a number of customers canceled their previously placed reservations. If we are required to take similar actions in the future, such actions may result in negative perceptions regarding our liquidity and long-term business prospects.

Accordingly, in order to build and maintain our business, we must maintain confidence among customers, suppliers and other parties in our liquidity and long-term business prospects. In contrast to some more established auto makers, we believe that, in our case, the task of maintaining such confidence may be particularly complicated by factors such as the following:

 

   

our limited operating history;

 

   

our limited revenues and lack of profitability to date;

 

   

unfamiliarity with or uncertainty about the Tesla Roadster and the Model S;

 

   

uncertainty about the long-term marketplace acceptance of alternative fuel vehicles, or electric vehicles specifically;

 

   

the prospect that we will need ongoing infusions of external capital to fund our planned operations;

 

   

the size of our expansion plans in comparison to our existing capital base and scope and history of operations; and

 

   

the prospect or actual emergence of direct, sustained competitive pressure from more established auto makers, which may be more likely if our initial efforts are perceived to be commercially successful.

Many of these factors are largely outside our control, and any negative perceptions about our liquidity or long-term business prospects, even if exaggerated or unfounded, would likely harm our business and make it more difficult to raise additional funds when needed.

We may need to raise additional funds and these funds may not be available to us when we need them. If we cannot raise additional funds when we need them, our operations and prospects could be negatively affected.

The design, manufacture, sale and servicing of automobiles is a capital intensive business. Since inception through the nine months ended September 30, 2009, we have incurred net losses of approximately $236.4 million and have used approximately $173.8 million of cash in operations and while recognizing only approximately $108.2 million in revenue. As of September 30, 2009, we had $106.5 million in cash and cash equivalents. We expect that the proceeds of this offering and the DOE Loan Facility, together with our anticipated cash from operating activities and cash on hand, will be sufficient to fund our operations for the next 24 months. However, if there are delays in the launch of the Model S, if we are unable to draw down the anticipated funds under the DOE Loan Facility, or if the costs in building our Model S and powertrain manufacturing facilities exceed our expectations or if we incur any significant unplanned expenses, we may need to raise additional funds through

 

27


Table of Contents

the issuance of equity, equity-related or debt securities or through obtaining credit from government or financial institutions. This capital will be necessary to fund our ongoing operations, continue research, development and design efforts, expand our network of Tesla stores and services centers, improve infrastructure, and introduce new vehicles. We cannot be certain that additional funds will be available to us on favorable terms when required, or at all. If we cannot raise additional funds when we need them, our operations and prospects could be negatively affected. For example, during the economic downturn of 2008, we had difficulty raising the necessary funding for our operations and, as a result, in the quarter ended December 31, 2008 we had to lay off approximately 60 employees and curtail our expansion plans. Additionally, under our DOE Loan Facility, we face restrictions on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, and in the future may need to obtain a waiver from the DOE in order to do so. We may not be able to obtain such waiver from the DOE which may harm our business. Future issuance of equity or equity-related securities will dilute the ownership interest of existing stockholders and our issuance of debt securities could increase the risk or perceived risk of our company.

If our vehicles fail to perform as expected, our ability to develop, market and sell our electric vehicles could be harmed.

Our vehicles may contain defects in design and manufacture that may cause them not to perform as expected or that may require repair. For example, our vehicles use a substantial amount of software code to operate. Software products are inherently complex and often contain defects and errors when first introduced. While we have performed extensive internal testing, we currently have a very limited frame of reference by which to evaluate the performance of our Tesla Roadster in the hands of our customers and currently have no frame of reference by which to evaluate the performance of our Tesla Roadster after several years of customer driving. We have no frame of reference by which to evaluate our Model S upon which our business prospects depend. There can be no assurance that we will be able to detect and fix any defects in the vehicles prior to their sale to consumers. We previously experienced a product recall in May 2009 after we determined that a condition caused by insufficient torquing of the rear inner hub flange bolt existed in some of our Tesla Roadsters, as a result of a missed process during the manufacture of the Tesla Roadster “glider,” which is the partially assembled Tesla Roadster that does not contain our electric powertrain. We may experience additional recalls in the future, which could adversely affect our brand in our target markets and could adversely affect our business, prospects and results of operations. Our electric vehicles, including the Tesla Roadster and Model S, may not perform consistent with customers’ expectations or consistent with other vehicles currently available. For example, our electric vehicles may not have the durability or longevity of current vehicles, and may not be as easy to repair as other vehicles currently on the market. Any product defects or any other failure of our performance electric vehicles to perform as expected could harm our reputation and result in adverse publicity, lost revenue, delivery delays, product recalls, product liability claims, harm to our brand and reputation, and significant warranty and other expenses, and could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

We have very limited experience servicing our vehicles and we are using a different service model from the one typically used in the industry. If we are unable to address the service requirements of our existing and future customers our business will be materially and adversely affected.

If we are unable to successfully address the service requirements of our existing and future customers our business and prospects will be materially and adversely affected. In addition, we anticipate the level and quality of the service we provide our Tesla Roadster customers will have a direct impact on the success of the Model S and our future vehicles. If we are unable to satisfactorily service our Tesla Roadsters customers, our ability to generate customer loyalty, grow our business and sell additional Tesla Roadsters as well as Model S sedans could be impaired.

We have very limited experience servicing our vehicles. As of December 31, 2009 we had sold only 937 Tesla Roadsters to customers, primarily in the United States and Europe. We do not plan to begin production of any Model S vehicles until 2012, and do not have any experience servicing these cars as they do not exist

 

28


Table of Contents

currently. Servicing electric vehicles is different than servicing vehicles with internal combustion engines and requires specialized skills, including high voltage training and servicing techniques.

We plan to service our performance electric vehicles through our company-owned Tesla stores and through our mobile service technicians known as the Tesla Rangers. As of December 31, 2009, we had opened 10 Tesla owned stores that are equipped to actively service our performance electric vehicles, 8 of which have been open for less than one year, and to date we have only limited experience servicing our performance vehicles through our Tesla stores. We will need to open additional Tesla stores with service capabilities, as well as hire and train significant numbers of new employees to staff these centers and act as Tesla Rangers, in order to successfully maintain our fleet of delivered performance electric vehicles. We only implemented our Tesla Rangers program in October 2009 and have limited experience in deploying them to service our customers’ vehicles. There can be no assurance that these service arrangements or our limited experience servicing our vehicles will adequately address the service requirements of our customers to their satisfaction, or that we will have sufficient resources to meet these service requirement in a timely manner as the volume of vehicles we are able to deliver annually increases.

We do not expect to be able to open Tesla stores in all the geographic areas in which our existing and potential customers may reside. In order to address the service needs of customers that are not in geographical proximity to our service centers, we plan to either transport those vehicles to the nearest Tesla store for servicing or deploy our mobile Tesla Rangers to service the vehicles at the customer’s location. These special arrangements may be expensive and we may not be able to recoup the costs of providing these services to our customers. In addition, a number of potential customers may choose not to purchase our vehicles because of the lack of a more widespread service network. If we do not adequately address our customers’ service needs, our brand and reputation will be adversely affected, which in turn, could have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

Traditional automobile manufacturers do not provide maintenance and repair services directly. Consumers must rather service their vehicles through franchised dealerships or through third party maintenance service providers. We do not have any such arrangements with third party service providers and it is unclear when or even whether such third party service providers will be able to acquire the expertise to service our vehicles. At this point, we anticipate that we will be providing substantially all of the service for our vehicles for the foreseeable future. As our vehicles are placed in more locations, we may encounter negative reactions from our consumers who are frustrated that they cannot use local service stations to the same extent as they have with their conventional automobiles and this frustration may result in negative publicity and reduced sales, thereby harming our business and prospects.

In addition, the motor vehicle industry laws in many states require that service facilities be available with respect to vehicles physically sold from locations in the state. Whether these laws would also require that service facilities be available with respect to vehicles sold over the internet to consumers in a state in which we have no physical presence is uncertain. While we believe our Tesla Ranger program and our practice of shipping customers’ vehicles to our nearest Tesla store for service would satisfy regulators in these circumstances, without seeking formal regulatory guidance, there are no assurances that regulators will not attempt to require that we provide physical service facilities in their states. If issues arise in connection with these laws, certain aspects of Tesla’s service program would need to be restructured to comply with state law, which may harm our business.

We may not succeed in continuing to establish, maintain and strengthen the Tesla brand, which would materially and adversely affect customer acceptance of our vehicles and components and our business, revenues and prospects.

Our business and prospects are heavily dependent on our ability to develop, maintain and strengthen the Tesla brand. Any failure to develop, maintain and strengthen our brand may materially and adversely affect our ability to sell the Tesla Roadster and planned electric vehicles, including the Model S, and sell our electric

 

29


Table of Contents

powertrain components. If we do not continue to establish, maintain and strengthen our brand, we may lose the opportunity to build a critical mass of customers. Promoting and positioning our brand will likely depend significantly on our ability to provide high quality electric cars and maintenance and repair services, and we have very limited experience in these areas. In addition, we expect that our ability to develop, maintain and strengthen the Tesla brand will also depend heavily on the success of our marketing efforts. To date, we have limited experience with marketing activities as we have relied primarily on the internet, word of mouth and attendance at industry trade shows to promote our brand. To further promote our brand, we may be required to change our marketing practices, which could result in substantially increased advertising expenses, including the need to use traditional media such as television, radio and print. The automobile industry is intensely competitive, and we may not be successful in building, maintaining and strengthening our brand. Many of our current and potential competitors, particularly automobile manufacturers headquartered in Detroit, Japan and the European Union, have greater name recognition, broader customer relationships and substantially greater marketing resources than we do. If we do not develop and maintain a strong brand, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results will be materially and adversely impacted.

We are in the process of transitioning our motor manufacturing and battery pack assembly process for the Tesla Roadster and any difficulties we encounter during this transition could materially and adversely affect our business.

We are in the process of transitioning our motor manufacturing and battery pack assembly processes for the Tesla Roadster and may experience unexpected delays or difficulties in executing this transition. We historically have used facilities in Taiwan to assemble the motors for the Tesla Roadster and facilities in San Carlos, California to assemble the battery pack for the Tesla Roadster. These operations are transitioning to our new facility in Palo Alto, California, and we believe our facility relocation will be complete in the first half of 2010. We may experience issues that disrupt the production of these components as we migrate our production processes to our Palo Alto facility. Additionally, our lease agreement for the Menlo Park facility where the powertrain is assembled in the glider of the Tesla Roadster permits the landlord to terminate the lease without cause with six months’ notice. Any such termination could require us to relocate our Menlo Park operations to another facility although we believe such relocation could be accomplished in a relatively short period of time. Any difficulties we encounter while we transition our manufacturing operations in-house could materially and adversely affect our ability to manufacture and deliver our Tesla Roadsters to customers.

We are dependent upon our relationship with Lotus for the manufacturing of the Tesla Roadster.

In July 2005, we entered into a supply agreement with Lotus pursuant to which Lotus agreed to assist with the design and manufacture of our Tesla Roadster. Although we complete the final assembly of our Tesla Roadster in our Menlo Park facility for vehicles destined for the United States market, currently we are dependent upon Lotus to complete the initial portion of the assembly process of the Tesla Roadster for us in Hethel, England and we expect to be so until we discontinue sales of our current generation Tesla Roadster. We currently do not intend to sell our current generation Tesla Roadster after 2011 to accommodate planned tooling changes. We anticipate that our next generation Tesla Roadster, which we only plan to launch after we begin production of the Model S, will be manufactured in our own facilities.

Pursuant to the supply agreement with Lotus, we are obligated to purchase a minimum of 1,700 partially assembled or fully assembled vehicles over the three year term of the agreement, which will expire in March 2011. The partially assembled vehicles do not contain our electric powertrain and are referred to as “gliders.” If we are unable to meet this volume requirement, we are still responsible for payment to Lotus of the lesser of (i) the sum of Lotus’ actual incurred costs and an agreed upon profit margin per vehicle up to the minimum volume requirement or (ii) £5,400,000. As of December 31, 2009, we had purchased approximately 1,000 vehicles or gliders under this agreement. We do not currently have a supply agreement with Lotus for the supply of Tesla Roadster vehicles or gliders beyond the 1,700 minimum referenced above. We may be unable to enter into a new supply agreement or extend our existing supply agreement with Lotus on terms and conditions

 

30


Table of Contents

acceptable to us. In such event, we may be required to contract with another third party to replace Lotus which would entail redesign of the Tesla Roadster chassis, adjustments to our supply chain and establishment of a light manufacturing facility. The expense and time required to complete this transition, and to assure that the vehicles and gliders manufactured at that facility comply with all relevant regulatory requirements, may turn out to be higher than anticipated. Entry into any such contract with another third party might also require us to agree to terms with Lotus on which Lotus would license certain intellectual property rights necessary for the manufacture of the Tesla Roadster to such third party. There can be no assurance that we will be able to find a third party to complete partial manufacture of the Tesla Roadster on terms acceptable to us, if at all and, in addition, there can be no assurance that we will be able to enter into an intellectual property rights license with Lotus on terms acceptable to us. Additionally, because we are dependent upon our relationship with Lotus for the manufacturing of the Tesla Roadster, our business depends on Lotus continuing to operate as a viable and solvent entity and to continue to produce the Tesla Roadster vehicles and gliders pursuant to our supply agreement. Any delay or discontinuance by Lotus of delivery of the Tesla Roadster vehicles and gliders or failure by Lotus to produce the vehicles and gliders in accordance with quality standards would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition.

We are dependent on our suppliers, a significant number of which are single or limited source suppliers, and the inability of these suppliers to continue to deliver, or their refusal to deliver, necessary components of our vehicles at prices and volumes acceptable to us would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects and operating results.

The Tesla Roadster uses over 2,000 purchased parts which we source from over 150 suppliers, many of whom are currently single source suppliers for these components. Our supply base is located globally, with about 30% of our suppliers located in North America, 40% in Europe and 30% in Asia. While we obtain components from multiple sources whenever possible, similar to other automobile manufacturers, many of the components used in our vehicles must be custom made for us. We refer to these component suppliers as our single source suppliers. In addition, Lotus is the only manufacturer for certain components, such as the chassis of our Tesla Roadster, and we refer to it as a sole source supplier.

This supply chain exposes us to multiple potential sources of delivery failure or component shortages for the Tesla Roadster and the planned Model S. We are currently evaluating, qualifying and selecting our suppliers for the planned production of the Model S and we intend to establish dual suppliers for several key components of the Model S, although we expect that a number of components for the Model S will be single sourced. To date we have not qualified alternative sources for most of the single sourced components used in our vehicles and we generally do not maintain long-term agreements with our single source and sole source suppliers. While we believe that we may be able to establish alternate supply relationships and can obtain replacement components, we may be unable to do so in the short term or at all at prices that are favorable to us. In addition, replacing our sole source components may require us to reengineer our vehicles, which could be time consuming and costly. We have in the past experienced source disruptions in our supply chains which have caused delays in our production process and we may experience additional delays in the future.

Changes in business conditions, wars, governmental changes, and other factors beyond our control or which we do not presently anticipate, could also affect our suppliers’ ability to deliver components to us on a timely basis. Furthermore, if we experience significant increased demand, or need to replace our existing suppliers, there can be no assurance that additional supplies of component parts will be available when required on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all, or that any supplier would allocate sufficient supplies to us in order to meet our requirements or fill our orders in a timely manner. In the past, we have replaced certain suppliers because of their failure to provide components that met our quality control standards. The loss of any single or limited source supplier or the disruption in the supply of components from these suppliers could lead to delays in vehicle deliveries to our customers, which could hurt our relationships with our customers and also materially adversely affect our business, prospects and operating results.

 

31


Table of Contents

Changes in our supply chain have resulted in the past, and may result in the future, in increased cost and delay. For example, a change in our supplier for our carbon fiber body panels contributed to the delay in our ability to ramp our production of the Tesla Roadster. A failure by our suppliers to provide the components necessary to manufacture our performance electric vehicles could prevent us from fulfilling customer orders in a timely fashion which could result in negative publicity, damage our brand and have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects and operating results. In addition, since we have no fixed pricing arrangements with any of our component suppliers other than Lotus, our component suppliers could increase their prices with little or no notice to us, which could harm our financial condition and operating results if we are unable to pass such price increases along to our customers.

Increases in costs, disruption of supply or shortage of raw materials, in particular lithium-ion cells, could harm our business.

We may experience increases in the cost or a sustained interruption in the supply or shortage of raw materials. Any such an increase or supply interruption could materially negatively impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. We use various raw materials in our business including aluminum, steel, carbon fiber, non-ferrous metals such as copper, as well as cobalt. The prices for these raw materials fluctuate depending on market conditions and global demand for these materials and could adversely affect our business and operating results. For instance, we are exposed to multiple risks relating to price fluctuations for lithium-ion cells. These risks include:

 

   

the inability or unwillingness of current battery manufacturers to build or operate battery cell manufacturing plants to supply the numbers of lithium-ion cells required to support the growth of the electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle industry as demand for such cells increases;

 

   

disruption in the supply of cells due to quality issues or recalls by the battery cell manufacturers; and

 

   

an increase in the cost of raw materials, such as cobalt, used in lithium-ion cells.

Our business is dependent on the continued supply of battery cells for our vehicles. While we believe several sources of the battery cell we have selected for the Tesla Roadster are available, we have fully qualified only one supplier for these cells. Any disruption is the supply of battery cells from such vendor could temporarily disrupt production of the Tesla Roadster until such time as a different supplier is fully qualified. Moreover, battery cell manufacturers may choose to refuse to supply electric vehicle manufacturers to the extent they determine that the vehicles are not sufficiently safe. Furthermore, current fluctuations or shortages in petroleum and other economic conditions may cause us to experience significant increases in freight charges and raw material costs. Substantial increases in the prices for our raw materials increase our operating costs, and could reduce our margins if we cannot recoup the increased costs through increased electric vehicle prices. There can be no assurance that we will be able to recoup increasing costs of raw materials by increasing vehicle prices. We have also already announced an estimated price for the base model of our planned Model S. Although we have indicated that final pricing for the Model S will not be known until 2011 at the earliest, an increase in the announced price in response to increased raw material costs could be viewed negatively by our customers, result in cancellations of Model S reservations and could adversely affect our brand, image, business, prospects and operating results.

We are currently expanding and improving our information technology systems. If these implementations are not successful, our business and operations could be disrupted and our operating results could be harmed.

We are currently expanding and improving our information technology systems to assist us in the management of our business. In particular, our production of the Model S will necessitate the improvement, design and development of more expanded supply chain systems to support our operations as well as production and shop floor management. The implementation of new software management platforms and the addition of

 

32


Table of Contents

these platforms at new locations require significant management time, support and cost. Moreover, there are inherent risks associated with developing, improving and expanding our core systems, including supply chain disruptions that may affect our ability to obtain supplies when needed or to deliver vehicles to our Tesla stores and customers. We cannot be sure that these expanded systems will be fully or effectively implemented on a timely basis, if at all. If we do not successfully implement this project, our operations may be disrupted and our operating results could be harmed. In addition, the new systems may not operate as we expect them to, and we may be required to expend significant resources to correct problems or find alternative sources for performing these functions.

If our vehicle owners customize our vehicles or change the charging infrastructure with aftermarket products, the vehicle may not operate properly which could harm our business.

Automobile enthusiasts may seek to “hack” our vehicles to modify its performance which could compromise vehicle safety systems. Also, we are aware of customers who have customized their vehicles with after-market parts that may compromise driver safety. For example, some customers have installed seats that elevate the driver such that airbag and other safety systems could be compromised. Other customers have changed wheels and tires, while others have installed large speaker systems that may impact the electrical systems of the vehicle. We have not tested, nor do we endorse such changes or products. In addition, customer use of improper external cabling or unsafe charging outlets can expose our customer to injury from high voltage electricity. Such unauthorized modifications could reduce the safety of our vehicles and any injuries resulting from such modifications could result in adverse publicity which would negatively affect our brand and harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

The success of our business depends on attracting and retaining a large number of customers. If we are unable to do so, we will not be able to achieve profitability.

Our success depends on attracting a large number of potential customers to purchase our electric vehicles. As of December 31, 2009 we had sold 937 Tesla Roadsters to customers, almost all of which were sold in the United States and Europe, and had accepted reservations for approximately 2,000 Model S sedans. If our existing and prospective customers do not perceive our vehicles and services to be of sufficiently high value and quality, and appealing in aesthetics or performance, or if the final production version of the Model S is not sufficiently similar to the drivable design prototype, we may not be able to retain our current customers or attract new customers, and our business and prospects, operating results and financial condition would suffer as a result. In addition, because our performance electric vehicles to date have been sold largely through word of mouth marketing efforts, we may be required to incur significantly higher and more sustained advertising and promotional expenditures than we have previously incurred to attract customers, and use more traditional advertising techniques. In addition, if we engage in traditional advertising, we may face review by consumer protection enforcement agencies and may incur significant expenses to ensure that our advertising claims are fully supported. To date we have limited experience selling our electric vehicles and we may not be successful in attracting and retaining a large number of customers. For example, over half of our current sales team has less than one year of experience in selling our performance electric vehicles. If for any of these reasons we are not able to attract and maintain customers, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition would be materially harmed.

Regulators could review our practice of taking reservation payments and, if the practice is deemed to violate applicable law, we could be required to pay penalties or refund the reservation payments that we have received for vehicles that are not immediately available for delivery, to stop accepting additional reservation payments, to restructure certain aspects of our reservation program, and potentially to suspend or revoke our licenses to manufacture and sell our vehicles.

To reserve a production slot, we require our customers to pay reservation payments, which may be used towards the purchase price for our vehicles in advance of delivery of the vehicle. Our reservation payments are

 

33


Table of Contents

used by us to fund, in part, our working capital requirements and help us to align production with demand. For our 2010 model year Tesla Roadsters, our current reservations policy requires the payment of an initial $9,900, €9,900 or £8,500 reservation payment, depending on the location of the customer. Approximately three months prior to production, we require the customer to make full payment of the balance owed on the vehicle to lock in a production slot. For the Model S, we require an initial reservation payment of at least $5,000. Until the customer locks in a production slot, reservation payments are refundable, less certain cancellation fees. As of September 30, 2009, we had collected reservation payments for undelivered Tesla Roadsters in an aggregate amount of $9.3 million and reservation payments for Model S sedans in an aggregate amount of $15.2 million. At this time, we do not plan to hold reservation payments separately or in an escrow or trust fund or pay any interest on reservation payments except to the extent applicable laws require us to do so. We generally use these funds for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

California laws, and potentially the laws of other states, restrict the ability of licensed auto dealers to advertise or take deposits for vehicles before the vehicles are available to the dealer from the manufacturer. In November 2007, we became aware that the New Motor Vehicle Board of the California Department of Transportation has considered whether our reservation policies and advertising comply with the California Vehicle Code. To date, we have not received any communications on this topic from the New Motor Vehicle Board or the Department of Motor Vehicles, or DMV, which has the power to enforce these laws. There can be no assurance that the DMV will not take the position that our vehicle reservation or advertising practices violate the law. We expect that if the DMV determines that we may have violated the law, it would initially discuss its concerns with us and request voluntary compliance. If we are ultimately found to be in violation of California law, we might be precluded from taking reservation payments, and the DMV could take other actions against us, including levying fines and requiring us to refund reservation payments. Resolution of any inquiry may also involve restructuring certain aspects of the reservation program. In addition, California is currently the only jurisdiction in which we have licenses to both manufacture and sell our vehicles so any limitation imposed on our operations in California would be particularly damaging to our business. The DMV also has the power to suspend licenses to manufacture and sell vehicles in California, following a hearing on the merits, which it has typically exercised in cases of significant or repeat violations and/or a refusal to comply with DMV directions.

Certain states may have specific laws which apply to dealers, or manufacturers selling directly to consumers, or both. For example, the state of Washington requires that reservation payments or other payments received from residents in the state of Washington must be placed in a segregated account until delivery of the vehicle, which account must be unencumbered by any liens from creditors of the dealer and may not be used by the dealer. Consequently, we established a segregated account for reservation payments in the state of Washington in January 2010. There can be no assurance that other state or foreign jurisdictions will not require similar segregation of reservation payments received from customers. Our inability to access these funds for working capital purposes could harm our liquidity.

Furthermore, while we have performed an analysis of the principal laws in the European Union relating to our distribution model and believe we comply with such laws, we have not performed a complete analysis in all foreign jurisdictions in which we may sell vehicles. Accordingly, there may be laws in jurisdictions we have not yet entered or laws we are unaware of in jurisdictions we have entered that may restrict our vehicle reservation practices or other business practices. Even for those jurisdictions we have analyzed, the laws in this area can be complex, difficult to interpret and may change over time.

If our vehicle reservation or advertising practices or other business practices were found to violate the laws of a jurisdiction, we may face exposure under those laws and our business and prospects would be adversely affected. For example, if we are required to return reservation payment amounts, we may need to raise additional funds to make such payments. There can be no assurance that such funding would be available on a timely basis on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. If a court were to find that our reservation agreement or advertising does not comply with state laws, we may face exposure under those laws which may include exposure under consumer protection statutes such as those that deal with unfair competition and false advertising. Moreover,

 

34


Table of Contents

reductions in our cash as a result of redemptions or an inability to take reservation payments could also make it more difficult for us to obtain additional financing. The prospect of reductions in cash, even if unrealized, may also make it more difficult to obtain financing.

Our plan to expand our network of Tesla stores will require significant cash investments and management resources and may not meet our expectations with respect to additional sales of our electric vehicles. In addition, we may not be able to open stores in certain states.

Our plan to expand our network of Tesla stores will require significant cash investments and management resources and may not meet our expectations with respect to additional sales of our electric vehicles. This planned global expansion of Tesla stores may not have the desired effect of increasing sales and expanding our brand presence to the degree we are anticipating. Furthermore there can be no assurances that we will be able to construct additional storefronts on the budget or timeline we have established. We will also need to ensure we are in compliance with any regulatory requirements applicable to the sale of our vehicles in those jurisdictions, which could take considerable time and expense. If we experience any delays in expanding our network of Tesla stores, this could lead to a decrease in sales of our vehicles and could negatively impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. As of December 31, 2009, we had opened 10 Tesla stores in major metropolitan areas throughout the United States and Europe. We plan to nearly double the number of Tesla stores opened by the end of 2010, with a goal of establishing approximately 50 stores globally within the next several years in connection with the planned Model S rollout. However, we may not be able to expand our network at such rate and our planned expansion of our network of Tesla stores will require significant cash investment and management resources, as well as efficiency in the execution of establishing these storefronts and in hiring and training the necessary employees to effectively sell our vehicles.

Furthermore, certain states and foreign jurisdictions may have permit requirements, franchise dealer laws or similar laws or regulations that may preclude or restrict our ability to open stores or sell vehicles out of such states and jurisdictions. Any such prohibition or restriction may lead to decreased sales in such jurisdictions, which could harm our business and operating results.

We face risks associated with our international operations, including unfavorable regulatory, political, tax and labor conditions, which could harm our business.

We face risks associated with our international operations, including possible unfavorable regulatory, political, tax and labor conditions, which could harm our business. We currently have international operations and subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Canada, Monaco, Germany and Taiwan that are subject to the legal, political, regulatory and social requirements and economic conditions in these jurisdictions. Additionally, as part of our growth strategy, we intend to expand our sales, maintenance and repair services internationally. However, we have limited experience to date selling and servicing our vehicles internationally and such expansion would require us to make significant expenditures, including the hiring of local employees and establishing facilities, in advance of generating any revenue. We are subject to a number of risks associated with international business activities that may increase our costs, impact our ability to sell our electric vehicles and require significant management attention. These risks include:

 

   

conforming our vehicles to various international regulatory requirements where our vehicles are sold, or homologation;

 

   

difficulty in staffing and managing foreign operations;

 

   

difficulties attracting customers in new jurisdictions;

 

   

foreign government taxes, regulations and permit requirements, including foreign taxes that we may not be able to offset against taxes imposed upon us in the United States, and foreign tax and other laws limiting our ability to repatriate funds to the United States;

 

35


Table of Contents
   

fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates, including risks related to any interest rate swap or other hedging activities we undertake;

 

   

our ability to enforce our contractual and intellectual property rights, especially in those foreign countries that do not respect and protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the United States, Japan and European countries, which increases the risk of unauthorized, and uncompensated, use of our technology;

 

   

United States and foreign government trade restrictions, tariffs and price or exchange controls;

 

   

foreign labor laws, regulations and restrictions;

 

   

preferences of foreign nations for domestically produced vehicles;

 

   

changes in diplomatic and trade relationships;

 

   

political instability, natural disasters, war or events of terrorism; and

 

   

the strength of international economies.

We also face the risk that costs denominated in foreign currencies will increase if such foreign currencies strengthen quickly and significantly against the dollar. A portion of our costs and expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 were denominated in foreign currencies such as the British Pound and the euro. This is primarily due to the contract with Lotus in the United Kingdom to assemble the Tesla Roadster vehicles and gliders and other parts sourced in Europe. If the value of the United States dollar continues to depreciate against the British pound and the Euro, our costs as measured in United States dollars will correspondingly increase and our operating results will be adversely affected. In addition, our battery cell purchases from Asian suppliers are subject to currency risk. Although our present contracts are United States dollar based, if the United States dollar depreciates significantly against the local currency it could cause our Asian suppliers to significantly raise their prices, which could harm our financial results.

If we fail to successfully address these risks, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition could be harmed.

The unavailability, reduction or elimination of government and economic incentives could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

Any reduction, elimination or discriminatory application of government subsidies and economic incentives because of policy changes, the reduced need for such subsidies and incentives due to the perceived success of the electric vehicle, fiscal tightening or other reasons may result in the diminished competitiveness of the alternative fuel vehicle industry generally or our electric vehicles in particular. This could materially and adversely affect the growth of the alternative fuel automobile markets and our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Our growth depends in part on the availability and amounts of government subsidies and economic incentives for alternative fuel vehicles generally and performance electric vehicles specifically. For example, in December 2009, we finalized an arrangement with the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority that will result in an exemption from California state sales and use taxes for up to $320 million of manufacturing equipment. To the extent all of this equipment is purchased and would otherwise be subject to California state sales and use tax, we believe this incentive would result in tax savings by us of up to approximately $31 million over a three year period starting in December 2009. This exemption is only available for equipment that would otherwise be subject to California sales and use taxes and that would be used only for the following three purposes: to establish our production facility for the Model S sedan, to upgrade our Palo Alto powertrain production facility, and to expand our current Tesla Roadster assembly operations at our Menlo Park facility. If we fail to meet these conditions, we would be unable to take full advantage of this tax incentive and our financial position could be harmed.

 

36


Table of Contents

In addition, certain regulations that encourage sales of electric cars could be reduced, eliminated or applied in a way that creates an adverse effect against our vehicles, either currently or at any time in the future. For example, while the federal and state governments have from time to time enacted tax credits and other incentives for the purchase of alternative fuel cars, our competitors have more experience and greater resources in working with legislators than we do, and so there is no guarantee that our vehicles would be eligible for tax credits or other incentives provided to alternative fuel vehicles in the future. This would put our vehicles at a competitive disadvantage. As another example, government disincentives have been enacted in Europe for gas-powered vehicles, which discourage the use of such vehicles and allow us to set a higher sales price for the Tesla Roadster in Europe. In the event that such disincentives are reduced or eliminated, sales of electric vehicles, including our Tesla Roadster, could be adversely affected. Furthermore, low volume manufacturers are exempt from certain regulatory requirements in the United States and the European Union. This provides us with an advantage over high volume manufacturers that must comply with such regulations. Once we reach a certain threshold number of sales in each of the United States and the European Union, we will no longer be able to take advantage of such exemptions in the respective jurisdictions, which could lead us to incur additional design and manufacturing expense. We do not anticipate that we will be able to take advantage of these exemptions with respect to the Model S which we plan to produce at significantly higher volumes than the Tesla Roadster.

If we are unable to grow our sales of electric vehicle components to original equipment manufacturers, our financial results may suffer.

We may have trouble attracting and retaining powertrain customers which could adversely affect our business prospects and results. Daimler is currently the sole customer of our electric powertrain business. In May 2009, we formalized a development agreement with Daimler as a result of which we performed specified research and development services. In addition, we have been selected by Daimler to supply it with up to 1,000 battery packs and chargers to support a trial of the Smart fortwo electric drive in five European cities. We began shipping the first of these battery packs and chargers in November 2009 and started to recognize revenue for these sales in the quarter ended December 31, 2009. There is no guarantee that we will be able to secure future business with Daimler as it has indicated its intent to produce all of its lithium-ion batteries by 2012 as part of a joint venture with Evonik Industries AG. If Daimler goes through with this, we are likely to lose the only customer in our powertrain business. Other than our agreement with Daimler, we have no significant development or sales agreements in place to drive our electric powertrain revenues. Even if we do develop such relationships, there is no assurance that we can adequately pursue such opportunities simultaneously with the execution of our plans for our vehicles.

Our relationship with Daimler is subject to various risks which could adversely affect our business and future prospects.

Daimler has agreed to purchase components of our electric powertrain to support a trial of the Smart fortwo electric drive in five European cities. In addition, we are negotiating agreements for Daimler to provide us with access to various parts, automotive support and engineering for the Model S and regarding various other areas of strategic cooperation with Daimler although there are no assurances that we will be able to enter into any such agreements. However, our relationship with Daimler poses various risks to us including:

 

   

potential delays in launching the Model S if we lose Daimler’s automotive support and are unable to find an alternative in a timely manner;

 

   

potential loss of access to various parts that we are incorporating into our Model S design; and

 

   

potential loss of business and adverse publicity to our brand image if there are defects or other problems discovered with our electric powertrain components that Daimler has incorporated into their vehicles.

 

37


Table of Contents

The occurrence of any of the foregoing could adversely affect our business, prospects and operating results.

In addition, our exclusivity and intellectual property agreement, or EIP Agreement, with Daimler North America Corporation, or DNAC, an affiliate of Daimler provides that, if a Daimler competitor offers to enter into a competitive strategic transaction with us, we are required to give DNAC notice of such offer and DNAC will have a specified period of time in which to notify us whether it wishes to enter into such transaction with us on the same terms as offered by the third party. Because we will be able to enter into such a transaction with a third party only if DNAC declines to do so, this may decrease the likelihood that we will receive offers from third parties to enter into strategic arrangements in the future.

We may not be able to identify adequate strategic relationship opportunities, or form strategic relationships, in the future.

Strategic business relationships will be an important factor in the growth and success of our business. For example, our strategic relationship with Daimler has provided us with various benefits. However, there are no assurances that we will be able to identify or secure suitable business relationship opportunities in the future or our competitors may capitalize on such opportunities before we do. Our strategic relationship with Daimler involved Blackstar, an affiliate of Daimler, making a significant equity investment in us as well as a representative from Daimler, Dr. Herbert Kohler, joining our Board. We may not be able to offer similar benefits to other companies that we would like to establish and maintain strategic relationships with which could impair our ability to establish such relationships. Moreover, identifying such opportunities could demand substantial management time and resources, and negotiating and financing relationships involves significant costs and uncertainties. If we are unable to successfully source and execute on strategic relationship opportunities in the future, our overall growth could be impaired, and our operating results could be adversely affected.

If we fail to manage future growth effectively, we may not be able to market and sell our vehicles successfully.

Any failure to manage our growth effectively could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. We have recently expanded our operations significantly, increasing our total number of employees from 279 as of December 31, 2007 to 514 as of December 31, 2009 and further significant expansion will be required, especially in connection with the planned establishment of our Model S production facility, our electric powertrain manufacturing facility, the expansion of our network of Tesla stores and services centers, our mobile Tesla Rangers program and requirements of being a public company. Our future operating results depend to a large extent on our ability to manage this expansion and growth successfully. Risks that we face in undertaking this expansion include:

 

   

training new personnel;

 

   

forecasting production and revenue;

 

   

controlling expenses and investments in anticipation of expanded operations;

 

   

establishing or expanding design, manufacturing, sales and service facilities;

 

   

implementing and enhancing administrative infrastructure, systems and processes;

 

   

addressing new markets; and

 

   

expanding international operations.

We intend to continue to hire a significant number of additional personnel, including design and manufacturing personnel and service technicians for our performance electric vehicles. Because our high-performance vehicles are based on a different technology platform than traditional internal combustion engines, individuals with sufficient training in performance electric vehicles may not be available to hire, and we will

 

38


Table of Contents

need to expend significant time and expense training the employees we do hire. Competition for individuals with experience designing, manufacturing and servicing electric vehicles is intense, and we may not be able to attract, assimilate, train or retain additional highly qualified personnel in the future. The failure to attract, integrate, train, motivate and retain these additional employees could seriously harm our business and prospects.

If we are unable to attract and retain key employees and hire qualified management, technical and vehicle engineering personnel, our ability to compete could be harmed.

The loss of the services of any of our key employees could disrupt our operations, delay the development and introduction of our vehicles and services, and negatively impact our business, prospects and operating results. In particular, we are highly dependent on the services of Elon Musk, our Chief Executive Officer, Product Architect and Chairman of our Board of Directors, and JB Straubel, our Chief Technical Officer. None of our key employees is bound by an employment agreement for any specific term. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully attract and retain senior leadership necessary to grow our business. Our future success depends upon our ability to attract and retain our executive officers and other key technology, sales, marketing and support personnel and any failure to do so could adversely impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. We have in the past and may in the future experience difficulty in retaining members of our senior management team. In addition, we do not have “key person” life insurance policies covering any of our officers or other key employees. There is increasing competition for talented individuals with the specialized knowledge of electric vehicles and this competition affects both our ability to retain key employees and hire new ones.

We are highly dependent on the services of Elon Musk, our Chief Executive Officer.

We are highly dependent on the services of Elon Musk, our Chief Executive Officer, Product Architect, Chairman of our Board of Directors and largest stockholder. Although Mr. Musk spends significant time with Tesla and is highly active in our management, he does not devote his full time and attention to Tesla. Mr. Musk also currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technical Officer of Space Exploration Technologies, a developer and manufacturer of space launch vehicles, and Chairman of SolarCity, a solar equipment installation company.

In addition, our financing agreements with Blackstar contain certain covenants relating to Mr. Musk’s employment as our Chief Executive Officer. These covenants provide that if Mr. Musk is not serving as our Chief Executive Officer at any time until the later of December 31, 2012 or the launch of the Model S, Mr. Musk shall promptly propose a successor Chief Executive Officer and Dr. Kohler, or his successor, must consent to any appointment of such person by our Board of Directors. If Mr. Musk departs as our Chief Executive Officer prior to December 31, 2010, for reasons other than his death or disability, and Dr. Kohler, or his successor, has not consented to the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer, Daimler has the right to terminate any or all of its strategic collaboration agreements with us. Furthermore, if at any time during the period from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2012, Mr. Musk is not serving as either our Chief Executive Officer or Chairman of our Board of Directors for reasons other than his death or disability, and Dr. Kohler, or his successor, has not consented to the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer or if during such period Mr. Musk renders services to, or invests in, any other automotive OEM other than us, Daimler has the right to terminate any or all of its strategic collaboration agreements with us. If this were to occur, our business would be harmed.

Furthermore, our DOE Loan Facility provides that we will be in default under the facility in the event Mr. Musk and certain of his affiliates fail to own, at any time prior to one year after we complete the project relating to the Model S, at least 65% of the capital stock held by Mr. Musk and such affiliates as of the date of the DOE Loan Facility.

 

39


Table of Contents

Many members of our management team are new to the company or to the automobile industry, and execution of our business plan and development strategy could be seriously harmed if integration of our management team into our company is not successful.

Our business could be seriously harmed if integration of our management team into our company is not successful. We expect that it will take time for our new management team to integrate into our company and it is too early to predict whether this integration will be successful. We have recently experienced significant changes in our management team and expect to continue to experience significant growth in our management team. Our senior management team has only limited experience working together as a group. Specifically, two of the five members of our senior management team have joined us within the last two years. For example, Deepak Ahuja, our Chief Financial Officer, joined us in July 2008, and Gilbert Passin, our Vice President of Manufacturing, joined us in January 2010. This lack of long-term experience working together may impact the team’s ability to collectively quickly and efficiently respond to problems and effectively manage our business. Although we are taking steps to add senior management personnel that have significant automotive experience, many of the members of our current senior management team have limited or no prior experience in the automobile or electric vehicle industries.

We are subject to various environmental laws and regulations that could impose substantial costs upon us and cause delays in building our manufacturing facilities.

As an automobile manufacturer, we and our operations, both in the United States and abroad, are subject to national, state, provincial and/or local environmental laws and regulations, including laws relating to the use, handling, storage, disposal and human exposure to hazardous materials. Environmental laws and regulations can be complex and we expect that our business and operations will be affected by other new environmental and health and safety laws which may require us to change our operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. These laws can give rise to liability for administrative oversight costs, cleanup costs, property damage, bodily injury and fines and penalties. Capital and operating expenses needed to comply with environmental laws and regulations can be significant, and violations may result in substantial fines and penalties, third party damages, suspension of production or a cessation of our operations. In addition, ensuring we are in compliance with applicable environmental laws in connection with our planned Model S manufacturing facility and our planned electric powertrain manufacturing facility in Palo Alto, California, such as the California Environmental Quality Act, could require significant time and management and financial resources and could cause delays in our ability to build out, equip and operate these facilities, which would adversely impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. Our DOE Loan Facility conditions the availability of the full amount of the loans on meeting certain environmental requirements relating to the sites on which our Model S manufacturing facility and our electric powertrain facility are located, including the National Environmental Policy Act and any environmental issues with respect to these sites could limit or delay our ability to draw down the full amount of the loans under our DOE Loan Facility.

In addition, environmental laws and regulations, such as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA, in the United States can impose liability for the full amount of damages without regard to comparative fault for the investigation and cleanup of contaminated soil and ground water, for building contamination and impacts to human health and for damages to natural resources. Contamination at properties formerly owned or operated by us, as well as at properties we will own and operate, and properties to which hazardous substances were sent by us, may result in liability for us under environmental laws and regulations. The costs of complying with environmental laws and regulations and any claims concerning noncompliance, or liability with respect to contamination in the future could, have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or operating results.

We may not be able to obtain, or to agree on acceptable terms and conditions for, all or a significant portion of the government grants, loans and other incentives for which we have applied and may in the future apply. As a result, our business and prospects may be adversely affected.

We have applied for federal and state grants, loans and tax incentives under government programs designed to stimulate the economy and support the production of electric vehicles and related technologies. We anticipate

 

40


Table of Contents

that in the future there will be new opportunities for us to apply for grants, loans and other incentives from the United States, state and foreign governments. Our ability to obtain funds or incentives from government sources is subject to the availability of funds under applicable government programs and approval of our applications to participate in such programs. The application process for these funds and other incentives is and will be highly competitive. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in obtaining any of these additional grants, loans and other incentives. If we are not successful in obtaining any of these additional incentives and we are unable to find alternative sources of funding to meet our planned capital needs, our business and prospects could be adversely affected.

Our business may be adversely affected by union activities.

Although none of our employees are currently represented by a labor union, it is common throughout the automobile industry generally for many employees at automobile companies to belong to a union, which can result in higher employee costs and increased risk of work stoppages. As we expand our business to include full in-house manufacturing of our vehicles, as is planned for the Model S, there can be no assurances that our employees will not join or form a labor union or that we will not be required to become a union signatory. We are also directly or indirectly dependent upon companies with unionized work forces, such as parts suppliers and trucking and freight companies, and work stoppages or strikes organized by such unions could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or operating results. For example, certain employees at the sea freight companies through which we ship our Tesla Roadster gliders to the United States after assembly in England may be represented by unions, as may be employees at certain of our suppliers. If a work stoppage occurs, it could delay the manufacture and sale of our performance electric vehicles and have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results or financial condition.

We are subject to substantial regulation, which is evolving, and unfavorable changes or failure by us to comply with these regulations could substantially harm our business and operating results.

Our performance electric vehicles, the sale of motor vehicles in general and the electronic components used in our vehicles are subject to substantial regulation under international, federal, state, and local laws. We have incurred, and expect to incur in the future, significant costs in complying with these regulations. For example, the Clean Air Act requires that we obtain a Certificate of Conformity issued by the EPA and a California Executive Order issued by the California Air Resources Board with respect to emissions for our vehicles. We received a Certificate of Conformity for sales of our Tesla Roadsters in 2008, but did not receive a Certificate of Conformity for sales of the Tesla Roadster in 2009 until December 21, 2009. In January 2010, we and the EPA entered into an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Audit Policy Determination in which we agreed to pay a civil administrative penalty in the sum of $275,000 for failing to obtain a Certificate of Conformity for sales of our vehicles in 2009 prior to December 21, 2009.

Regulations related to the electric vehicle industry and alternative energy are currently evolving and we face risks associated with changes to these regulations such as:

 

   

the imposition of a carbon tax or the introduction of a cap-and-trade system on electric utilities could increase the cost of electricity;

 

   

the increase of subsidies for corn and ethanol production could reduce the operating cost of vehicles that use ethanol or a combination of ethanol and gasoline;

 

   

changes to the regulations governing the assembly and transportation of lithium-ion batteries, such as the UN Recommendations of the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods Model Regulations or regulations adopted by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHMSA, could increase the cost of lithium-ion batteries;

 

   

the amendment or rescission of the federal law mandating increased fuel economy in the United States, referred to as the “Corporate Average Fuel Economy” or “CAFE” standards could reduce new business opportunities for our powertrain business;

 

41


Table of Contents
   

increased sensitivity by regulators to the needs of established automobile manufacturers with large employment bases, high fixed costs and business models based on the internal combustion engine could lead them to pass regulations that could reduce the compliance costs of such established manufacturers or mitigate the effects of government efforts to promote alternative fuel vehicles; and

 

   

changes to regulations governing exporting of our products could increase our costs incurred to deliver products outside the United States or force us to charge a higher price for our vehicles in such jurisdictions.

To the extent the laws change, some or all of our vehicles may not comply with applicable international, federal, state or local laws, which would have an adverse effect on our business. Compliance with changing regulations could be burdensome, time consuming, and expensive. To the extent compliance with new regulations is cost prohibitive, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results will be adversely affected.

We retain certain personal information about our customers and may be subject to various privacy and consumer protection laws.

We use our vehicles’ electronic systems to log information about each vehicle’s use in order to aid us in vehicle diagnostics, repair and maintenance, as well as to help us collect data regarding our customers’ charge time, battery usage, mileage and efficiency habits. Our customers may object to the use of this data, which may harm our business. Possession and use of our customers’ personal information in conducting our business may subject us to legislative and regulatory burdens in the United States and foreign jurisdictions that could require notification of data breach, restrict our use of such personal information and hinder our ability to acquire new customers or market to existing customers. We may incur significant expenses to comply with privacy, consumer protection and security standards and protocols imposed by law, regulation, industry standards or contractual obligations. If third parties improperly obtain and use the personal information of our customers, we may be required to expend significant resources to resolve these problems. A major breach of our network security and systems could have serious negative consequences for our businesses and future prospects, including possible fines, penalties and damages, reduced customer demand for our vehicles, and harm to our reputation and brand.

Our vehicles make use of lithium-ion battery cells, which on rare occasions have been observed to catch fire or vent smoke and flame.

The battery pack in the Tesla Roadster makes use of lithium-ion cells, which have been used for years in laptops and cell phones. We also currently intend to make use of lithium-ion cells in the battery pack for the Model S and any future vehicles we may produce. On rare occasions, lithium-ion cells can rapidly release the energy they contain by venting smoke and flames in a manner that can ignite nearby materials. Highly publicized incidents of laptop computers and cell phones bursting into flames have focused consumer attention on the safety of these cells. The events have also raised questions about the suitability of these lithium-ion cells for automotive applications. To address these questions and concerns, a number of cell manufacturers are pursuing alternative lithium-ion battery cell chemistries to improve safety. We have designed our battery pack to passively contain any single cell’s release of energy without spreading to neighboring cells and we are not aware of any such incident in our customers’ vehicles. We have tested the batteries and subjected them to damaging treatments such as baking, overcharging, crushing or puncturing to assess our battery pack’s response to deliberate and sometimes destructive abuse. However, we have delivered only a limited number of Tesla Roadsters to customers and have limited field experience with our vehicles. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that a field failure of our battery packs will not occur, which could damage the vehicle or lead to personal injury or death and may subject us to lawsuits. In addition, we store a significant number of lithium-ion cells at our manufacturing facility. Any mishandling of battery cells may cause disruption to the operation of our facilities. While we have implemented safety procedures related to the handling of the cells, there can be no assurance that a safety issue or fire related to the cells would not disrupt our operations. Such damage or injury would likely lead to adverse

 

42


Table of Contents

publicity and potentially a safety recall. Moreover, any failure of a competitor’s electric vehicle, especially those that use a high volume of commodity cells similar to the Tesla Roadster, may cause indirect adverse publicity for us. Such adverse publicity would negatively affect our brand and harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We may become subject to product liability claims, which could harm our financial condition and liquidity if we are not able to successfully defend or insure against such claims.

We may become subject to product liability claims, which could harm our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. The automobile industry experiences significant product liability claims and we face inherent risk of exposure to claims in the event our vehicles do not perform as expected or malfunction resulting in personal injury or death. Our risks in this area are particularly pronounced given the limited number of vehicles delivered to date and limited field experience of those vehicles. A successful product liability claim against us could require us to pay a substantial monetary award. Moreover, a product liability claim could generate substantial negative publicity about our vehicles and business and inhibit or prevent commercialization of other future vehicle candidates which would have material adverse effect on our brand, business, prospects and operating results. We maintain product liability insurance for all our vehicles with annual limits of approximately $21 million on a claims made basis, but we cannot assure that our insurance will be sufficient to cover all potential product liability claims. Any lawsuit seeking significant monetary damages either in excess of our coverage, or outside of our coverage, may have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business and financial condition. We may not be able to secure additional product liability insurance coverage on commercially acceptable terms or at reasonable costs when needed, particularly if we do face liability for our products and are forced to make a claim under our policy.

In connection with the development and sale of our planned Model S, we will need to comply with various additional safety regulations and requirements that were not applicable to the sales of our Tesla Roadsters, with which it may be expensive or difficult to comply. For example, we will need to pass certain frontal impact tests for the Model S, which are required for sales exceeding certain annual volumes outside the United States. We performed such a test on the Tesla Roadster based on European Union testing standards in connection with sales exceeding certain volume thresholds in Australia and Japan, and two criteria were not met in the test. We may experience difficulties in meeting all the criteria for this test or similar tests for our planned Model S, which may delay our ability to sell the Model S in high volumes in certain jurisdictions.

We may be compelled to undertake product recalls.

Any product recall in the future may result in adverse publicity, damage our brand and adversely affect our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. In April 2009, we determined that a condition caused by insufficient torquing of the rear inner hub flange bolt existed in some of our Tesla Roadsters, as a result of a missed process during manufacture of the Tesla Roadster glider. Based on our internal investigation results and in coordination with NHTSA, we initiated a product recall in May 2009. The May 2009 recall resulted in approximately 346 Tesla Roadsters needing to be serviced. In the future, we may at various times, voluntarily or involuntarily, initiate a recall if any of our vehicles or electric powertrain components prove to be defective. Such recalls, voluntary or involuntary, involve significant expense and diversion of management attention and other resources, which would adversely affect our brand image in our target markets and could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our warranty reserves may be insufficient to cover future warranty claims which could adversely affect our financial performance.

If our warranty reserves are inadequate to cover future warranty claims on our vehicles, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be materially and adversely affected. We provide a three year or 36,000 mile New Vehicle Limited Warranty with every Tesla Roadster, which we extended to four

 

43


Table of Contents

years or 50,000 miles for the purchasers of our 2008 Tesla Roadster. In addition, customers have the opportunity to purchase an Extended Service Plan for the period after the end of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty to cover additional services for an additional three years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. The New Vehicle Limited Warranty is similar to other vehicle manufacturers’ warranty programs and is intended to cover all parts and labor to repair defects in material or workmanship in the body, chassis, suspension, interior, electronic systems, battery, powertrain and brake system. We record and adjust warranty reserves based on changes in estimated costs and actual warranty costs. However, because we only began delivering our first Tesla Roadster in early 2008, we have extremely limited operating experience with our vehicles, and therefore little experience with warranty claims for these vehicles or with estimating warranty reserves. Since we began initiating sales of our vehicles, we have increased our warranty reserves based on our actual warranty claim experience over the past 12 months and we may be required to undertake further such increases in the future. As of September 30, 2009, we had warranty reserves of $4.3 million. We could in the future become subject to a significant and unexpected warranty expense. There can be no assurances that our existing warranty reserves will be sufficient to cover all claims or that our limited experience with warranty claims will adequately address the needs of our customers to their satisfaction.

We may need to defend ourselves against patent or trademark infringement claims, which may be time-consuming and would cause us to incur substantial costs.

Companies, organizations or individuals, including our competitors, may hold or obtain patents, trademarks or other proprietary rights that would prevent, limit or interfere with our ability to make, use, develop or sell our vehicles or components, which could make it more difficult for us to operate our business. From time to time, we may receive inquiries from holders of patents or trademarks inquiring whether we infringe their proprietary rights. Companies holding patents or other intellectual property rights relating to battery packs, electric motors or electronic power management systems may bring suits alleging infringement of such rights or otherwise asserting their rights and seeking licenses. In addition, if we are determined to have infringed upon a third party’s intellectual property rights, we may be required to do one or more of the following:

 

   

cease selling, incorporating or using vehicles that incorporate the challenged intellectual property;

 

   

pay substantial damages;

 

   

obtain a license from the holder of the infringed intellectual property right, which license may not be available on reasonable terms or at all; or

 

   

redesign our vehicles.

In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us and our failure or inability to obtain a license to the infringed technology, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected. In addition, any litigation or claims, whether or not valid, could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention.

We also license patents and other intellectual property from third parties, and we may face claims that our use of this in-licensed technology infringes the rights of others. In that case, we may seek indemnification from our licensors under our license contracts with them. However, our rights to indemnification may be unavailable or insufficient to cover our costs and losses, depending on our use of the technology, whether we choose to retain control over conduct of the litigation, and other factors.

Our business will be adversely affected if we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights from unauthorized use or infringement by third parties.

Any failure to protect our proprietary rights adequately could result in our competitors offering similar products, potentially resulting in the loss of some of our competitive advantage and a decrease in our revenue which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. Our success

 

44


Table of Contents

depends, at least in part, on our ability to protect our core technology and intellectual property. To accomplish this, we rely on a combination of patents, patent applications, trade secrets, including know-how, employee and third party nondisclosure agreements, copyright laws, trademarks, intellectual property licenses and other contractual rights to establish and protect our proprietary rights in our technology. As of December 31, 2009, we had 8 issued patents and 89 pending patent applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as well as numerous foreign patent applications in a broad range of areas related to our powertrain. We have also received from third parties patent licenses related to manufacturing our vehicles.

The protection provided by the patent laws is and will be important to our future opportunities. However, such patents and agreements and various other measures we take to protect our intellectual property from use by others may not be effective for various reasons, including the following:

 

   

our pending patent applications may not result in the issuance of patents;

 

   

our patents, if issued, may not be broad enough to protect our proprietary rights;

 

   

the patents we have been granted may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented because of the pre-existence of similar patented or unpatented intellectual property rights or for other reasons;

 

   

the costs associated with enforcing patents, confidentiality and invention agreements or other intellectual property rights may make aggressive enforcement impracticable;

 

   

current and future competitors may independently develop similar technology, duplicate our vehicles or design new vehicles in a way that circumvents our patents; and

 

   

our in-licensed patents may be invalidated or the holders of these patents may seek to breach our license arrangements.

Existing trademark and trade secret laws and confidentiality agreements afford only limited protection. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States, and policing the unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult.

Our patent applications may not result in issued patents, which may have a material adverse effect on our ability to prevent others from commercially exploiting products similar to ours.

We cannot be certain that we are the first creator of inventions covered by pending patent applications or the first to file patent applications on these inventions, nor can we be certain that our pending patent applications will result in issued patents or that any of our issued patents will afford protection against a competitor. In addition, patent applications filed in foreign countries are subject to laws, rules and procedures that differ from those of the United States, and thus we cannot be certain that foreign patent applications related to issued U.S. patents will be issued. Furthermore, if these patent applications issue, some foreign countries provide significantly less effective patent enforcement than in the United States.

The status of patents involves complex legal and factual questions and the breadth of claims allowed is uncertain. As a result, we cannot be certain that the patent applications that we file will result in patents being issued, or that our patents and any patents that may be issued to us in the near future will afford protection against competitors with similar technology. In addition, patents issued to us may be infringed upon or designed around by others and others may obtain patents that we need to license or design around, either of which would increase costs and may adversely affect our business, prospects and operating results.

Two of our trademark applications in the European Union remain subject to four outstanding opposition proceedings.

We currently sell and market our vehicles in the European Union under the Tesla trademark. We have two trademark applications in the European Union for the Tesla trademark. These are subject to outstanding opposition proceedings brought by two prior owners of trademarks consisting of the word Tesla. If we cannot

 

45


Table of Contents

resolve the oppositions and thereby secure registered rights in the European Union, this will reduce our ability to challenge third party users of the Tesla trademark and dilute the value of the mark as our exclusive brand name in the European Union. In addition, there is a risk that these prior rights owners could in the future take action to challenge our use of the Tesla mark in the European Union. This would have a severe impact on our position in the European Union and may inhibit our ability to use the Tesla mark in the European Union. If we were prevented from using the Tesla trademark in the European Union, we would need to expend significant additional financial and marketing resources on establishing an alternative brand identity in these markets.

Our facilities or operations could be damaged or adversely affected as a result of disasters or unpredictable events.

Our corporate headquarters and planned manufacturing facilities are located in California, a region known for seismic activity. If major disasters such as earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, wars, terrorist attacks, computer viruses, pandemics or other events occur, or our information system or communications network breaks down or operates improperly, our facilities may be seriously damaged, or we may have to stop or delay production and shipment of our products. In addition, our lease for our Deer Creek Facility permits the landlord to terminate the lease following a casualty event if the needed repairs are in excess of certain thresholds and we do not agree to pay for any uninsured amounts. We may incur expenses relating to such damages, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition.

In the past material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting have been identified. If we fail to remediate any material weaknesses and maintain proper and effective internal controls, our ability to produce accurate and timely financial statements could be impaired, which could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

In connection with the audit of our consolidated financial statements for the year ended and as of December 31, 2007, our independent registered public accounting firm identified two control deficiencies that represented material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting for the year ended and as of December 31, 2007. In connection with the audit of our consolidated financial statements for the year ended and as of December 31, 2008, our independent registered public accounting firm did not identify any material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting for the year ended and as of December 31, 2008. Our failure to implement and maintain effective internal controls in our business could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and stock price. A material weakness is a deficiency or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

The material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2007, which resulted in audit adjustments, were as follows:

 

   

We did not maintain adequate controls to ensure the accuracy, completeness and safeguarding of spreadsheets used in our financial reporting process. Specifically, we maintained many supporting financial schedules on a manual and non-integrated spreadsheet basis, which increased the risk of compiling inaccurate or incomplete information.

 

   

We did not maintain effective controls over cut-off procedures for expenses. Specifically, we did not have formal cut-off procedures in place to ensure the timely and accurate recording of accruals.

We have taken steps to remediate our material weaknesses. However, there are no assurances that the measures we have taken to remediate these internal control weaknesses were completely effective or that similar weaknesses will not recur. Our remediation efforts for the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in 2007 have included:

 

   

an increased level of spreadsheet maintenance and review, as well as continuing exploration of automation opportunities;

 

46


Table of Contents
   

expanded cross-functional involvement and input into period end expense accruals, as well as process improvements in the procure-to-pay cycle and analytics in establishing certain cost center accruals; and

 

   

increased reporting capabilities from our financial and enterprise resource planning systems to monitor and track financial reporting.

Additionally, as part of our on-going efforts to improve our financial accounting organization and processes, we have hired several senior accounting personnel in the United States.

We plan to continue to assess our internal controls and procedures and intend to take further action as necessary or appropriate to address any other matters we identify.

Because of these material weaknesses, there is heightened risk that a material misstatement of our financial statements relating to the years ended and as of December 31, 2007 was not prevented or detected. While no material weaknesses were identified during the course of our audit for the year ended December 31, 2008, we cannot assure you that these or other similar issues will not arise in future periods.

To date, the audit of our consolidated financial statements by our independent registered public accounting firm has included a consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis of designing their audit procedures, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. If such an evaluation had been performed or when we are required to perform such an evaluation, additional material weaknesses and other control deficiencies may have been or may be identified. Ensuring that we have adequate internal financial and accounting controls and procedures in place to help produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis is a costly and time-consuming effort that needs to be evaluated frequently. We will incur increased costs and demands upon management as a result of complying with the laws and regulations affecting public companies relating to internal controls, which could materially adversely affect our operating results.

If our suppliers fail to use ethical business practices and comply with applicable laws and regulations, our brand image could be harmed due to negative publicity.

Our core values, which include developing the highest quality electric vehicles while operating with integrity, are an important component of our brand image, which makes our reputation particularly sensitive to allegations of unethical business practices. We do not control our independent suppliers or their business practices. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee their compliance with ethical business practices, such as environmental responsibility, fair wage practices, and compliance with child labor laws, among others. A lack of demonstrated compliance could lead us to seek alternative suppliers, which could increase our costs and result in delayed delivery of our products, product shortages or other disruptions of our operations.

Violation of labor or other laws by our suppliers or the divergence of an independent supplier’s labor or other practices from those generally accepted as ethical in the United States or other markets in which we do business could also attract negative publicity for us and our brand. This could diminish the value of our brand image and reduce demand for our performance electric vehicles if, as a result of such violation, we were to attract negative publicity. If we, or other manufacturers in our industry, encounter similar problems in the future, it could harm our brand image, business, prospects and operating results.

Risks Related to this Offering and Ownership of our Common Stock

We will incur increased costs and demands upon management as a result of complying with the laws and regulations affecting public companies, which could adversely affect our operating results.

As a public company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company, including costs associated with public company reporting and corporate governance

 

47


Table of Contents

requirements. These requirements include compliance with Section 404 and other provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as rules implemented by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and the                     . In addition, our management team will also have to adapt to the requirements of being a public company. We expect complying with these rules and regulations will substantially increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more time-consuming and costly.

The increased costs associated with operating as a public company will decrease our net income or increase our net loss, and may require us to reduce costs in other areas of our business or increase the prices of our products or services. Additionally, if these requirements divert our management’s attention from other business concerns, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

As a public company, we also expect that it may be more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve on our board of directors or as our executive officers.

Concentration of ownership among our existing executive officers, directors and their affiliates may prevent new investors from influencing significant corporate decisions.

Upon completion of this offering, our executive officers, directors and their affiliates will beneficially own, in the aggregate, approximately     % of our outstanding shares of common stock. In particular, Elon Musk, our Chief Executive Officer, Product Architect and Chairman of our Board of Directors, will beneficially own approximately     % of our outstanding shares of common stock upon completion of this offering. As a result, these stockholders will be able to exercise a significant level of control over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors, amendment of our certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions. This control could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of our company or changes in management and will make the approval of certain transactions difficult or impossible without the support of these stockholders.

As a result of becoming a public company, we will be obligated to develop and maintain proper and effective internal control over financial reporting. We may not complete our analysis of our internal control over financial reporting in a timely manner, or these internal controls may not be determined to be effective, which may adversely affect investor confidence in our company and, as a result, the value of our common stock.

We will be required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for the first fiscal year beginning after the effective date of this offering. This assessment will need to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting, as well as a statement that our auditors have issued an attestation report on effectiveness of our internal controls.

We are in the very early stages of the costly and challenging process of compiling the system and processing documentation necessary to perform the evaluation needed to comply with Section 404. We may not be able to remediate future material weaknesses, or to complete our evaluation, testing and any required remediation in a timely fashion. During the evaluation and testing process, if we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we will be unable to assert that our internal controls are effective. If we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our auditors are unable to express an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal controls, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which would have a material adverse effect on the price of our common stock.

 

48


Table of Contents

An active, liquid and orderly trading market for our common stock may not develop, the price of our stock may be volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for shares of our common stock. The initial public offering price of our common stock will be determined through negotiation with the underwriters. This price will not necessarily reflect the price at which investors in the market will be willing to buy and sell our shares of common stock following this offering. In addition, the trading price of our common stock following this offering is likely to be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control.

In addition, the stock market in general, and the market for technology companies in particular, has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Broad market and industry factors may seriously affect the market price of companies’ stock, including ours, regardless of actual operating performance. These fluctuations may be even more pronounced in the trading market for our stock shortly following this offering. In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a particular company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. This litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources.

A total of                     , or     %, of our total outstanding shares after the offering are restricted from immediate resale, but may be sold on a stock exchange in the near future. The large number of shares eligible for public sale or subject to rights requiring us to register them for public sale could depress the market price of our common stock.

The market price of our common stock could decline as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our common stock in the market after this offering, and the perception that these sales could occur may also depress the market price of our common stock. Based on shares outstanding as of December 31, 2009, we will have              shares of common stock outstanding after this offering. Of these shares, the common stock sold in this offering will be freely tradable in the United States, except for any shares purchased by our “affiliates” as defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933. The holders of              shares of outstanding common stock have agreed with the underwriters, subject to certain exceptions, not to dispose of or hedge any of their common stock during the 180-day period beginning on the date of this prospectus, except with the prior written consent of Goldman, Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. After the expiration of the 180-day restricted period, these shares may be sold in the public market in the United States, subject to prior registration in the United States, if required, or reliance upon an exemption from U.S. registration, including, in the case of shares held by affiliates or control persons, compliance with the volume restrictions of Rule 144.

 

Number of Shares and % of

Total Outstanding

  

Date Available for Sale into Public Markets

                        , or     %            

   Immediately after this offering.

                        , or     %            

   180 days after the date of this prospectus due to contractual obligations and lock-up agreements between the holders of these shares and the underwriters. However, the underwriters can waive the provisions of these lock-up agreements and allow these stockholders to sell their shares at any time, provided their respective one-year holding periods under Rule 144 have expired.

                        , or     %            

   From time to time after the date 180 days after the date of this prospectus upon expiration of their respective one-year holding periods in the U.S.

Upon completion of this offering, stockholders owning an aggregate of              shares (including              convertible shares) will be entitled, under contracts providing for registration rights, to require us to register shares of our common stock owned by them for public sale in the United States. In addition, we intend to file a registration statement to register the approximately              shares reserved for future issuance under our equity

 

49


Table of Contents

compensation plans. Upon effectiveness of that registration statement, subject to the satisfaction of applicable exercise periods and, in certain cases, lock-up agreements with the representatives of the underwriters referred to above, the shares of common stock issued upon exercise of outstanding options will be available for immediate resale in the United States in the open market.

Sales of our common stock as restrictions end or pursuant to registration rights may make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate. These sales also could cause our stock price to fall and make it more difficult for you to sell shares of our common stock.

Anti-takeover provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as well as provisions of Delaware law, could impair a takeover attempt.

Our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and Delaware law contain provisions which could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying or preventing an acquisition deemed undesirable by our board of directors. Our corporate governance documents include provisions:

 

   

creating a classified board of directors whose members serve staggered three-year terms;

 

   

authorizing “blank check” preferred stock, which could be issued by the board without stockholder approval and may contain voting, liquidation, dividend and other rights superior to our common stock;

 

   

limiting the liability of, and providing indemnification to, our directors and officers;

 

   

limiting the ability of our stockholders to call and bring business before special meetings;

 

   

requiring advance notice of stockholder proposals for business to be conducted at meetings of our stockholders and for nominations of candidates for election to our board of directors;

 

   

controlling the procedures for the conduct and scheduling of board and stockholder meetings; and

 

   

providing the board of directors with the express power to postpone previously scheduled annual meetings and to cancel previously scheduled special meetings.

These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in our management.

As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to provisions of Delaware law, including Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation law, which prevents some stockholders holding more than 15% of our outstanding common stock from engaging in certain business combinations without approval of the holders of substantially all of our outstanding common stock.

Any provision of our certificate of incorporation or bylaws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our common stock, and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our common stock.

Our current agreements with Blackstar, an affiliate of Daimler, contain certain restrictions that decrease the likelihood that potential acquirers would make a bid to acquire us.

Our financing agreements with Blackstar, an affiliate of Daimler, include certain restrictions that decrease the likelihood that potential acquirers would make a bid to acquire us, including giving Blackstar a right of notice on any acquisition proposal we receive for which we determine to engage in further discussions with a potential acquiror or otherwise pursue. Blackstar then has a right, within a specified time period, to submit a competing acquisition proposal. In addition, Elon Musk, our Chief Executive Officer, Product Architect, Chairman and largest stockholder, has agreed that he will not transfer any shares of our capital stock beneficially owned by him to any automobile original equipment manufacturer, other than Daimler, without Blackstar’s consent. Mr. Musk

 

50


Table of Contents

has further agreed not to vote any shares of our capital stock beneficially owned by him in favor of a deemed liquidation transaction to which any automobile original equipment manufacturer, other than Daimler, is a party without Blackstar’s consent. These provisions could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control of us, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to fall.

Purchasers in this offering will experience immediate and substantial dilution in the book value of their investment.

The anticipated initial public offering price of our common stock is substantially higher than the net tangible book value per share of our outstanding common stock immediately after this offering. Therefore, if you purchase our common stock in this offering, you will incur immediate dilution of $             in the net tangible book value per share from the price you paid. In addition, following this offering, purchasers in the offering will have contributed     % of the total consideration paid by our stockholders to purchase shares of common stock, in exchange for acquiring approximately     % of our total outstanding shares as of September 30, 2009 after giving effect to this offering. The exercise of outstanding stock options will result in further dilution.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about us, our business or our market, or if they change their recommendations regarding our stock adversely, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market or our competitors. If any of the analysts who may cover us change their recommendation regarding our stock adversely, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, our stock price would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover us were to cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

Our management will have broad discretion over the use of the proceeds we receive in this offering and might not apply the proceeds in ways that increase the value of your investment.

Our management will have broad discretion over the use of our net proceeds from this offering, and you will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of these proceeds. Our management might not apply our net proceeds in ways that ultimately increase the value of your investment. We expect to use 50% of the net proceeds from this offering, up to a maximum of $100 million, to fund an equity proceeds account as required by our DOE Loan Facility with the remainder being used for general corporate purposes, including working capital and capital expenditures, which may in the future include investments in, or acquisitions of, complementary businesses, services or technologies. Our management might not be able to yield a significant return, if any, on any investment of these net proceeds. You will not have the opportunity to influence our decisions on how to use our net proceeds from this offering.

After the completion of this offering, we do not expect to declare any dividends in the foreseeable future.

After the completion of this offering, we do not anticipate declaring any cash dividends to holders of our common stock in the foreseeable future. Consequently, investors may need to rely on sales of their common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment. Investors seeking cash dividends should not purchase our common stock.

 

51


Table of Contents

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus, including the sections entitled “Prospectus Summary,” “Risk Factors,” “Use of Proceeds,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and “Business” contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this prospectus, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, business strategy and plans and our objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. We have based these forward looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. These forward looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described in “Risk Factors.” Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward looking events and circumstances discussed in this prospectus may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward looking statements.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this prospectus to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations.

You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed with the SEC as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and events and circumstances may be materially different from what we expect.

MARKET, INDUSTRY AND OTHER DATA

Unless otherwise indicated, information contained in this prospectus concerning our industry and the markets in which we operate, including our general expectations and market position, market opportunity and market size, is based on information from various sources, on assumptions that we have made that are based on those data and other similar sources and on our knowledge of the markets for our services. These data involve a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such estimates. We have not independently verified any third party information and cannot assure you of its accuracy or completeness. While we believe the market position, market opportunity and market size information included in this prospectus is generally reliable, such information is inherently imprecise. In addition, projections, assumptions and estimates of our future performance and the future performance of the industry in which we operate is necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. These and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the estimates made by the independent parties and by us.

 

52


Table of Contents

USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that our net proceeds from the sale of the shares of common stock that we are offering will be approximately $             million, assuming an initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the mid-point of the range reflected on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses that we must pay. Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the midpoint of the range reflected on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease, as applicable, our cash and cash equivalents, working capital, total assets and total stockholders’ equity (deficit) by approximately $             million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares in this offering is exercised in full, we estimate that our net proceeds will be approximately $            .

We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of common stock by the selling stockholders, including any shares of common stock sold by the selling stockholders in connection with the underwriters exercise of their option to purchase additional shares of common stock, although we will bear the costs, other than underwriting discounts and commissions, associated with the sale of these shares. The selling stockholders may include certain of our executive officers and members of our board of directors or entities affiliated with or controlled by them.

We may use a portion of the net proceeds from this offering to fund planned capital expenditures, working capital and other general corporate purposes. We currently anticipate making aggregate capital expenditures of between $100 million and $125 million during the year ended December 31, 2010. Such amounts include the $33 million of our anticipated powertrain and Model S manufacturing facility projects that will not be funded by advances under our loan facility with the United States Department of Energy, or DOE Loan Facility. We expect to use a portion of this offering to fund such amount. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds to potentially expand our current business through acquisitions of complementary businesses, products or technologies. However, we do not have agreements or commitments for any specific acquisitions at this time. We may find it necessary or advisable to use the net proceeds for other purposes, and subject to our obligations under our DOE Loan Facility, we will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds.

We have agreed to set aside 50% of the net proceeds from this offering, up to a maximum of $100 million, to fund a separate, dedicated account under our DOE Loan Facility. We will use amounts deposited into this account to pre-fund certain costs of our powertrain and Model S manufacturing facility projects, which would have otherwise been funded through advances made under the DOE Loan Facility, as well as to fund any cost overruns for these projects. These amounts are in addition to our obligation to fund $33 million of our anticipated powertrain and Model S manufacturing facility projects that will not be funded by advances under our DOE Loan Facility. Once the funds deposited into this dedicated account have been used in full, the pre-funded costs will be reimbursed to us through true-up advances under our DOE Loan Facility.

Pending use of the proceeds as described above, we intend to invest the proceeds in highly liquid cash equivalents that are permitted under our DOE Loan Facility or United States government securities.

Some of the other principal purposes of this offering are to create a public market for our common stock and increase our visibility in the marketplace. A public market for our common stock will facilitate future access to public equity markets and enhance our ability to use our common stock as a means of attracting and retaining key employees and as consideration for acquisitions. Depending on the future demand for our products and the pace at which we expand our manufacturing capacity, we may seek to raise additional capital to fund our manufacturing expansion.

 

53


Table of Contents

DIVIDEND POLICY

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common or preferred stock. We currently do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to declare cash dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors, subject to applicable laws and compliance with certain covenants under our loan facility with the United States Department of Energy, which restrict or limit our ability to pay dividends, and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, general business conditions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant.

 

54


Table of Contents

CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our capitalization as of September 30, 2009:

 

   

on an actual basis;

 

   

on a pro forma basis to give effect to (i) the conversion of all outstanding shares of our preferred stock into 210,680,690 shares of common stock immediately prior to the closing of this offering, (ii) the issuance of              shares of common stock upon the assumed net exercise of convertible preferred stock warrants that would otherwise expire upon the completion of this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, (iii) the effectiveness of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation in Delaware immediately prior to the completion of this offering and (iv) the initial funds borrowed under our loan facility from the United States Department of Energy, or DOE Loan Facility in              2010 of $            ; and

 

   

on a pro forma as adjusted basis to give effect to the pro forma adjustments and the sale of             shares of common stock by us in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, the mid-point of the range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

The pro forma as adjusted information set forth in the table below is illustrative only and will adjust based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing.

You should read this table together with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

     As of September 30, 2009  
       Actual         Pro Forma       Pro Forma
  As Adjusted  
 
     (Unaudited)  
     (in thousands, except share and per share data)  

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 106,547      $ 106,547      $     
                        

Restricted cash

     3,580        3,580     
                        

Convertible preferred stock warrant liability

     1,010        —          —     

Capital lease obligations, less current portion

     711        711        711   

Long-term debt, less current portion

     —         

Convertible preferred stock, par value $0.001; 213,006,077 shares authorized, 208,917,237 shares issued and outstanding, actual; no shares authorized, issued and outstanding pro forma and pro forma as adjusted

     319,225        —          —     

Stockholders’ equity (deficit):

      

Preferred Stock, par value $0.001; no shares authorized, issued and outstanding, actual;             shares authorized, no shares issued and outstanding, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted

     —          —          —     

Common stock, par value $0.001; 270,000,000 shares authorized; 21,323,176 shares issued and outstanding, actual;             shares authorized pro forma and pro form as adjusted,             shares issued and outstanding, pro forma;              shares issued and outstanding, pro forma as adjusted

     21        232     

Additional paid-in capital

     5,746        325,770     

Accumulated deficit

     (236,412     (236,412     (236,412
                        

Total stockholders’ equity (deficit)

     (230,645     89,590     
                        

Total capitalization

   $ 90,301      $ 90,301      $                
                        

 

55


Table of Contents

The number of shares of common stock set forth in the table above excludes:

 

   

10,627,629 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of options outstanding at September 30, 2009 at a weighted average exercise price of $0.74 per share;

 

   

25,881,673 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of options granted after September 30, 2009 at a weighted average exercise price of $2.20 per share;

 

   

9,255,035 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of a warrant granted to the DOE in connection with the closing of our DOE Loan Facility on January 20, 2010, at an exercise price of $2.5124 per share; and

 

   

40,042,380 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under our stock-based compensation plans, consisting of 35,042,380 shares of common stock reserved for issuance under our 2010 Equity Incentive Plan and 5,000,000 shares of common stock reserved for issuance under our 2010 Employee Stock Purchase Plan and shares that become available under the 2010 Equity Incentive Plan and 2010 Employee Stock Purchase Plan pursuant to provisions thereof that automatically increase the share reserves under the plans each year, as more fully described in “Management—Employee Benefit Plans.” The 2010 Equity Incentive Plan and the 2010 Employee Stock Purchase Plan will become effective on the date of this offering.

 

56


Table of Contents

DILUTION

As of September 30, 2009, we had a negative net tangible book value of approximately $             million or $             per share of common stock, based upon             shares of common stock outstanding on such date. Our pro forma net tangible book value as of September 30, 2009 was $             million, or $             per share of common stock. Pro forma net tangible book value per share represents the amount of our total tangible assets reduced by the amount of our total liabilities and divided by the total number of shares of common stock outstanding, including shares of common stock issued upon the conversion of all outstanding shares of our preferred stock effective immediately prior to the closing of this offering and the issuance of shares of common stock upon the assumed net exercise of warrants that would otherwise expire upon the completion of this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $             per share. The increase in the net tangible book value per share attributable to the conversion of our preferred stock and the net exercise of the warrants will, accordingly, be $             per share.

Dilution in pro forma net tangible book value per share to new investors in this offering represents the difference between the amount per share paid by purchasers of             shares of common stock in this offering and the pro forma net tangible book value per             share of common stock immediately after the completion of this offering. After giving effect to the sale of the shares of common stock offered by us in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, the mid-point of the range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of September 30, 2009 would have been $             million, or $             per share of common stock. This represents an immediate increase in pro forma net tangible book value of $             per share to existing stockholders and an immediate dilution of $             per share to new investors in our common stock. The following table illustrates this dilution on a per share basis.

 

Assumed initial public offering price per share

   $             

Pro forma net tangible book value per share as of September 30, 2009, before giving effect to this offering

   $  

Increase in pro forma net tangible book value per share attributed to new investors purchasing shares in this offering

   $  
      

Pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after giving effect to this offering

   $  
      

Dilution per share to new investors in this offering

   $  
      

A $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share would increase or decrease our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering by $             per share and the dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value to new investors by $             per share, assuming the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of our common stock in full, based on an assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering would be $             per share, and the dilution in pro forma net tangible book value per share to new investors in this offering would be $             per share.

 

57


Table of Contents

The following table summarizes, on a pro forma as adjusted basis as of September 30, 2009 and after giving effect to (i) the issuance of              shares of common stock upon the net exercise of convertible preferred stock warrants that would otherwise expire upon the completion of this offering and (ii) the offering, in each case based on an assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, the differences between existing stockholders and new investors with respect to the number of shares of common stock purchased from us, the total consideration paid to us and the average price per share paid:

 

     Shares Purchased     Total Consideration     Average Price
Per Share
     Number    Percent     Amount
(in thousands)
   Percent    

Existing stockholders

             $                        $             

New public investors

            
                          

Total

      100.0   $                 100.0  
                          

A $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share would increase or decrease, respectively, total consideration paid by new investors and total consideration paid by all stockholders by approximately $             million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same.

If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full, our existing stockholders would own     % and our new investors would own     % of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding upon the closing of this offering.

As of September 30, 2009, there were options outstanding to purchase a total of 10,627,629 shares of common stock at a weighted average exercise price of $0.74 per share. To the extent outstanding options are exercised, there will be further dilution to new investors. For a description of our equity plans, see the section titled “Management—Employee Benefit Plans.”

 

58


Table of Contents

SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

The consolidated statements of operations data for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2006, 2007, and 2008 and balance sheet data as of December 31, 2007 and 2008 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements that are included elsewhere in this prospectus. The consolidated statements of operations data for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2004 and 2005 and balance sheet data as of December 31, 2004, 2005 and 2006, are derived from audited consolidated financial statements not included in this prospectus. The consolidated statements of operations data for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 and 2009 and balance sheet data as of September 30, 2009 are derived from our unaudited consolidated financial statements that are included elsewhere in this prospectus. The unaudited consolidated financial statements were prepared on a basis consistent with our audited consolidated financial statements and include, in the opinion of management, all adjustments necessary for the fair presentation of the financial information contained in those statements. The historical results presented below are not necessarily indicative of financial results to be achieved in future periods.

The following selected consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

    Years Ended December 31,     Nine Months Ended
September 30,
 
    2004     2005     2006     2007     2008     2008     2009  
    (in thousands, except per share data)  

Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:

             

Automotive sales (including zero emission vehicle credit sales of $3,458, $495 and $7,645, for the periods ended December 31, 2008, September 30, 2008 and 2009, respectively)

  $ —        $ —        $ —        $ 73      $ 14,742      $ 580      $ 93,358   

Cost of sales(1)

    —          —          —          9        15,883        19        85,604   
                                                       

Gross profit (loss)

    —          —          —          64        (1,141     561        7,754   

Operating expenses(1):

             

Research and development (net of development compensation of $17,170 for the period ended September 30, 2009)

    1,661        10,009        24,995        62,753        53,714        41,888        11,139   

Selling, general and administrative

    765        1,820        5,436        17,244        23,649        13,953        25,587   
                                                       

Total operating expenses

    2,426        11,829        30,431        79,997        77,363        55,841        36,726   

Loss from operations

    (2,426     (11,829     (30,431     (79,933     (78,504     (55,280     (28,972

Interest income

    31        224        938        1,749        529        486        97   

Interest expense

    —          —          (423     —          (3,747     (2,648     (2,506

Other income (expense), net(2)

    —          —          59        137        (963     231        (320
                                                       

Loss before income taxes

    (2,395     (11,605     (29,857     (78,047     (82,685     (57,211     (31,701

Provision (benefit) for income taxes

    —          —          100        110        97        73        (203
                                                       

Net loss

  $ (2,395   $ (11,605   $ (29,957   $ (78,157   $ (82,782   $ (57,284   $ (31,498
                                                       

Net loss per share of common stock, basic and diluted(3)

  $ (0.30   $ (1.33   $ (3.39   $ (7.56   $ (4.15   $ (2.88   $ (1.51
                                                       

Shares used in computing net loss per share of common stock, basic and diluted(3)

    8,025,401        8,705,994        8,824,264        10,331,420        19,929,512        19,872,823        20,928,840   
                                                       

Pro forma net loss per share of common stock, basic and diluted(2)(4) (unaudited)

          $          $     
                         

Shares used in computing the pro forma net loss per share of common stock, basic and diluted(2)(4) (unaudited)

             
                         

 

59


Table of Contents

 

(1) Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:

 

     Years Ended December 31,    Nine Months
Ended
September 30,
     2004    2005    2006    2007    2008    2008    2009

Cost of sales

   $ —      $ —      $ —      $ —      $ 26    $ 16    $ 54

Research and development

     —        —        17      95      125      82      193

Selling, general and administrative

     —        —        6      103      286      124      202
                                                

Total

   $ —      $ —      $ 23    $ 198    $ 437    $ 222    $ 449
                                                

 

(2) In January 2010, we issued a warrant to the DOE in connection with the closing of the DOE Loan Facility to purchase shares of our Series E convertible preferred stock. This convertible preferred stock warrant will become a warrant to purchase shares of our common stock upon the closing of this offering. Beginning on December 15, 2018 and until December 14, 2022, the shares subject to purchase under the warrant will become exercisable in quarterly amounts depending on the average outstanding balance of the DOE Loan Facility during the prior quarter. Since the number of shares of common stock ultimately issuable under the warrant will vary, this warrant will be carried at its estimated fair value with changes in fair value reflected in other income (expense), net, until its expiration or exercise. Potential common shares issuable upon exercise of the DOE warrant will be excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share of common stock until such time as we generate a net profit in a given period.
(3) Our basic net loss per share of common stock is calculated by dividing the net loss by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding for the period. The diluted net loss per share of common stock is computed by dividing the net loss by the weighted-average number of common shares, excluding common shares subject to repurchase, and, if dilutive, potential common shares outstanding during the period. Potential common shares consist of stock options to purchase common stock and warrants to purchase convertible preferred stock (using the treasury stock method) and the conversion of our convertible preferred stock and convertible notes payable (using the if-converted method). For purposes of these calculations, potential common shares have been excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share of common stock as their effect is antidilutive since we generated a net loss in each period.
(4) Pro forma basic and diluted net loss per share of common stock has been computed to give effect to the conversion of the convertible preferred stock into common stock. Also, the numerator in the pro forma basic and diluted net loss per share calculation has been adjusted to remove gains and losses resulting from remeasurements of the convertible preferred stock warrant liability as it is assumed that these warrants will be exercised immediately prior to a qualifying initial public offering and will no longer require periodic revaluation.

 

    As of December 31,     As of
September 30,
2009
 
    2004     2005     2006     2007     2008    

Consolidated Balance Sheet Data:

           

Cash and cash equivalents

  $ 4,977      $ 5,827      $ 35,401      $ 17,211      $ 9,277      $ 106,547   

Property and equipment, net

    142        1,622        7,512        11,998        18,793        19,473   

Working capital (deficit)

    4,830        4,587        8,458        (28,988     (56,508     70,951   

Total assets

    5,244        7,856        44,466        34,837        51,699        155,916   

Convertible preferred stock warranty liability

    —          —          227        191        2,074        1,010   

Capital lease obligations, less current portion

    —          —          —          18        888        711   

Convertible preferred stock

    7,485        20,384        60,173        101,178        101,178        319,225   

Total stockholders’ deficit

    (2,395     (13,995     (43,923     (117,846     (199,714     (230,645

 

60


Table of Contents

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION

AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations should be read together with the consolidated financial statements and related notes that are included elsewhere in this prospectus. This discussion may contain forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those set forth under “Risk Factors” or in other parts of this prospectus.

Overview

We design, manufacture and sell high-performance fully electric vehicles and advanced electric vehicle powertrain components. In addition to designing and manufacturing our vehicles, we sell and service them through our own sales and service network.

We were incorporated in Delaware in 2003 and introduced our first vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, in early 2008. In July 2009, we introduced a new Roadster model, the Tesla Roadster 2, and its higher performance option package Roadster Sport. As of December 31, 2009, we had sold 937 Tesla Roadsters to customers in 18 countries. We are developing our planned Model S sedan which we currently expect to introduce in 2012.

We market and sell our vehicles directly to consumers via the phone and internet, in-person at our corporate events and through our network of Tesla stores. We opened our first store in Los Angeles, California, in May 2008 and as of December 31, 2009, we operated a total of 10 Tesla stores in North America and Europe.

We have entered, and intend to enter, into development and commercial agreements with other manufacturers for the development and sale of electric powertrain components. From inception through September 30, 2009, our powertrain development activities related exclusively to an agreement entered into in May 2009 with Daimler AG, or Daimler, for the development of a battery pack and charger for Daimler’s Smart fortwo electric drive. We have been selected by Daimler to supply it with up to 1,000 battery packs and chargers to support a trial of the Smart fortwo electric drive in five European cities. We began shipping the first of these battery packs and chargers in November 2009 and started to recognize revenue for these sales in the quarter ended December 31, 2009.

Since inception through September 30, 2009, we have recognized $108.2 million in revenue. As of September 30, 2009, we had an accumulated deficit of $236.4 million. We experienced net losses of $30.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2006, $78.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2007, $82.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, and $31.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009.

Basis of Presentation

Automotive Sales

We recognize automotive sales revenue from sales of the Tesla Roadster, including vehicle options and accessories, vehicle service and sales of zero emission vehicle, or ZEV, credits. We did not recognize any revenue from sales of the Tesla Roadster, vehicle options, accessories or destination charges until the quarter ended December 31, 2008. To date, most of our revenues have been generated through sales in the United States. Our international sales commenced with the launch of the Tesla Roadster in Europe in July 2009. We had no revenues from sales outside of the United States prior to the third quarter of 2009 and revenue from sales outside of the United States represented 14% of our total automotive sales revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2009. As we continue to expand into new markets, we expect our international revenues to increase in aggregate

 

61


Table of Contents

dollar amounts and as a percentage of total revenues in future periods. We manage our business as a single geographic segment. While revenue related to servicing vehicles has been insignificant to date, we expect such revenues to increase in future periods as we sell more vehicles and as vehicle warranties begin to expire.

Starting in July 2006, we began taking reservations and collecting reservation payments from customers who wished to purchase a Tesla Roadster and we received a significant number of reservations prior to initiation of volume production of the Tesla Roadster in October 2008. Since that time, we have fulfilled a significant number of these reservations and a significant level of the automotive sales we recognized during the nine months ended September 30, 2009 came from fulfilling reservations placed prior to 2009. Beginning with the quarter ended December 31, 2009, we expect sales of the Tesla Roadster in each future quarter to more closely approximate orders placed in such future quarter than has been the case in prior periods.

As of December 31, 2008, we had deferred $3.6 million in revenue related to certain vehicles that had been delivered but as to which we had unfulfilled obligations related to powertrain upgrades. Although these vehicles performed to a level adequate for most driving conditions, we had promised our customers an upgrade of the powertrain. As a result, we deferred all revenue recognition of these Tesla Roadsters that we had delivered in 2008 until they were retrofitted with the new powertrain. We performed these upgrades and accordingly recognized the revenue for these vehicles beginning in the quarter ended December 31, 2008 and concluding in the quarter ended September 30, 2009.

As of September 30, 2009, we had deferred $3.4 million in revenue related to sales of Tesla Roadsters that had been shipped, but had not been delivered to the customer as of the end of the period and the sale of certain vehicle options that had not yet been delivered. The majority of these deferred revenues were recognized as automotive sales during the quarter ended December 31, 2009. We expect our deferred revenues to fluctuate in future periods depending on the number of automobiles that have been shipped but have not been delivered to the customers by the end of the period.

We do not plan to sell our current generation Tesla Roadster after 2011 due to planned tooling changes at a supplier for the Tesla Roadster, and we do not currently plan to begin selling our next generation Tesla Roadster until at least one year after the launch of the Model S which is not expected to be in production until 2012. As a result, we anticipate that we may generate limited, if any, revenue from selling electric vehicles after 2011 until the launch of the planned Model S. The launch of our Model S could be delayed for a number of reasons and any such delays may be significant and would extend the period in which we would generate limited, if any, revenues from sales of our electric vehicles.

Under California’s Low-Emission Vehicle Regulations, and similar laws in other states, vehicle manufacturers are required to ensure that a portion of the vehicles delivered for sale in that state during each model year are zero emission vehicles. Currently, the states of California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont have such laws in effect. These laws provide that a manufacturer of zero emission vehicles may earn credits, referred to as ZEV credits, and may sell excess credits to other manufacturers who apply such credits to comply with these regulatory requirements. As a manufacturer solely of zero emission vehicles, we have earned ZEV credits on vehicles sold in such states, and we expect to continue to earn these credits in the future.

We enter into contracts with third parties to sell ZEV credits generated from the sale of our Tesla Roadsters. We did not recognize revenue from sales of ZEV credits until June 2008. For the year ended December 31, 2008 and the nine months ended September 30, 2009, we earned revenue from the sale of ZEV credits of $3.5 million and $7.6 million, respectively. As sales of the Tesla Roadster increased during the nine months ended September 30, 2009, the ZEV credits we earned also increased.

We have entered into two contracts for the sale of ZEV credits. Our current agreement provides for the sale of the ZEV credits that we earn from the sale of vehicles that we manufactured between January 1, 2009 and

 

62


Table of Contents

December 31, 2009, and we have until June 30, 2010 to sell these credits under the agreement. We are currently negotiating to extend this agreement for vehicles manufactured in 2010 and 2011. As of December 31, 2009, we had sold credits for 340 vehicles under this agreement. We previously had an agreement with a different purchaser for our ZEV credits earned during the year ended December 31, 2008.

Our ZEV credit sales will depend on the status of future regulation in states in which we sell our vehicles and our ability to maintain a contract or portfolio of contracts that allow us to continue to sell ZEV credits. To the extent that we have a contract in place for selling the credits, we expect sales of ZEV credits to generally correlate with our vehicle sales, although there is a processing time lag of generally less than four to five weeks between the recognition of revenue from the sale of a vehicle and the recognition of revenue from the sale of the ZEV credit earned on that vehicle.

Powertrain Sales

We intend to sell electric vehicle powertrain components to other manufacturers, although we have not recognized any revenues from powertrain sales through September 30, 2009.

We have been selected by Daimler to supply it with up to 1,000 battery packs and chargers to support a trial of the Smart fortwo electric drive in five European cities. We began shipping the first of these battery packs and chargers in November 2009 and started to recognize revenue for these sales in the quarter ended December 31, 2009. We intend to grow our powertrain sales revenue over time by establishing additional commercial arrangements with Daimler and other automobile manufacturers.

Cost of Sales and Gross Profit

Cost of sales includes direct parts, material and labor costs, manufacturing overhead, including amortized tooling costs, royalty fees, shipping and logistic costs and reserves for estimated warranty expenses. Cost of sales also includes adjustments to warranty expense and charges to write down the carrying value of our inventory when it exceeds its estimated net realizable value and to provide for obsolete and on-hand inventory in excess of forecasted demand. We also recognize charges through cost of sales to provide for non-cancellable purchase orders for inventory deemed to be obsolete or in excess of net realizable value. Costs related to sales of powertrain components which we began to deliver to Daimler during the quarter ended December 31, 2009, are included within costs of sales.

We define our gross profit as our automotive sales and powertrain sales less our cost of sales and our gross margin as our gross profit expressed as a percentage of automotive sales and powertrain sales.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses consist primarily of personnel costs for our teams in engineering and research, supply chain, quality, manufacturing engineering and manufacturing test organizations, prototyping expense, contract and professional services and amortized equipment expense. We have invested heavily in research and development for the Tesla Roadster and to a lesser extent to date, for the Model S. We have also invested in critical components of our electric powertrain technology including the battery system, power electronics module, motor, charging system, software and gearbox. We expense research and development costs as incurred.

Prior to our recognition of any revenue from sales of the Tesla Roadster beginning in the quarter ended December 31, 2008, expenses related to excess and obsolete inventory and certain other manufacturing production costs were charged to research and development expenses. Since we began recognizing revenue from the production and sale of the Tesla Roadster, we have recorded these costs as cost of sales.

 

63


Table of Contents

Since the commercial launch of the Tesla Roadster, our investment in related research and development has decreased significantly. We are, however, in the process of significantly increasing our research and development efforts for the Model S, which will result in a significant increase in our research and development expenses in both aggregate dollar amounts and as a percentage of our revenues in future periods.

We have entered, and intend to enter, into development and sales agreements with manufacturers for the development and sale of electric powertrain components. Compensation received from these manufacturers to fund our development activities are recognized as an offset against our related research and development expenses. From inception through September 30, 2009, our powertrain development activities have been under a development arrangement entered into in the year ended December 31, 2008, which was formalized in an agreement entered into with Daimler in May 2009 for the development of a battery pack and charger for Daimler’s Smart fortwo electric drive.

We began receiving payments under this development arrangement with Daimler in the year ended December 31, 2008 to compensate us for the cost of our development activities in such year. We deferred recognition for these payments received in advance of the execution of the final agreement because a number of significant contractual terms were not in place prior to that time. Upon entering into the final agreement in May 2009, we began recognizing the deferred development compensation as an offset to our research and development expenses in an amount of $14.5 million on a straight-line basis. This amount was recognized over the expected life of the agreement, beginning in May 2009 and continuing through November 2009. Payments that we received upon the achievement of development milestones subsequent to contract execution in May 2009, were recognized upon achievement and acceptance of the respective milestones. The milestone payments contemplated in the agreement were commensurate with the effort involved to overcome the technological challenges of achieving the milestones. All amounts received under this development agreement are being recognized as an offset to our research and development expenses in the consolidated statement of operations. As of September 30, 2009, we had deferred development compensation in the amount of $4.2 million related to the development agreement and have received another $1.9 million from milestone payments related to development efforts performed after this date. As of December 31, 2009, all development work related to the development agreement had been completed, and we expect that the full $23.2 million under the development agreement will be recognized in the quarter ended December 31, 2009.

As of December 31, 2009, we had 191 employees working in research and development.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel and facilities costs related to our Tesla stores, marketing, sales, executive, finance, human resources, litigation settlements, information technology and legal organizations, as well as fees for professional and contract services.

We expect selling, general and administrative expenses to increase both in aggregate dollar amounts and as a percentage of revenue in future periods as we continue to grow and expand our operations, increase our sales and marketing team to handle our expanding customer base and market presence, and as we transition to becoming a public company. We also expect an increase in our selling, general and administrative expenses as a result of our planned increase in the number of Tesla stores. As of December 31, 2009, we had opened 10 Tesla stores in the United States and Europe. We plan to nearly double the number of Tesla stores opened by the end of 2010, with a goal of establishing approximately 50 stores globally within the next several years.

As of December 31, 2009, we had 181 employees working in selling, general and administrative functions.

 

64


Table of Contents

Interest Income

Interest income consists of interest earned on cash balances and short-term investments. We have historically invested our available cash balances in money market funds, short-term United States Treasury obligations and commercial paper.

Interest Expense

Interest expense consists of interest on outstanding convertible debt and other borrowings. In future periods, we expect our interest expense to also include interest on our borrowings under our loan facility from the United States Department of Energy, or DOE Loan Facility. As a result, we expect interest expense to increase significantly in aggregate dollar amounts and, prior to the launch of the Model S, as a percentage of revenues.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net consists primarily of the change in the fair value of our convertible preferred stock warrants liability and transaction gains and losses on our foreign currency-denominated assets and liabilities. We expect our transaction gains and losses will vary depending upon movements in the underlying exchange rates. We also expect the charges resulting from the change in the fair value of our convertible preferred stock warrant liability to be eliminated following this offering as a result of our expectation that the warrants currently outstanding to purchase 650,882 shares of our Series C convertible preferred stock and 866,091 shares of our Series E convertible preferred stock will either be exercised or expire upon the completion of this offering, at which time the convertible preferred stock warrant liability will no longer exist. However, in January 2010, we issued a warrant to the DOE in connection with the closing of the DOE Loan Facility to purchase up to 9,255,035 shares of our Series E convertible preferred stock. This preferred stock warrant will become a warrant to purchase up to 9,255,035 shares of our common stock upon the closing of this offering. Beginning on December 15, 2018 and until December 14, 2022, the shares subject to purchase under the warrant will become exercisable in quarterly amounts depending on the average outstanding balance of the DOE Loan Facility during the prior quarter. Since the number of shares of common stock ultimately issuable under the warrant will vary, this warrant will be carried at its estimated fair value with changes in fair value reflected in other income (expense), net, until its expiration or exercise.

Provision for Income Taxes

We are subject to income taxes in the countries where we sell our products. Historically, we have primarily been subject to taxation in the United States because we have sold the majority of our products to customers in the United States. We anticipate that in the future as we expand our sale of products to customers outside the United States, we would become subject to taxation based on the foreign statutory rates in the countries where these sales took place and our effective tax rate could fluctuate accordingly.

Income taxes are computed using the asset and liability method, under which deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.

We believe that based on the available information, it is more likely than not that our deferred tax assets will not be realized, and accordingly we have taken a full valuation allowance against all of our United States deferred tax assets. As of December 31, 2008, we had approximately $183 million of federal and $161 million of California operating loss carry-forwards available to offset future taxable income which expire in varying amounts beginning in 2024 for federal and 2019 for state purposes if unused. Additionally, we had research and development tax credits of approximately $3.9 million and $3.7 million for federal and state income tax purposes, respectively. If not utilized, the federal research and development carry-forwards will expire in various

 

65


Table of Contents

amounts beginning in 2019. However, the state credits can be carried forward indefinitely. Federal and state laws impose substantial restrictions on the utilization of net operating loss and tax credit carry-forwards in the event of an “ownership change,” as defined in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code. We have determined that ownership changes occurred in 2004 and 2006 due to significant stock transactions. Currently, we do not expect the utilization of our net operating loss and tax credit carry-forwards to be materially affected as no significant limitations are expected to be placed on these carry-forwards as a result of our previous ownership changes. We have not yet, however, determined whether this offering would constitute an ownership change resulting in limitations on our ability to use our net operating loss and tax credit carry-forwards. If an ownership change is deemed to have occurred as a result of this offering, utilization of these assets could be significantly reduced.

Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

In connection with the audit of our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2007, our independent registered public accounting firm had identified material weaknesses in our internal controls. A material weakness is a deficiency or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting for the year ended and as of December 31, 2007 were as follows:

 

   

We did not maintain adequate controls to ensure the accuracy, completeness and safeguarding of spreadsheets used in our financial reporting process. Specifically, we maintained many supporting financial schedules on a manual and non-integrated spreadsheet basis, which increased the risk of compiling inaccurate or incomplete information.

 

   

We did not maintain effective controls over cut-off procedures for expenses. Specifically, we did not have formal cut-off procedures in place to ensure the timely and accurate recording of accruals.

Our remediation efforts for these material weaknesses have included:

 

   

an increased level of spreadsheet maintenance and review, as well as continuing exploration of automation opportunities;

 

   

expanded cross-functional involvement and input into period end expense accruals, as well as process improvements in the procure-to-pay cycle and analytics in establishing certain cost center accruals; and

 

   

increased reporting capabilities from our financial and enterprise resource planning systems to monitor and track financial reporting.

We plan to continue to assess our internal controls and procedures and intend to take further action as necessary or appropriate to address any other matters we identify.

No material weaknesses were identified in connection with the audit of our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2008.

To date, the audit of our consolidated financial statements by our independent registered public accounting firm has included a consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis of designing their audit procedures, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. If such an evaluation had been performed or when we are required to perform such an evaluation, additional material weaknesses and other control deficiencies may have been or may be identified.

 

66


Table of Contents

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, costs and expenses and related disclosures. We base our estimates on historical experience, as appropriate, and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Changes in the accounting estimates are reasonably likely to occur from period to period. Accordingly, actual results could differ significantly from the estimates made by our management. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. To the extent that there are material differences between these estimates and actual results, our future financial statement presentation, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows will be affected. We believe that the following critical accounting policies involve a greater degree of judgment and complexity than our other accounting policies. Accordingly, these are the policies we believe are the most critical to understanding and evaluating our consolidated financial condition and results of operations.

Automotive Sales

We recognize automotive sales revenue from sales of the Tesla Roadster, including vehicle options, accessories and destination charges, vehicle service and sales of zero emission vehicle, or ZEV, credits. We recognize revenue when (i) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists; (ii) delivery has occurred and there are no uncertainties regarding customer acceptance; (iii) fees are fixed or determinable; and (iv) collection is reasonably assured.

Automotive sales consist primarily of revenue earned from the sale of vehicles. Sales or other amounts collected in advance of meeting all of the revenue recognition criteria are not recognized in the consolidated statements of operations and are instead recorded as deferred revenue on our consolidated balance sheets. While we have recently arranged for financing options on our vehicles in the United States through a third-party lender, we do not provide direct financing for the purchase of the Tesla Roadster to our customers and we are therefore generally paid in full by the customer at the time of purchase.

Automotive sales also consist of revenue earned from the sales of vehicle options, accessories and destination charges. While these sales may take place separately from a vehicle sale, they are often part of one vehicle sale agreement resulting in multiple element arrangements. Contract interpretation is sometimes required to determine the appropriate accounting for recognition of our revenue, including whether the deliverables specified in the multiple element arrangement should be treated as separate units of accounting, and, if so, how the price should be allocated among the elements, when to recognize revenue for each element, and the period over which revenue should be recognized. We are also required to evaluate whether a delivered item has value on a stand-alone basis prior to delivery of the remaining items by determining whether we have made separate sales of such items or whether the undelivered items are essential to the functionality of the delivered items. Further, we assess whether we know the fair value of the undelivered items, determined by reference to stand-alone sales of such items.

To date, we have been able to establish the fair value for each of the deliverables within the multiple element arrangements because we sell each of the vehicles, vehicle accessories and options separately, outside of any multiple element arrangements. As each of these items has stand alone value to the customer, revenue from sales of vehicle accessories and options are recognized when those specific items are delivered to the customer. Increased complexity to our sales agreements or changes in our judgments and estimates regarding application of these revenue recognition guidelines could result in a change in the timing or amount of revenue recognized in future periods.

Powertrain Development

We began receiving payments under a development arrangement with Daimler in the year ended December 31, 2008 to compensate us for the cost of our development activities. We deferred recognition for these payments received in advance of the execution of the final agreement because a number of significant

 

67


Table of Contents

contractual terms were not in place prior to that time. Upon entering into the final agreement in May 2009, we began recognizing the deferred development compensation as an offset to our research and development expenses on a straight-line basis. This amount was recognized over the expected life of the agreement, beginning in May 2009 and continuing through November 2009. Payments that we received upon the achievement of development milestones subsequent to contract execution in May 2009 were recognized upon achievement and acceptance of the respective milestones. All amounts received under this development agreement are being recognized as an offset to our research and development expenses in the consolidated statement of operations.

Inventory Valuation

We value our inventories at the lower of cost or market. Cost is computed using standard cost, which approximates actual cost on a first-in, first-out basis. We record inventory write-downs for estimated obsolescence or unmarketable inventories based upon assumptions about future demand forecasts. If our inventory on hand is in excess of our future demand forecast, the excess amounts are written off.

We also review inventory to determine whether its carrying value exceeds the net amount realizable upon the ultimate sale of the inventory. This requires us to determine the estimated selling price of our vehicles less the estimated cost to convert inventory on hand into a finished product.

Prior to commencement of sales of the Tesla Roadster in the quarter ended December 31, 2008, we recorded inventory write-downs as a component of research and development expenses. Upon commercial introduction of the Tesla Roadster, we recorded these write-downs as a component of cost of sales. Once inventory is written-down, a new, lower-cost basis for that inventory is established and subsequent changes in facts and circumstances do not result in the restoration or increase in that newly established cost basis. During the year ended December 31, 2007, we recorded write-downs of $0.8 million to research and development expenses. During the year ended December 31, 2008, we recorded write-downs of $3.7 million to research and development expenses and $0.6 million to cost of sales. During the nine months ended September 30, 2009, we recorded write-downs of $2.5 million to cost of sales.

The inventory amounts are based on our current estimates of demand, selling prices and production costs. Should our estimates of future selling prices or production costs change, material changes to these reserves may be required. Further, a small change in our estimates may result in a material charge to our reported financial results.

Adverse Purchase Commitments

To the extent future inventory purchases under non-cancellable purchase orders or agreements are for excess or obsolete parts or the related inventory is deemed to be in excess of its net realizable value, we record a provision for adverse purchase commitments. The charges recorded prior to commencement of recognition of automotive sales of the Tesla Roadster in the quarter ended December 31, 2008, were recorded as research and development expenses. Once we began recognizing revenue from vehicle sales, we began recording these charges as a component of cost of sales. During the year ended December 31, 2007, we recorded charges of $1.5 million to research and development expenses. During the year ended December 31, 2008, we recorded charges of $1.0 million to research and development expenses and $0.4 million to cost of sales. During the nine months ended September 30, 2009, we recorded charges of $0.8 million to cost of sales.

The amounts we record are based on our current estimates of demand, selling prices and production costs. Should our estimates of future selling prices or production costs change, material changes to these reserves may be required. Further, a small change in our estimates may result in a material charge to our reported financial results.

 

68


Table of Contents

Warranties

We accrue warranty reserves at the time a vehicle is delivered to a customer. Warranty reserves include management’s best estimate of the projected costs to repair or to replace any items under warranty, based on actual warranty experience as it becomes available and other known factors that may impact our evaluation of historical data. We review our reserves at least quarterly to ensure that our accruals are adequate in meeting expected future warranty obligations, and we will adjust our estimates as needed. Initial warranty data can be limited early in the launch of a new vehicle and accordingly, the adjustments that we record may be material. As of December 31, 2008 and September 30, 2009, we had $0.9 million and $4.3 million in warranty reserves, respectively. Adjustments to warranty reserves are recorded in cost of sales.

It is likely that as we sell additional Tesla Roadsters we will acquire additional information on the projected costs to repair or to replace items under warranty and may need to make additional adjustments. Further, a small change in our warranty estimates may result in a material charge to our reported financial results.

We began selling powertrain components and recognizing such sales during the quarter ended December 31, 2009. As a result, we began accruing warranty reserves for these products. As with our warranty reserves for automotive sales, we intend to review our powertrain warranty reserves at least quarterly to ensure that our accruals are adequate in meeting expected future warranty obligations, and will adjust our estimates as needed.

Valuation of Stock-Based Awards, Common Stock and Warrants

Stock-Based Compensation

Prior to January 1, 2006, we accounted for our stock options granted to employees using the intrinsic value method. The intrinsic value method requires a company to recognize compensation expense for stock options granted to employees based on any differences between the exercise price of the stock options granted and the fair value of the underlying common stock. Under the intrinsic value method, any compensation cost relating to stock options was recorded on the date of the grant in stockholders’ equity as deferred compensation and was thereafter amortized to expense over the vesting period of the grant. We generally did not recognize stock-based compensation for stock options granted to our employees prior to January 1, 2006 as we granted stock options with an exercise price equal to the fair value of the underlying common stock.

Effective January 1, 2006, we adopted the fair value method of accounting for our stock options granted to employees which requires us to measure the cost of employee services received in exchange for the stock options, based on the grant date fair value of the award. The fair value of the awards is estimated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The resulting cost is recognized over the period during which an employee is required to provide service in exchange for the award, usually the vesting period which is generally four years.

We adopted the fair value method using the prospective transition method as we used the minimum value method for the previously required pro forma disclosures. The prospective transition method requires us to continue to apply the intrinsic value method in future periods to equity awards outstanding as of January 1, 2006. Under the prospective transition method, any compensation costs that will be recognized from January 1, 2006 will include only: (a) compensation cost for all stock-based awards granted prior to, but not yet vested as of December 31, 2005, based on the intrinsic value method; and (b) compensation cost for all stock-based awards granted or modified subsequent to December 31, 2005, net of estimated forfeitures, based on fair value. We amortize the fair value of our stock-based compensation for the equity awards granted after January 1, 2006 on a straight-line basis, which we believe better reflects the level of service to be provided by our employees over the vesting period of the awards. In accordance with the prospective transition method, results for prior periods were not restated.

 

69


Table of Contents

Beginning on January 1, 2006, the fair value of each new employee option awarded was estimated on the grant date for the periods below using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following weighted-average assumptions.

 

     2006     2007     2008     Nine Months
Ended
September 30,
2009
 
                       (Unaudited)  

Risk-free interest rate

   4.8   4.4   2.2   2.2

Expected term (in years)

   4.6      4.6      4.6      4.6   

Expected volatility

   54   52   53   64

Dividend yield

   0   0   0   0

If in the future we determine that another method for calculating the fair value of our stock options is more reasonable, or if another method for calculating the above input assumptions is prescribed by authoritative guidance, the fair value calculated for our employee stock options could change significantly.

The Black-Scholes option-pricing model requires inputs such as the risk-free interest rate, expected term and expected volatility. Further, the forfeiture rate also affects the amount of aggregate compensation. These inputs are subjective and generally require significant judgment.

The risk-free interest rate that we use is based on the United States Treasury yield in effect at the time of grant for zero coupon United States Treasury notes with maturities approximating each grant’s expected life. Given our limited history with employee grants, we use the “simplified” method in estimating the expected term for our employee grants. The “simplified” method, as permitted by the SEC, is calculated as the average of the time-to-vesting and the contractual life of the options.

Our expected volatility is derived from the historical volatilities of several unrelated public companies within industries related to our business, including the automotive OEM, automotive retail, automotive parts and battery technology industries, because we have no trading history on our common stock. When making the selections of our peer companies within industries related to our business to be used in the volatility calculation, we also considered the stage of development, size and financial leverage of potential comparable companies. Our historical volatility is weighted based on certain qualitative factors and combined to produce a single volatility factor. We estimate our forfeiture rate based on an analysis of our actual forfeitures and will continue to evaluate the appropriateness of the forfeiture rate based on actual forfeiture experience, analysis of employee turnover behavior and other factors. Quarterly changes in the estimated forfeiture rate can have a significant effect on reported stock-based compensation expense, as the cumulative effect of adjusting the rate for all expense amortization is recognized in the period the forfeiture estimate is changed. If a revised forfeiture rate is higher than the previously estimated forfeiture rate, an adjustment is made that will result in a decrease to the stock-based compensation expense recognized in the consolidated financial statements. If a revised forfeiture rate is lower than the previously estimated forfeiture rate, an adjustment is made that will result in an increase to the stock-based compensation expense recognized in the consolidated financial statements. The effect of forfeiture adjustments during 2006, 2007 and 2008 and the nine months ended September 30, 2009 was insignificant.

As we accumulate additional employee option data over time and as we incorporate market data related to our common stock, we may calculate significantly different volatilities, expected lives and forfeiture rates, which could materially impact the valuation of our stock-based awards and the stock-based compensation expense that we will recognize in future periods. Stock-based compensation expense is recorded in our cost of sales, research and development expenses, and selling, general and administrative expenses.

We recorded stock-based compensation of $0.4 million during both the year ended December 31, 2008 and the nine months ended September 30, 2009. As of December 31, 2008 and September 30, 2009, we had $1.0

 

70


Table of Contents

million and $2.1 million of unrecognized stock-based compensation costs, respectively, which is expected to be recognized over an average period of 3.2 and 3.0 years, respectively and of which we expect to amortize $0.5 million during the year ending December 31, 2010. In future periods, our stock-based compensation expense is expected to increase materially as a result of our existing unrecognized stock-based compensation and as we issue additional stock-based awards to continue to attract and retain employees and nonemployee directors.

We account for stock options issued to nonemployees also based on their estimated fair value determined using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. However, the fair value of the equity awards granted to nonemployees is re-measured as the awards vest, and the resulting increase in value, if any, is recognized as expense during the period the related services are rendered.

Common Stock Valuation

We have historically granted stock options with exercise prices equal to the fair value of our common stock as determined at the date of grant by our Board of Directors. Because there has been no public market for our common stock, our Board of Directors has determined the fair value of our common stock by considering a number of objective and subjective factors, including the following:

 

   

our sales of preferred stock to unrelated third parties;

 

   

our operating and financial performance;

 

   

the lack of liquidity of our capital stock;

 

   

trends in our industry;

 

   

arm’s length, third-party sales of our stock; and

 

   

contemporaneous valuations performed by an unrelated third-party.

There is inherent uncertainty in these estimates and if we had made different assumptions than those used, the amount of our stock-based compensation expense, net loss and net loss per share amounts could have been significantly different. The following table summarizes, by grant date, the number of stock options granted since January 1, 2008 and the associated per share exercise price, which equaled the fair value of our common stock for each of these grants.

 

Grant Date

   Number of
Options
Granted
   Exercise
Price and
Fair Value
per Share of
Common
Stock

June 4, 2008

   2,287,000    $ 0.90

July 8, 2008

   835,000      0.90

September 3, 2008

   600,500      0.90

October 29, 2008

   615,500      0.90

March 2, 2009

   644,500      0.90

April 13, 2009

   3,017,800      0.90

April 22, 2009

   315,600      0.90

August 4, 2009

   969,300      0.98

October 21, 2009

   1,772,000      2.05

December 4, 2009

   23,932,673      2.21

December 16, 2009

   177,000      2.21

Included in the December 4, 2009 awards, were 20,135,920 stock options granted to our Chief Executive Officer comprised of two grants. In recognition of his and our company’s achievements and to create incentives for future success, the Board of Directors approved an option grant representing 4% of our fully-diluted share

 

71


Table of Contents

base as of December 4, 2009, or 10,067,960 stock options, with  1/4th of the shares vesting immediately, and  1/48th of the shares scheduled to vest each month over the subsequent three years, assuming continued employment through each vesting date. In addition, to create incentives for the attainment of clear performance objectives around a key element of our current business plan—the successful launch and commercialization of the Model S—the Board of Directors approved additional options totaling an additional 4% of our fully-diluted shares as of December 4, 2009, with a vesting schedule based entirely on the attainment of performance objectives as follows, assuming Mr. Musk’s continued service to us through each vesting date:

 

   

 1/4th of the shares subject to the option are scheduled to vest upon the successful completion of the Model S Engineering Prototype;

 

   

 1/4th of the shares subject to the option are scheduled to vest upon the successful completion of the Model S Vehicle Prototype;

 

   

 1/4th of the shares subject to the option are scheduled to vest upon the completion of the first Model S Production Vehicle; and

 

   

 1/4th of the shares subject to the option are scheduled to vest upon the completion of 10,000th Model S Production Vehicle.

If Mr. Musk does not meet one or more of the above milestones prior to the fourth anniversary of the date of grant, he will forfeit his right to the unvested portion of the grant.

Our Board of Directors has performed valuations of our common stock for purposes of granting stock options in a manner consistent with the methods outlined in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Practice Aid, Valuation of Privately-Held-Company Equity Securities Issued as Compensation. The enterprise value input of our common stock valuations were derived either using fundamental analysis (income and market approaches) or based on a recent round of financing (option pricing approach). The income approach estimates the enterprise value of the company by discounting the expected future cash flows of the company to present value. We have applied discount rates that reflect the risks associated with our cash flow projections and have used venture capital rates of return for companies at a similar stage of development as us, as a proxy for our cost of capital. Our discounted cash flow calculations are sensitive to highly subjective assumptions that we were required to make at each valuation date relating to appropriate discount rates for various components of our business. For example, the discount rates used to value the cash flow projections from the Model S business factored in the low cost debt we expected to raise from the U.S. Department of Energy.

 

Valuation Date

   Range of
Discount Rates
 

December 31, 2007

   30.0 – 40.0

May 15, 2008

   30.0 – 40.0

December 31, 2008

   30.0 – 40.0

February 28, 2009

   30.0 – 40.0

May 11, 2009

   16.2 – 34.8

August 1, 2009

   16.2 – 34.8

October 15, 2009

   12.4 – 27.1

November 27, 2009

   12.4 – 27.1

Our projected cash flows have been primarily derived from our Tesla Roadster, Model S and powertrain revenue streams. These cash flow projections take into account the fact that we have been selling the Tesla Roadster since 2008, that we began selling powertrain components in the quarter ended December 31, 2009 and our anticipation of Model S production in 2012.

Under the market approach, the total enterprise value of the company is estimated by comparing our business to similar businesses whose securities are actively traded in public markets, or businesses that are

 

72


Table of Contents

involved in a public or private transaction. Prior transactions in our stock are also considered as part of the market approach methodology. We have selected revenue valuation multiples derived from trading multiples of public companies that participate in the automotive OEM, automotive retail, and automotive parts and battery technology industries. These valuation multiples were then applied to the equivalent financial metric of our business, giving consideration to differences between our company and similar companies for such factors as company size and growth prospects.

For those reports that relied on the fundamental analysis, we prepared a financial forecast to be used in the computation of the enterprise value for both the market approach and the income approach. The financial forecasts took into account our past experience and future expectations. The risks associated with achieving these forecasts were assessed in selecting the appropriate discount rate. As discussed below, there is inherent uncertainty in these estimates. Second, we allocated the resulting equity value among the securities that comprise our capital structure using the Option-Pricing Method. The aggregate value of the common stock derived from the Option-Pricing Method was then divided by the number of common shares outstanding to arrive at the per share common value. For those reports that relied on the recent round of financing, we back-solved for the total equity value such that the value of the instrument sold in the recent round as calculated by the option pricing model is consistent with the observed transaction price.

Our Board of Directors has considered the valuations derived from the approaches above, the probability and timing of completing an initial public offering, as well as other qualitative factors in arriving at our common stock valuations, including the following:

 

   

significant operating losses for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2007 and 2008;

 

   

flat revenue growth trends in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2008 as a result of global macroeconomic uncertainty;

 

   

the absence of a significant initial public offering market throughout 2008 and continuing through the second quarter of 2009; and

 

   

other market developments that influence forecasted revenue.

Valuations that we have performed require significant use of estimates and assumptions, If different estimates and assumptions had been used, our common stock valuations could be significantly different and related stock-based compensation expense may be materially impacted.

Warrants

We have accounted for our freestanding warrants to purchase shares of our convertible preferred stock as liabilities at fair value upon issuance. We have recorded the warrants as liabilities because the underlying shares of convertible preferred stock were contingently redeemable and, therefore, may have obligated us to transfer assets at some point in the future. The warrants were subject to re-measurement to fair value at each balance sheet date and any change in fair value was recognized as a component of other income (expense), net on the consolidated statements of operations. We estimated the fair value of these warrants at the respective balance sheet dates using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model which used several assumptions that are subject to significant management judgment as is the case for stock-based compensation as discussed above. Upon the completion of this offering, we expect that the convertible preferred stock warrants currently outstanding will either be exercised or become warrants to purchase shares of our common stock. Accordingly, at that time we expect that the convertible preferred stock warrant liability will no longer exist. However, in January 2010, we issued a warrant to the DOE in connection with the closing of the DOE Loan Facility to purchase shares of our Series E convertible preferred stock. This convertible preferred stock warrant will become a warrant to purchase shares of our common stock upon the closing of this offering. Beginning on December 15, 2018 and until December 14, 2022, the shares subject to purchase under the warrant will become exercisable in quarterly amounts depending on the average outstanding balance of the DOE Loan Facility during the prior quarter. Since the number of shares of common stock ultimately issuable under the warrant will vary, this warrant will be carried at its estimated fair value with changes in fair value reflected in other income (expense), net, until its expiration or exercise.

 

73


Table of Contents

Income Taxes

We record our provision for (benefit from) income taxes in our consolidated statements of operations by estimating our taxes in each of the jurisdictions in which we operate. We estimate our actual current tax exposure together with assessing temporary differences arising from differing treatment of items recognized for financial reporting versus tax return purposes. These differences result in deferred tax assets, which are included in our consolidated balance sheets. In general, deferred tax assets represent future tax benefits to be received when certain expenses previously recognized in our consolidated statements of operations become deductible expenses under applicable income tax laws, or loss or credit carryforwards are utilized. Valuation allowances are recorded when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.

Significant management judgment is required in determining our provision for income taxes, our deferred tax assets and liabilities and any valuation allowance recorded against our net deferred tax assets. We make these estimates and judgments about our future taxable income that are based on assumptions that are consistent with our future plans. As of December 31, 2007, 2008 and September 30, 2009, we had recorded a full valuation allowance on our U.S. net deferred tax assets because we expect that it is more likely than not that our deferred tax assets will not be realized in the foreseeable future. Should the actual amounts differ from our estimates, the amount of our valuation allowance could be materially impacted.

Furthermore, significant judgment is required in evaluating our tax positions. In the ordinary course of business, there are many transactions and calculations for which the ultimate tax settlement is uncertain. As a result, we recognize the effect of this uncertainty on our tax attributes, such as net operating losses, based on our estimates of the eventual outcome. These effects are recognized when, despite our belief that our tax return positions are supportable, we believe that it is more likely than not that those positions may not be fully sustained upon review by tax authorities. We are required to file income tax returns in the United States and various foreign jurisdictions, which requires us to interpret the applicable tax laws and regulations in effect in such jurisdictions. Such returns are subject to audit by the various federal, state and foreign taxing authorities, who may disagree with respect to our tax positions. We believe that our accounting consideration is adequate for all open audit years based on our assessment of many factors, including past experience and interpretations of tax law. We review and update our estimates in light of changing facts and circumstances, such as the closing of a tax audit, the lapse of a statute of limitations or a material change in estimate. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters differs from our expectations, such differences may impact income tax expense in the period in which such determination is made. The eventual impact on our income tax expense depends in part if we still have a valuation allowance recorded against our deferred tax assets in the period that such determination is made.

 

74


Table of Contents

Results of Operations

The following table sets forth our historical operating results as of the periods indicated:

 

     Years Ended December 31,     Nine Months Ended
September 30,
 
     2006     2007     2008     2008     2009  
           (Unaudited)  
     (in thousands, except per share data)  

Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:

          

Automotive sales (including zero emission vehicle credit sales of $3,458, $495 and $7,645, for the periods ended December 31, 2008, September 30, 2008 and 2009, respectively)

   $ —        $ 73      $ 14,742      $ 580      $ 93,358   

Cost of sales

     —          9        15,883        19        85,604   
                                        

Gross profit (loss)

     —          64        (1,141     561        7,754   

Operating expenses:

          

Research and development (net of development compensation of $17,170 for the period ended September 30, 2009)

     24,995        62,753        53,714        41,888        11,139   

Selling, general and administrative

     5,436        17,244        23,649        13,953        25,587   
                                        

Total operating expenses

     30,431        79,997        77,363        55,841        36,726   

Loss from operations

     (30,431     (79,933     (78,504     (55,280     (28,972

Interest income

     938        1,749        529        486        97   

Interest expense

     (423     —          (3,747     (2,648     (2,506

Other income (expense), net

     59        137        (963     231        (320
                                        

Loss before income taxes

     (29,857     (78,047     (82,685     (57,211     (31,701

Provision (benefit) for income taxes

     100        110        97        73        (203
                                        

Net loss

   $ (29,957   $ (78,157   $ (82,782   $ (57,284   $ (31,498
                                        

Comparison of the Nine Month Periods Ended September 30, 2008 and 2009

Automotive Sales

To date, most of our revenues have been generated through sales in the United States. We had no revenues from sales outside of the United States prior to the third quarter of 2009 and revenue from sales outside of the United States represented 14% of our total revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2009. Our international sales commenced with the launch of the Tesla Roadster in Europe in July 2009.

Automotive sales during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 in the amount of $0.6 million were derived primarily from the sale of ZEV credits. ZEV credit sales increased from $0.5 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 to $7.6 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2009. Although we did not recognize revenue from the sale of Tesla Roadsters during the nine months ended September 30, 2008, we generated ZEV credits from the delivery of vehicles during such period which we sold to a third party automobile manufacturer. As sales of the Tesla Roadster increased during the nine month period ended September 30, 2009, sales of ZEV credits also increased.

Substantially all of the increase in automotive sales to $93.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 was due to sales of the Tesla Roadster. During the nine month period ended September 30, 2009, we recognized revenue related to the sale of 706 Tesla Roadsters. A significant portion of the revenue recognized during this period came from fulfilling reservations placed prior to 2009.

 

75


Table of Contents

As of September 30, 2009, we had deferred revenue from automotive sales in the amount of $3.4 million compared to $4.1 million as of December 31, 2008. Deferred revenue as of September 30, 2009 was mostly derived from Tesla Roadster sales where vehicles had been shipped, but had not been delivered to the customer as of the end of the period. During the nine months ended September 30, 2008, we delivered 32 Tesla Roadsters to customers for which we had unfulfilled obligations related to powertrain upgrades. Although these vehicles performed to a level adequate for most driving conditions, we had promised our customers an upgrade of the powertrain. As a result, we deferred all revenue recognition of these Tesla Roadsters that we had delivered in 2008 until they were retrofitted with the new powertrain. We performed these upgrades and accordingly recognized the revenue for these vehicles beginning in the quarter ended December 31, 2008 and concluding in the quarter ended September 30, 2009.

Cost of Sales and Gross Profit

Cost of sales increased from $19,000 during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 to $85.6 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2009. Substantially all of the cost of sales during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 consisted of cost related to sales of Tesla-branded merchandise. Substantially all of the cost of sales during the nine months ended September 30, 2009 was due to the costs related to the sales of the Tesla Roadster from which we began to recognize revenue during the quarter ended December 31, 2008. This significant increase in cost of sales was due to the corresponding increase in our automotive sales on a period over period basis. Due to the model changeover from the Tesla Roadster to the Tesla Roadster 2 as well as significant part changes implemented to improve the design and reduce per unit costs, we recorded charges to cost of sales in the amount of $0.7 million for excess and obsolete inventory during the nine months ended September 30, 2009.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2008, we generated a gross profit of $0.6 million. Substantially all of the gross profit was generated by the sale of ZEV credits during the nine months ended September 30, 2008. During this period, we had minimal cost of sales as we were not yet recognizing revenue from the sale of Tesla Roadsters. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009 we recognized gross profit of $7.8 million and a gross margin of 8.3%.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses decreased from $41.9 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 to $11.1 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2009. The $30.7 million decrease in research and development expenses was a result of development compensation we recognized from Daimler in the amount of $17.1 million which offset $17.1 million of research and development expenses during the nine months ended September 30, 2009, as well as a net decrease in research and development expenses of $13.6 million. The $13.6 million decrease in research and development expenses during the nine months ended September 30, 2009 consisted primarily of a $10.0 million decrease resulting from the allocation of various manufacturing-related costs to inventory and cost of sales once we transitioned into commercial production, a $4.2 million decrease in charges related to excess and obsolescence, adverse purchase commitments and materials and tooling expense due both to the classification of production-related costs in cost of sales as well as lower engineering and development activity, a $2.5 million decrease in consulting and other professional services following the substantial completion of development of the Tesla Roadster, partially offset by a $2.7 million increase in employee compensation expenses associated with higher headcount for the nine months ended September 30, 2009.

We began receiving payments under a development arrangement with Daimler in the year ended December 31, 2008 to compensate us for the cost of our development activities. We deferred recognition for these payments received in advance of the execution of the final agreement because a number of significant contractual terms were not in place prior to that time. Upon entering into the final agreement in May 2009, we began recognizing, as an offset to our research and development expenses, the deferred development compensation of $14.5 million on a straight-line basis. This amount was recognized over the expected life of the

 

76


Table of Contents

agreement, beginning in May 2009 and continuing through November 2009. Payments that we received upon the achievement of development milestones subsequent to contract execution in May 2009, were recognized, as an offset to our research and development expenses, upon achievement and acceptance of the respective milestones.

We did not recognize any development compensation from Daimler during the nine months ended September 30, 2008.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased from $14.0 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 to $25.6 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2009. The $11.6 million increase in our selling, general and administrative expenses during the nine month period ended September 30, 2009 consisted primarily of a $4.9 million increase in employee compensation expenses, including a $3.0 million increase related to higher sales and marketing headcount to support our opening of additional stores in the United States and Europe, a $2.2 million increase in costs principally related to events showcasing the Model S, a $2.2 million increase in office information technology and facilities costs to support the growth of our business, and a $1.5 million increase in legal services and legal settlements and accounting and other consulting services to support our growth.

Interest Income

Interest income decreased from $0.5 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 to $0.1 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2009. The $0.4 million decrease in our interest income during the nine month period ended September 30, 2009 was a result of our receiving higher returns on our cash and short-term investment balances during the nine months ended September 30, 2008, partially offset by higher average balances during the nine months ended September 30, 2009.

Interest Expense

Interest expense decreased from $2.6 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 to $2.5 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2009. Interest expense for both periods was related to our convertible notes which converted into shares of our Series E convertible preferred stock in May 2009.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net which consisted of income during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 in the amount of $0.2 million decreased by $0.5 million to an expense in the amount of $0.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009. This change was a result of a $0.9 million increase in the fair value of the outstanding convertible preferred stock warrants during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 compared to a $0.4 million increase during the nine months ended September 30, 2009.

Provision (Benefit) for Income Taxes

Our provision for income taxes increased from a provision of $73,000 during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 to a benefit for income taxes in the amount of $0.2 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2009 as a result of recognition of research and development credits during the nine months ended September 30, 2009 from our foreign operations.

Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2007 and 2008

Automotive Sales

During the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2008, all of our automotive sales were from shipments to locations within the United States. Automotive sales during the year ended December 31, 2007 consisted entirely

 

77


Table of Contents

of sales of Tesla-branded merchandise as we did not recognize any revenue from the sales of our Tesla Roadster. We did not recognize revenue from sales of ZEV credits in the year ended December 31, 2007 as we had not yet earned any credits through deliveries of the Tesla Roadster. As we began delivering the Tesla Roadster to customers during the year ended December 31, 2008, we also began selling ZEV credits associated with these deliveries. For the year ended December 31, 2008, we earned $3.5 million from the sale of ZEV credits. Substantially all of the increase in automotive sales to $14.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2008 was due to sales of the Tesla Roadster for which we began to recognize revenue in the quarter ended December 31, 2008. Almost all of the revenue recognized during this period, came from fulfilling reservations placed in prior periods.

As of December 31, 2008, we had deferred $3.6 million in revenue related to certain vehicles that had been delivered but as to which we had unfulfilled obligations related to powertrain upgrades. Although these vehicles performed to a level adequate for most driving conditions, we had promised our customers an upgrade of the powertrain. As a result, we deferred all revenue recognition of these Tesla Roadsters that we had delivered in 2008 until they were retrofitted with the new powertrain. We performed these upgrades and accordingly recognized the revenue for these vehicles beginning in the quarter ended December 31, 2008 and concluding in the quarter ended September 30, 2009. We had no deferred revenue as of December 31, 2007.

Cost of Sales and Gross Profit (Loss)

Cost of sales increased from $9,000 during the year ended December 31, 2007 to $15.9 million during the year ended December 31, 2008. All of the cost of sales during the year ended December 31, 2007 consisted of cost related to sales of Tesla-branded merchandise. Substantially all of the cost of sales for the year ended December 31, 2008 was due to the costs related to the sales of the Tesla Roadster which commenced during the quarter ended December 31, 2008.

During the year ended December 31, 2008, we had a gross loss of $1.1 million due to the lower pricing for our initial vehicles, the high materials and manufacturing costs associated with our first generation Tesla Roadster and limited economies of scale from low vehicle production volumes. During the year ended December 31, 2007, we had a gross profit of $64,000 from sales of our Tesla branded merchandise.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses decreased from $62.8 million during the year ended December 31, 2007 to $53.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2008. The $9.0 million decrease in our research and development expenses was due to a $10.2 million decrease in development-related contract services expenses due primarily to the significant contractor and other resources required in 2007 to drive completion of Tesla Roadster development, a $4.4 million decrease in professional services driven by significant engineering activities on the powertrain and vehicle to facilitate the start of production, partially offset by a $3.7 million increase in tooling and material expenses, including costs related to obsolete inventory and adverse purchase commitments, and a $2.8 million increase in office expenses and allocated information technology and facilities costs to support our research and development activities.

Prior to the commercialization of the Tesla Roadster, expenses related to excess and obsolete inventory and certain other costs were charged to research and development expenses. Once we began recognizing revenue from the production and sales of the Tesla Roadster in the quarter ended December 31, 2008, we began recording these costs in cost of sales.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased from $17.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2007 to $23.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2008. The $6.4 million increase in our

 

78


Table of Contents

selling, general and administrative expenses during the year ended December 31, 2008 consisted primarily of a $3.6 million increase in legal services and legal settlements and, accounting and other consulting services, a $1.3 million increase associated with higher head count expenses and a $1.0 million increase in marketing expenses to support our growth.

Interest Income

Interest income decreased from $1.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2007 to $0.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2008. The $1.2 million decrease in our interest income during the year ended December 31, 2008 was a result of our receiving lower interest rates on invested cash during the year ended December 31, 2008 when compared to the year ended December 31, 2007, as well as higher average cash balances during the year ended December 31, 2007.

Interest Expense

Interest expense increased to $3.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2008 compared to no interest expense recognized during the year ended December 31, 2007. Interest expense during the year ended December 31, 2008 was primarily a result of interest on our outstanding convertible notes issued early in the year and which remained outstanding throughout the remainder of the year.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net during the year ended December 31, 2007 in the amount of $0.1 million changed by $1.1 million to an expense of $1.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2008. A majority of this change was a result of a $2.8 million increase in the fair value of the outstanding convertible preferred stock warrants during the year ended December 31, 2008 compared to a small decrease during the year ended December 31, 2007. This expense for the year ended December 31, 2008 was partially offset, among other things, by a $1.2 million gain on the cancellation of warrants in connection with the issuance and conversion of certain convertible notes in that period.

Provision for Income Taxes

Our provision for income taxes was $0.1 million during both years ended December 31, 2007 and 2008. In both periods, these expenses related primarily to foreign income taxes.

Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2006 and 2007

Automotive Sales

We recorded our first revenue during the year ended December 31, 2007 which was derived entirely from the online sale of Tesla-branded merchandise after the launch of our Tesla online store in December 2007.

Cost of Sales

Cost of sales of $9,000 during the year ended December 31, 2007 related to online merchandise sales. We had no cost of sales in the year ended December 31, 2006.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses increased from $25.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2006 to $62.8 million during the year ended December 31, 2007. The $37.8 million increase in our research and development expenses during the year ended December 31, 2007 was due primarily to increases in professional

 

79


Table of Contents

services and contract labor fees of $15.4 million as we employed several consulting firms and numerous contractors to assist in and accelerate our research and development efforts, an increase in research and development employees as we continued to build our core team of electric vehicle scientists and engineers, resulting in an increase in employee compensation expenses of $12.5 million, and an increase of $3.0 million in tooling and material expenses associated with changing vendors for the body panels of the Tesla Roadster as well as write-downs of inventories and charges related to adverse purchase commitments.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased from $5.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2006 to $17.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2007. The $11.8 million increase in our selling, general and administrative expenses during the year ended December 31, 2007 was primarily due to a $4.4 million increase in legal, accounting, information technology and other professional fees and expenses, an increase in employee compensation expenses in the amount of $3.2 million, including an increase of $2.1 million related to increased sales and marketing personnel, a $1.3 million increase in depreciation primarily related to increased office furniture and equipment and computer equipment and software, and a $0.8 million increase in contract services fees.

Interest Income

Interest income increased from $0.9 million during the year ended December 31, 2006 to $1.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2007. The $0.8 million increase in our interest income during the year ended December 31, 2007 was a result of our receiving higher returns on our cash equivalent and investment balances during the year.

Interest Expense

Interest expense decreased from $0.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2006 compared to no interest expense recognized during the year ended December 31, 2007. Interest expense during the year ended December 31, 2006 was primarily a result of convertible notes issued in March 2006, which converted to convertible preferred stock in June 2006.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net was $0.1 million during both years ended December 31, 2006 and 2007.

Provision for Income Taxes

Our provision for income taxes was $0.1 million during both years ended December 31, 2006 and 2007.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of September 30, 2009, our principal sources of liquidity were our cash and cash equivalents in the amount of $106.5 million which are invested in money market funds. Our primary source of cash historically has been proceeds from the sales of convertible preferred stock, sales of convertible notes, refundable reservation payments from customers for the Tesla Roadster and more recently from sales of the Tesla Roadster, our compensation for electric powertrain development and refundable reservation payments for our Model S. Through September 30, 2009, we had raised an aggregate of $319.2 million from sales of convertible preferred stock and convertible note financings. Since inception through the nine months ended September 30, 2009, we had accumulated net operating losses of $236.4 million.

On January 20, 2010, we entered into our DOE Loan Facility for $465.0 million to support the expansion of our manufacturing operations. Up to an aggregate principal amount of $101.2 million will be made available

 

80


Table of Contents

under the first term loan facility to finance up to 80% of the costs eligible for funding for the build out of a facility to design and manufacture lithium-ion battery packs, electric motors and electric components, or the Powertrain facility. Up to an aggregate principal amount of $363.9 million will be made available under the second term loan facility to finance up to 80% of the costs eligible for funding for the development of, and to build out the manufacturing facility for, our Model S sedan, or the Model S facility. Under the DOE Loan facility, we are responsible for the remaining 20% of the costs eligible for funding under the ATVM Program for the projects as well as any cost overruns for each project. The costs paid by us to date for the Powertrain facility and the Model S facility will be applied towards our obligation to contribute 20% of the eligible project costs, and the DOE’s funding of future eligible costs will be adjusted to take this into account. Our remaining obligations for these projects are budgeted to be an aggregate of $33 million, plus any cost overruns for the projects.

Our ability to draw down funds under the DOE Loan Facility is conditioned upon several draw conditions. For the Powertrain facility, the draw conditions include our achievement of progress milestones relating to the development of the powertrain manufacturing facility and the successful development of commercial arrangements with third parties for the supply of powertrain components. For the Model S facility, the draw conditions include our achievement of progress milestones relating to the design and development of the Model S and the planned Model S manufacturing facility, including an environmental assessment of such facility approved by the DOE. Certain advances will be subject to additional conditions to drawdown related to the site on which the applicable project is located.

Advances under the DOE Loan Facility accrue interest at a per annum rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury as of the date of the advance and will be based on the Treasury yield curve and the scheduled principal installments for such advance. Interest on advances under the DOE Loan Facility is payable quarterly in arrears.

Under the DOE Loan Facility, we have committed to pay all costs and expenses incurred to complete the projects being financed in excess of amounts funded under the loan facility. We will be required to maintain, at all times, available cash and cash equivalents of at least 105% of the amounts required to fund such commitment, after taking into account current cash flows and cash on hand, including cash on hand raised in this offering, and reasonable projections of future generation of net cash from operations, losses and expenditures. Loans may be requested under the facilities until January 22, 2013, and we have committed to complete the projects being financed prior to such date. On the closing date, we paid a facility fee to the DOE in the amount of $0.5 million. We intend to receive the first drawdown under each facility starting in the first quarter of 2010.

The DOE Loan Facility documents contain customary covenants that include, among others, a requirement that the projects be conducted in accordance with the business plan for such project, compliance with all requirements of the ATVM Program, and limitations on our and our subsidiaries’ ability to incur indebtedness, incur liens, make investments or loans, enter into mergers or acquisitions, dispose of assets, pay dividends or make distributions on capital stock, pay indebtedness, pay management, advisory or similar fees to affiliates, enter into certain affiliate transactions, enter into new lines of business, and enter into certain restrictive agreements, in each case subject to customary exceptions. The DOE Loan Facility documents also contain financial covenants requiring us to maintain a minimum ratio of current assets to current liabilities, and (i) through December 15, 2012, a minimum cash balance, and (ii) after December 15, 2012, a maximum leverage ratio, a minimum interest coverage ratio, a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio, a limit on capital expenditures and, after March 31, 2014, a maximum ratio of total liabilities to shareholder equity.

Under the DOE Loan Facility, we are required to fund a debt service reserve account on or before December 31, 2012, in an amount equal to all principal and interest that will come due on the advances on the next two payment dates. Once we have deposited such two payments, we will not be required to further fund such debt service reserve account. We have also agreed that, in connection with the sale of our common stock in this offering, at least 75% of the net offering proceeds will be received by us and, in connection with the sale of

 

81


Table of Contents

our stock in any other follow-on equity offering, at least 50% of the net offering proceeds will be received by us. Offering proceeds may not be used to pay bonuses or other compensation to officers, directors, employees or consultants in excess of the amounts contemplated by our business plan approved by the DOE.

In addition to our obligation to fund a portion of the project costs as described above, we have agreed to set aside 50% of the net proceeds from this offering and any subsequent offerings of stock occurring before the completion of the projects, up to an aggregate of $100 million, to fund a separate, dedicated account under our DOE Loan Facility. We will use amounts deposited into this dedicated account to fund project costs of the Powertrain facility and the Model S facility which would have otherwise been funded through advances made under the DOE Loan Facility such that, while there are funds available in the dedicated account, for each dollar of project costs advanced under the DOE Loan Facility, one dollar of project costs that would otherwise have been funded under the DOE Loan Facility will be funded from the dedicated account. The dedicated account can also be used by us to fund any cost overruns for these projects. Once the funds deposited into this dedicated account have been used in full, we will be reimbursed by the drawdown of additional funds for amounts paid from this account, and we will be required to deposit a portion of these reimbursements into the dedicated account in an amount equal to up to 30% of the remaining project costs for the applicable project. These amounts will similarly be used to fund project costs and cost overruns and will similarly be eligible for reimbursement by the drawdown of additional funds once used in full.

We expect that the proceeds of this offering and the loans under the DOE Loan Facility, together with our anticipated cash from operating activities and cash on hand, will be sufficient to fund our operations for the next 24 months. In order to fund our operations beyond that time, we may need to raise additional funds through the issuance of equity, equity-related or debt securities or through obtaining credit from government or financial institutions. This capital will be necessary to fund our ongoing operations, continue research, development and design efforts, establish sales and service branches, improve infrastructure such as expanded battery assembly facilities, and introduce new vehicles such as the Model S. We cannot be certain that additional funds will be available to us on favorable terms when required, or at all.

Capital Expenditures

During the years ended December 31, 2006, 2007 and 2008, we used $6.5 million, $9.8 million and $9.6 million in cash, respectively, to fund capital expenditures. During the nine months ended September 30, 2008 and 2009, we used $9.5 million and $5.7 million in cash, respectively, to fund capital expenditures. We currently anticipate making aggregate capital expenditures of between $100 million and $125 million during the year ending December 31, 2010, primarily related to the development of the Model S.

 

     Years Ended December 31,     Nine Months Ended
September 30,
 
     2006     2007     2008     2008     2009  
                       (Unaudited)  
     (in thousands)  

Net cash used in operating activities

   $ (3,428   $ (53,469   $ (52,412   $ (30,058   $ (51,818

Net cash used in investing activities

     (6,805     (9,762     (10,590     (9,446     (8,045

Net cash provided by financing activities

     39,807        45,041        55,068        40,316        157,133   

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

We continue to experience negative cash flows from operations as we expand our business and build our infrastructure both in the United States and internationally. Our cash flows from operating activities are significantly affected by our cash investments to support the growth of our business in areas such as research and development and selling, general and administrative. Our operating cash flows are also affected by our working capital needs to support growth and fluctuations in inventory, personnel related expenditures, accounts payable and other current assets and liabilities.

 

82


Table of Contents

A component of our cash flows from operations has been our receipt of refundable reservation payments from our customers. Refundable reservation payments consist of reservation and membership payments that allow potential customers to hold a reservation for the future purchase of a Tesla Roadster or Model S. In the United States, we accept reservations for our Tesla Roadster with a $9,900 reservation payment and for the Model S with a minimum $5,000 reservation payment. In the United States, approximately three months prior to production of a Tesla Roadster, we require the customer to make full payment of the balance owed on the vehicle to lock in a production slot. These fees are used by us to fund, in part, our working capital requirements and help us to align production with demand. Our current reservation agreement for the Tesla Roadster provides that prior to locking in the production slot for the Tesla Roadster, reservation payments are refundable, less a cancellation fee of $250. After locking in the production slot, the reservation payments are not refundable. For the Model S, our current reservation agreements provide for a $50 cancellation fee until the customer selects options. Upon selection of options, the customer will make an additional reservation payment, following which the cancellation fee becomes $10,000. Reservation payments for a vehicle are recorded as a current liability when received. No later than upon the delivery of a vehicle, the reservation payments collected on a customer’s account are applied against the total purchase price of the vehicle. Refundable reservation payments are expected to fluctuate as the number of reservation holders on the Tesla Roadster reservation list decreases, while the number of reservation holders on the Model S reservation list increases.

Net cash used in operating activities was $30.1 million and $51.8 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 and 2009. The largest component of our cash used during both periods was the $57.3 million net loss incurred in the nine months ended September 30, 2008, which included non-cash charges of $2.9 million related to depreciation and amortization and $2.5 million related to interest on convertible notes, and the $31.5 million net loss incurred in the nine months ended September 30, 2009, which included non-cash charges of $5.0 million related to depreciation and amortization and $2.7 million related to interest on convertible notes, and a non-cash gain of $1.5 million from the extinguishment of convertible notes and warrants during the nine months ended September 30, 2009. Cash used in operating activities period over period was also impacted by a $20.8 million increase in refundable reservation payments held by us as of September 30, 2008 compared to a $23.2 million decrease in refundable reservation payments held by us as of September 30, 2009. The decrease in the refundable reservation payments was due to the launch of the Tesla Roadster during the nine months ended September 30, 2008. This is because we began delivering the Tesla Roadster to customers and applying the related reservation payments to the respective customers’ purchase cost. Also, additional fluctuations in our cash flows from operating activities resulted from multiple changes in other working capital accounts including a $3.3 million increase in deferred revenue, a $0.6 million increase in deferred development compensation and a $11.5 million increase in inventory during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 compared to a $6.0 million decrease in deferred development compensation, and only a $3.0 million increase in inventory during the nine months ended September 30, 2009. The decrease in deferred development compensation was mostly the result of the amortization of this deferred development compensation through the consolidated statement of operations during the nine months ended September 30, 2009, partially offset by the payments received under the development arrangement with Daimler during the period. The larger increase in inventory reflected our build up of inventory in 2008 in anticipation of the commercial introduction of the Tesla Roadster.

Net cash used in operating activities was $53.5 million and $52.4 million during the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2008. The largest component of our cash used during both years, was the $78.2 million net loss incurred during the year ended December 31, 2007, which included non-cash charges of $2.9 million related to depreciation and amortization and a $2.4 million loss on abandonment of certain fixed assets, and the $82.8 million net loss incurred during the year ended December 31, 2008, which included non-cash charges of $4.2 million related to depreciation and amortization, $3.7 million related to interest on convertible notes and $2.8 million related to the fair value change in our convertible preferred stock warrant liability. The fluctuations in cash flows from operating activities as a result of changes in working capital accounts included a $15.2 million increase in refundable reservation payments received, a $8.1 million increase in accounts payable and accrued liabilities, and a $2.1 million increase in inventory during the year ended December 31, 2007 compared to a $10.7 million increase in refundable reservation payments received, a $10.2 million increase in deferred

 

83


Table of Contents

development compensation, a $11.4 million increase in accounts payable and accrued liabilities and a $4.1 million increase in deferred revenue, partially offset by a $14.5 million increase in inventory during the year ended December 31, 2008. The increase in refundable reservation payments during the year ended December 31, 2008 was lower than the increase in the prior year as we began delivering the Tesla Roadster to customers and applying the related reservation payments to the respective customers’ purchase cost. The increase in deferred development compensation is mostly the result of collections under the development agreement with Daimler prior to December 31, 2008 which were deferred entirely until we entered into a final agreement in May 2009 compared to no such agreements or collections during the year ended December 31, 2007. The higher increase in accounts payable and accrued liabilities during the year ended December 31, 2008 compared to the prior year was due to the growth in our business. The larger increase in inventory during the year ended December 31, 2008 reflected our build up of inventory in anticipation of the commercial introduction of the Tesla Roadster.

Net cash used in operating activities was $3.4 million and $53.5 million during the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2007. The $50.0 million increase in net cash used in operating activities was primarily attributable to the $30.0 million net loss incurred during the year ended December 31, 2006, which included non-cash charges of $0.6 million related to depreciation and amortization and $0.4 million related to interest on convertible notes, and the $78.2 million net loss incurred during the year ended December 31, 2007, which included non-cash charges of $2.9 million related to depreciation and amortization and a $2.4 million loss on abandonment of certain fixed assets. The fluctuations in cash flows from operating activities as a result of changes in working capital accounts included a $4.4 million increase in accrued liabilities and accounts payable and a $22.1 million increase in refundable reservation payments received and no changes to inventory during the year ended December 31, 2006 compared to a $8.1 million increase in accrued liabilities and accounts payable, a $15.2 million increase in refundable reservation payments received and a $2.1 million increase in inventory during the year ended December 31, 2007. The increase in accrued liabilities and accounts payable was a result of changes in the scope of our operations.

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

We continue to experience negative cash flows from investing activities as we expand our business and build our infrastructure both in the United States and internationally. Cash flows from investing activities primarily relate to capital expenditures to support our growth in operations as well as restricted cash that we must maintain in relation to lease agreements, equipment financing, and certain vendor credit policies.

Net cash used in investing activities was $9.4 million and $8.0 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 and 2009. The uses of cash for investing activities during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 were substantially all related to purchases of capital equipment while uses during the nine months ended September 30, 2009 consisted of $5.7 million as a result of purchases of capital equipment and $2.4 million related to increases in restricted cash primarily relating to standard credit policies required by our online payment vendors.

Net cash used in investing activities was $9.8 million and $10.6 million during the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2008. There was only a small decrease in the amount of $0.2 million in cash used for purchases of capital equipment during the year ended December 31, 2008 when compared to the year ended December 31, 2007, however, restricted cash increased by $1.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2008 compared to a $40,000 decrease during the year ended December 31, 2007.

Net cash used in investing activities was $6.8 million and $9.8 million during the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2007. The year over year increase was due to a $3.3 million increase in cash used for purchases of capital equipment during the year ended December 31, 2007 when compared to the year ended December 31, 2006, however, restricted cash increased by $0.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2006 compared to a $40,000 decrease during the year ended December 31, 2007.

 

84


Table of Contents

Net cash used in investing activities is expected to increase substantially as we build out and tool our Model S manufacturing facility, and our powertrain manufacturing facility in Palo Alto, California. We expect our capital expenditures to be between $100 million and $125 million in the year ending December 31, 2010.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

We have financed our operations primarily with proceeds from issuances of convertible preferred stock and convertible notes, which provided us with aggregate net proceeds of $296.8 million on a cumulative basis for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2007, 2008 and the nine months ended September 30, 2009.

Cash provided by financing activities increased by $116.8 million from the nine months ended September 30, 2008 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2009 due to the issuance of $82.4 million in Series F convertible preferred stock and $49.4 million in Series E convertible preferred stock during the nine months ended September 30, 2009, and the issuance of convertible promissory notes in the amount of approximately $40.3 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2008 compared to $25.5 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2009.

Cash provided by financing activities increased by $10.0 million from the year ended December 31, 2007 compared to the year ended December 31, 2008. The increase was due almost entirely to the difference between the $54.8 million raised through the issuance of convertible notes during the year ended December 31, 2008 and the $44.9 million raised through the issuance of the Series D convertible preferred stock during the year ended December 31, 2007.

Cash provided by financing activities increased by $5.2 million from the year ended December 31, 2006 compared to the year ended December 31, 2007. The increase was due mostly to the difference between the $44.9 million raised through the issuance of the Series D convertible preferred stock during the year ended December 31, 2007 and the $36.8 million raised through the issuance of the Series C convertible preferred stock and the $3.0 million raised through the issuance of convertible notes during the year ended December 31, 2006.

Contractual Obligations

The following table sets forth, as of December 31, 2008, certain significant cash obligations that will affect our future liquidity (in thousands):

 

     Year ended December 31,
     Total    2009    2010    2011    2012    2013    2014 and
thereafter

Operating lease obligations

   $ 5,607    $ 1,575    $ 974    $ 608    $ 562    $ 488    $ 1,400

Capital lease obligations

     1,317      387      270      242      218      200      —  

Purchase obligations(1)

     56,900      39,700      17,200      —        —        —        —  

Long-term debt(2)

     54,528      —        54,528      —        —        —        —  
                                                

Total contractual obligations

   $ 118,352    $ 41,662    $ 72,972    $ 850    $ 780    $ 688    $ 1,400
                                                

 

(1) Obligations include agreements or purchase orders to purchase goods or services that are enforceable, legally binding and where the significant terms are specified. Where a minimum purchase obligation is stipulated, as in the case of our supply agreement with Lotus Cars Limited, the amounts included in the table reflect the minimum purchase amounts based on the December 31, 2008 exchange rate for the British Pound. Purchase obligations that are cancelable without significant penalty, are not included in the table.
(2)

Long-term debt includes the outstanding convertible notes payable that are due on December 31, 2010 unless earlier converted according to the terms of the respective notes agreements. In February and March 2009, the Company issued additional convertible notes in the amounts of $25.5 million. These convertible notes accrued interest at a rate of 10% per annum. In May 2009, we converted these notes, including

 

85


Table of Contents
 

accrued interest of $6.1 million, into shares of convertible preferred stock. As of September 30, 2009, the Company had no convertible notes outstanding. The convertible note issuances that occurred during the nine months ended September 30, 2009 and the conversion of all outstanding convertible notes during the same period are not reflected in the table above.

As of December 31, 2008 and September 30, 2009, the Company held refundable reservation payments of $48.0 million and $24.8 million from potential customers, respectively, which are not reflected in the table above. In order to convert the refundable reservation payment into revenue, the Company will need to sell vehicles to these customers. Amounts related to the DOE Loan Facility are not reflected in the table above.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

During the periods presented, we did not have relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, such as entities often referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes.

Impact of Inflation

We believe that inflation has not had a material impact on our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2007 or 2008 or the nine months ended September 30, 2009. There can be no assurance that future inflation will not have an adverse impact on our operating results and financial condition.

Disclosure about Market Risk

Foreign Currency Risk

A portion of our costs and expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 were denominated in foreign currencies such as the British Pound and the Euro. This is primarily due to the contract with Lotus Cars Limited, or Lotus, in the United Kingdom to manufacture the Tesla Roadster vehicles and gliders and other parts sourced in Europe. Our international sales and marketing operations incur expense denominated in foreign currencies. This cost exposure is partially offset by our recent growth in sales in Europe, specifically the United Kingdom, with the launch of the Tesla Roadster in Europe in the quarter ended September 30, 2009 since payments for these vehicles are in Euros or British pounds. This provides a partial natural hedge to our cost exposure in Europe which can vary depending on our sales in Europe. Our battery cell purchases from Asian suppliers are also subject to currency risk. Although our present contracts are United States dollar based, if the United States dollar continues to depreciate significantly against the local currency, it could cause our Asian suppliers to significantly raise their prices, which could harm our financial results. To date, the foreign currency effect on our cash and cash equivalents has not been significant.

Interest Rate Risk

We had cash and cash equivalents totaling $106.5 million as of September 30, 2009. These amounts were invested in money market funds. The cash and cash equivalents are held for working capital purposes. We do not enter into investments for trading or speculative purposes. We believe that we do not have any material exposure to changes in the fair value as a result of changes in interest rates due to the short term nature of our cash equivalents. Declines in interest rates, however, would reduce future investment income.

As of September 30, 2009, we did not have any debt or notes outstanding in which fluctuations in the interest rates would impact us as even our capital lease obligations are fixed rate instruments and are not subject to fluctuations in interest rates. There were convertible notes outstanding as of December 31, 2008, however, these convertible notes were converted into shares of convertible preferred stock in May 2009. We also expect to

 

86


Table of Contents

receive proceeds from loans under our DOE Loan Facility which will bear interest at a per annum rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury as of the date of the loan, based on the Treasury yield curve and the scheduled principal installments for such loan.

Segment Information

We have determined that we operate in one reporting segment which is the design, manufacturing and sales of electric vehicles.

Waitlist and Reservations

Potential customers may reserve slots in our production schedule by entering into a reservation agreement and paying a refundable reservation payment. If the prospective customer decides to purchase a vehicle, the reservation payment can be used toward the purchase of a vehicle. We consider the reservation list as an indication of potential demand rather than a product backlog for pending vehicle sales, as customers on the customer reservation list have not made firm commitments to order and take deliveries of vehicles and may cancel such reservations at any time.

Starting in July 2006, we began taking reservations and collecting reservation payments from customers interested in purchasing a Tesla Roadster and we received a significant number of reservations prior to initiation of volume production of the Tesla Roadster in October 2008. Since that time, we have fulfilled a significant number of these reservations and a significant level of the automotive sales we recognized during the nine months ended September 30, 2009 came from fulfilling reservations placed prior to 2009. Beginning with the quarter ended December 31, 2009, we expect sales of the Tesla Roadster in each future quarter to more closely approximate orders placed in such future quarter than has been the case in prior periods.

As of December 31, 2009, we had accepted approximately 2,000 refundable reservations for the Model S sedans.

Seasonality

We expect sales of the Tesla Roadster to fluctuate on a seasonal basis with increased sales during the spring and summer months in our second and third fiscal quarters relative to our fourth and first fiscal quarters. However our limited operations history makes it difficult for us to judge the exact nature or extent of the seasonality of our business. We note that in general automotive sales tend to decline over the winter season and we anticipate that our sales of the Model S and other models we introduce may be similarly impacted. We do not expect our powertrain sales to be impacted to a significant extent by seasonality.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued the FASB Accounting Standards Codification, or ASC, which identifies the ASC as the authoritative source of generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. Rules and interpretive releases of the SEC under federal securities laws are also sources of authoritative GAAP for SEC registrants. We adopted the provisions of the authoritative accounting guidance for the interim reporting period ended September 30, 2009. The adoption of the accounting standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In September 2006, the FASB issued a new accounting standard which defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value and requires additional disclosures about fair value measurements. In February 2008, the FASB delayed the effective date of the standard until the first quarter of 2009 for all non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities, except for items that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the consolidated financial statements on a recurring basis. The standard does not require any new fair value

 

87


Table of Contents

measurements but rather eliminates inconsistencies in guidance found in various prior accounting pronouncements. In April 2009, the FASB issued further guidance for estimating fair value when the level of market activity for an asset or liability has significantly decreased, which is effective for interim and annual periods ending after June 15, 2009. The adoption of the accounting standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In March 2008, the FASB issued a new accounting standard related to disclosures about derivative instruments and hedging activities. This standard is intended to improve financial reporting by requiring transparency about the location and amounts of derivative instruments in an entity’s financial statements; clarifies the accounting for derivative instruments and related hedged items; and how derivative instruments and related hedged items affect its financial position, financial performance and cash flows. This standard is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after November 15, 2008. The adoption of the accounting standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In May 2008, the FASB issued a new accounting standard which requires the recognition of both the liability and equity components of convertible debt instruments with cash settlement features. Under the standard, the debt component is required to be recognized at the fair value of a similar instrument that does not have an associated equity component. The equity component is recognized as the difference between the proceeds from the issuance of the convertible debt instrument and the fair value of the straight debt liability. The separation of the equity component creates a debt discount which is required to be accreted over the expected life of the debt. Retrospective application to all periods presented is required. This standard is effective for us beginning in the first quarter of 2009. The adoption of the accounting standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In June 2008, the FASB issued a new accounting standard for determining whether instruments granted in share-based payment transactions are considered participating securities for the purposes of calculating earnings per share. The standard clarified that all outstanding unvested share-based payment awards that contain rights to nonforfeitable dividends participate in undistributed earnings with common stockholders, and therefore, are considered participating securities. The two-class method of computing basic and diluted earnings per share would have to be applied. This standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 31, 2008. The adoption of the accounting standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In May 2009, the FASB issued a new accounting standard which establishes the general standards of accounting for and disclosure of events that occur after the balance sheet date but before financial statements are issued or are available to be issued. The standard, which includes a new requirement to disclose the date through which an entity has evaluated subsequent events, is effective for interim or annual periods ending after June 15, 2009. The adoption of the accounting standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In October 2009, the FASB issued an accounting standard update which requires companies to allocate revenue in multiple-element arrangements based on an element’s estimated selling price if vendor-specific or other third-party evidence of value is not available. The guidance is effective beginning January 1, 2011 with early application permitted. We are currently evaluating both the timing and the impact of the standard on our consolidated financial statements.

 

88


Table of Contents

BUSINESS

Industry Overview

We believe that more than 100 years after the invention of the internal combustion engine, incumbent automobile manufacturers are at a crossroads and face significant industry-wide challenges. The reliance on the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine as the principal automobile powertrain technology has raised environmental concerns, created dependence among industrialized and developing nations on oil largely imported from foreign nations and exposed consumers to volatile fuel prices. In addition, we believe the legacy investments made by incumbent automobile manufacturers in manufacturing and technology related to the internal combustion engine have to date inhibited rapid innovation in alternative fuel powertrain technologies. We believe these challenges offer an historic opportunity for companies with innovative electric powertrain technologies and that are unencumbered with legacy investments in the internal combustion engine to lead the next technological era of the automotive industry.

Growth in Demand for Electric Vehicles

We believe that the electrification of the automobile powertrain system is the most important innovation in modern automotive history. Electric propulsion offers the potential for improved performance and efficiency, and helps address many concerns related to the use of the internal combustion engine. We believe many consumers are increasingly willing to consider buying electric-based vehicles due to the environmental, economic and national security consequences of using gasoline-powered vehicles. As a result, we believe the market for electric vehicles is poised for significant growth as consumers continue to shift their preferences strongly toward more fuel efficient and lower emission vehicles.

We also believe government regulations and incentives are accelerating the growth of the electric vehicle market. Many governments in countries throughout the world are regulating vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards and offering incentives to consumers to purchase more energy efficient vehicles. For example, in 2009, the United States government enacted a $2.4 billion electric vehicle stimulus package with the goal of putting one million electric drive vehicles on the road by 2015. The United States government also recently increased fuel economy standards and offers consumer tax credits of up to $7,500 for the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles. In Europe, the European Union recently passed stricter vehicle emissions standards, several countries have instituted direct subsidies and significant tax exemptions for electric vehicles, and some cities exempt electric vehicles from congestion charges. In Asia, the Chinese government offers subsidies of up to approximately $8,800 per electric vehicle.

We believe shifting consumer preferences together with government regulation and incentives will result in significant growth in the market for electric vehicles. According to Frost & Sullivan, a business research and consulting firm, the market for electric-based vehicles, which includes electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, is expected to grow to approximately 10.6 million units worldwide, or approximately 14% of new vehicles sold by 2015 from approximately 1.75 million units or 3% of new vehicles sold in 2008.

Incumbent Automobile Manufacturers Face Significant Challenges as They Pursue the Electric Vehicle Opportunity

We believe incumbent automobile manufacturers face significant challenges that will continue to inhibit their ability to capitalize on the electric vehicle opportunity. These challenges include:

 

   

Dependence on the Internal Combustion Engine. We believe many incumbent automobile manufacturers to date have failed to aggressively pursue alternative fuel vehicle programs because of their continued need to invest in internal combustion engine technologies that support their existing revenue base and core competencies. We believe incumbent automobile manufacturers have to date addressed shifting consumer preferences and stricter regulatory emissions and energy efficiency

 

89


Table of Contents
 

standards primarily by making incremental improvements to the internal combustion engine rather than by investing heavily in alternative fuel powertrain technologies. We believe incumbent automobile manufacturers will continue to focus on the internal combustion engine for the foreseeable future.

 

   

Limited Electric Powertrain Expertise. To date, incumbent automobile manufacturers have pursued multiple alternative fuel programs, including hydrogen fuel cell, hybrid and electric powertrain technologies. We believe that exploring such a diverse range of programs while simultaneously continuing to invest in the internal combustion engine has diluted their efforts to commercially develop a specific alternative fuel powertrain technology. In addition, in many instances they have outsourced critical components of the alternative fuel powertrain and vehicle system design to third parties. As a result, we believe incumbent automobile manufacturers currently have relatively limited electric powertrain expertise, especially with respect to sophisticated battery cooling, power, safety and management systems.

 

   

Profitability Pressures and Reduced Operating Flexibility. Many incumbent automobile manufacturers have recently faced deteriorating margins and liquidity, which we believe has significantly reduced their operating flexibility. Falling demand for internal combustion engine vehicles in recent periods, excess industry capacity, and shifting customer preferences toward smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles have reduced the gross margins and profitability at many incumbent automobile manufacturers. The resulting decline in profits at many incumbent automobile manufacturers has constrained their liquid capital resources. Moreover, incumbent automobile manufacturers generally rely on dealer franchises for sales and service, which requires them to share profits from vehicle sales, parts, and services. We believe these financial constraints of many incumbent automobile manufacturers will continue to limit their ability to invest in programs that they may not view as their core business.

 

   

Long and Expensive New Product Development Process. New product launches by incumbent automobile manufacturers from development to production are often lengthy and require significant capital investments. We believe the development process for an electric vehicle program could be particularly difficult for incumbent automobile manufacturers given their need to develop an entirely new powertrain and the sophisticated battery cooling, power, safety and management systems necessary to support such a program. For example, the development of the Toyota Prius and its hybrid powertrain took an estimated $1 billion and over four years and the continuing development of the Chevrolet Volt hybrid has been estimated to cost $750 million.

Challenges That Have Limited Consumers’ Adoption of Electric Vehicles

Despite the automobile industry’s challenges, incumbent automobile manufacturers have attempted over time to respond to shifting consumer desires and government mandates by incorporating limited elements of electric propulsion into their vehicles. However, we believe that due to their traditional focus on supporting and extending their existing internal combustion engine vehicle programs and their relatively limited electric powertrain expertise, incumbent automobile manufacturers have to date been unable to design and offer a commercially successful electric vehicle. Many challenges have slowed electric vehicle adoption to date, including:

 

   

Compromised Vehicle Design and Performance at a High Cost. Electric vehicles have historically incorporated battery cell chemistries such as lead acid, nickel cadmium, or nickel metal hydride that are expensive, bulky, and heavy per energy unit delivered, or per kilowatt-hour. We believe these cost, size, and weight constraints have restricted vehicle design, performance, functionality, and engineering, and have reduced the market appeal of these vehicles. For example, the size and efficiency constraints of General Motors’ EV1 battery limited the model to two seats and unconventional styling. Given these limitations, relatively few electric vehicles have been produced by the incumbent automobile manufacturers to date, and those that have been introduced are generally heavy and uneconomical, which we believe has restricted their appeal.

 

90


Table of Contents
   

Limited Vehicle Driving Range and Inconvenient Recharging Technology. To date, incumbent automobile manufacturers have been unable to commercially produce an electric vehicle with a claimed range in excess of 140 miles, and most vehicles introduced by incumbent automobile manufacturers have had effective ranges of 100 miles or less. Moreover, the absence of flexible charging capabilities onboard these vehicles has necessitated custom charging infrastructures or considerable recharging times, or both. We believe inconvenient charging options combined with range limitations have exacerbated consumers’ concerns with electric vehicles running out of power and the impracticalities of recharging these vehicles. We believe this “range anxiety” has undermined consumers’ views on the convenience and utility of electric vehicles and has significantly impacted demand for such vehicles.

Transitioning to Electric Vehicles

Incumbent automobile manufacturers have generally avoided introducing electric vehicles, focusing instead on incorporating electric propulsion into their vehicles through hybrid electric product lines. Although hybrid electric vehicles address some of the concerns associated with the historical reliance on the internal combustion engine, we believe they are a transitional technology between internal combustion engine vehicles and fully electric vehicles. The increased complexity and weight of the dual powertrain system inherent in hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles result in a less energy efficient vehicle, and as a result, these vehicles do not realize the full benefits of electric propulsion. Hybrid electric vehicles also require gasoline to run and produce emissions. Consequently, many hybrid electric vehicles have mile per gallon ratings that are only somewhat better than their internal combustion engine counterparts, while generally having limited performance. We believe that despite their limitations, the increasing popularity of hybrid electric vehicles demonstrates consumers’ desire for vehicles that can offer a solution to the concerns associated with the historical reliance on the internal combustion engine.

We believe incumbent automobile manufacturers have focused on hybrid electric vehicles in part because battery technology had not historically advanced to the point where it could provide consumers with an electric vehicle that has compelling range and performance. However, lithium-ion battery cells have improved in the last several years to provide higher energy density, or more energy per kilogram, at a lower cost per energy unit than competing battery cell chemistries. As a result, we believe that lithium-ion battery chemistry has now progressed to the point where it offers the opportunity to store enough energy to provide an electric vehicle with sufficient range and performance in many vehicle types to attract significant numbers of customers. Although storage characteristics of lithium-ion battery cell chemistries have improved, harnessing this energy into an electric vehicle requires an automobile manufacturer to develop sophisticated battery cooling, power, safety and management systems that have not been the focus of incumbent automobile manufacturers. Consequently, to date incumbent automobile manufacturers have not commercially mass produced vehicles with electric powertrain technology.

As a result of the focus by the incumbent automobile manufacturers on the internal combustion engine, the financial pressures they face and the technical hurdles to developing an electric vehicle program, we believe there is currently a significant opportunity for a new entrant that has an innovative electric powertrain technology and a business model unencumbered by the legacy challenges facing incumbent automobile manufacturers to be a leader in the global electric vehicle market.

Our Solution

We design, manufacture and sell high-performance fully electric vehicles and advanced electric vehicle powertrain components. We own our sales and service network and have operationally structured our business in a manner that we believe will enable us to rapidly develop and launch advanced electric vehicles and technologies. We believe our vehicles and operational structure differentiates us from incumbent automobile manufacturers.

 

91


Table of Contents

We are the first and currently only company to commercially produce a federally-compliant electric vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, which achieves a market-leading range on a single charge combined with attractive design, driving performance and zero tailpipe emissions. We have accomplished this in our Tesla Roadster, a vehicle that offers impressive acceleration and performance without producing any tailpipe emissions. The foundation of our business is our proprietary electric vehicle powertrain system that has enabled us to produce the Tesla Roadster and will also form the basis for our Model S sedan which is currently scheduled to begin production in 2012. In addition, we are expanding the sale of our electric powertrain components to other automotive manufacturers as evidenced by the start of the sale of our battery packs and chargers to Daimler AG, or Daimler, beginning in November 2009.

We sell and service our Tesla Roadster though our company-owned sales and service network, and intend to do the same for our planned future vehicles. We believe the feedback and data we collect from our sales and service operations, combined with our product design based on common platforms and software based controls of our powertrain, will enable us to rapidly and cost effectively introduce and improve our products. We believe that this approach provides us with a competitive advantage as compared to incumbent automobile manufacturers.

Our first vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds and has a maximum speed of approximately 120 miles per hour. The recently introduced Roadster Sport version can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.7 seconds. The Tesla Roadster has a range of 236 miles on a single charge, as determined by an independent third party using the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s, or EPA’s, combined two-cycle city/highway test. Recently, the EPA announced its intention to develop and establish new energy efficiency testing methodologies for electric vehicles, which we believe could result in a significant decrease to the advertised ranges of all electric vehicles, including ours. The Tesla Roadster has a range that is almost double that of any other commercially released electric vehicle and reportedly set a new world distance record of 313 miles for a production electric car in a rally across Australia as part of the 2009 Global Green Challenge. The current effective price of the base configuration of the Tesla Roadster is $101,500 in the United States, assuming and after giving effect to the continuation of a currently available United States federal tax credit of $7,500 for the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles. The Tesla Roadster is currently in production, and as of December 31, 2009, we had sold 937 Tesla Roadsters to customers in 18 countries, almost all of which were sold in the United States and Europe. As of December 31, 2009, our customers had driven the Tesla Roadster for an estimated 3.0 million miles. We have developed extensive software systems to manage the overall efficiency, safety and controls within our vehicles. Additionally, we have met battery shipping and testing protocols of the United Nations, United States Department of Transportation and other government agencies, allowing us to ship the Tesla Roadster to a number of countries throughout the world.

We announced our second electric vehicle, the Model S, with the public reveal of a drivable early prototype in March 2009. We currently plan to begin production of the Model S in 2012. We are designing a highly functional, four-door sedan which seats five adults and has attractive styling. As a fully electric vehicle, the Model S will produce zero tailpipe emissions while accelerating from zero to 60 miles per hour in a targeted time of under 6 seconds. We currently anticipate introducing the base Model S at an effective price of $49,900 in the United States, assuming and after giving effect to the continuation of a United States federal tax credit of $7,500 for the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles. Even without the tax credit, we believe the base list price will be competitive from a pricing perspective with other premium sedans. We are designing the Model S to offer a variety of range options from 160 miles to 300 miles on a single charge, as projected using the EPA’s combined two-cycle city/highway test. The EPA has announced its intention to develop and establish new energy efficiency testing methodologies for electric vehicles, which we believe could result in a significant decrease to the advertised ranges of all electric vehicles, including ours. We also plan to offer the capability to fast charge in as little as forty-five minutes at commercial charging stations that we anticipate may be available in the future and to rapidly swap out its battery pack at a specialized commercial battery exchange facility to complement its range capabilities. We believe that the Model S will demonstrate our ability to produce increasingly affordable electric vehicles that offer long range capabilities and uncompromised performance, energy efficiency, convenience and design.

 

92


Table of Contents

We are designing the Model S for a significantly broader customer base than the Tesla Roadster. Accordingly, we currently intend to target an annual production rate of up to approximately 20,000 cars per year. The drivable early prototype of the Model S was revealed to the public in March 2009 and as of December 31, 2009, approximately 2,000 customers reserved and paid a refundable reservation payment of at least $5,000 for the purchase of the Model S. We have entered into our loan facility from the United States Department of Energy, or DOE Loan Facility, for a $465.0 million loan, $363.9 million of which is intended for the continued development of the Model S and the build out of our planned Model S manufacturing facility.

 

LOGO    LOGO
Tesla Roadster    Tesla Model S

The electric powertrain we developed for the Tesla Roadster has provided the foundational technology for our planned Model S and for electric powertrain components that we have begun selling to Daimler. Our electric powertrain consists of only three physical components: our modular battery pack, our power electronics module and our motor. This component design contains far fewer moving parts than a gasoline powertrain. These features enable us to adapt it for a variety of vehicle applications. The Tesla Roadster electric powertrain will be the basis of the Model S powertrain, with design enhancements. Similarly, using the existing Tesla Roadster battery pack, we have worked with Daimler since June 2008 to develop a battery pack and charging system for an initial trial of the Smart fortwo electric drive vehicle pilot program in five European cities. We intend to expand this business by developing and selling additional powertrain components to Daimler and other third party OEMs, and have secured $101.2 million of an aggregate $465.0 million from our DOE Loan Facility to fund the infrastructure for this business. We believe that our development efforts in our powertrain business will enable us to advance our technology and rapidly and cost effectively develop vehicles.

Our battery pack and electric powertrain system has enabled us to deliver market-leading range capability on the Tesla Roadster at what we believe is a compelling battery cost per kilowatt-hour. The battery pack of the Tesla Roadster uses commercially available lithium-ion battery cells and contains 53 kilowatt-hours of usable energy, almost double the energy of any other commercially available electric vehicle battery pack, thereby significantly increasing its range capability. Designing an electric powertrain and a vehicle to exploit its energy efficiency has required extensive safety testing and innovation in battery packs, motors, powertrain systems and vehicle engineering. Our proprietary technology includes cooling systems, safety systems, battery engineering for vibration and environmental durability, customized motor design, and the software and electronics management systems necessary to manage battery and vehicle performance under demanding real-life driving conditions. These technology innovations have resulted in an extensive intellectual property portfolio.

We are designing our vehicles to enable the cost effective development of our future vehicles. First, our battery pack is based on commodity battery cells placed in modules that we believe will form the basis of later generations of our battery packs, such as those we are developing for the Model S and the Smart fortwo electric drive. Second, we use upgradeable software extensively for managing vehicle performance and the driver experience. Finally, we are designing a common platform architecture for the Model S, which compactly positions the battery pack, motor and other elements of our powertrain within the frame of the vehicle. We

 

93


Table of Contents

believe this architecture will form the basis of several future vehicles and enable us to efficiently and cost-effectively launch new vehicle models in the future.

Our design capabilities and the technical advancements of our powertrain system have enabled us to design and develop zero tailpipe emission vehicles that we believe overcome the design, styling, and performance issues that we believe have historically limited broad consumer adoption of electric vehicles. As a result, we believe our Tesla Roadster customers enjoy, and Model S customers will enjoy, several benefits, including:

 

   

Long Range and Recharging Flexibility. The range of the Tesla Roadster is almost double the range of any other commercially available electric vehicle. We are designing the Model S to offer an even greater range option. In addition, the Tesla Roadster incorporates our proprietary on-board charging system, permitting recharging from almost any available electrical outlet, and we are designing the Model S to offer fast charging capability from higher power electrical outlets. We believe the long range and charging flexibility of our vehicles will help reduce consumer anxiety over range, alleviate the need for expensive, large-scale charging infrastructure, and differentiate our vehicles as compared to our competitors’ currently announced electric vehicle product offerings.

 

   

Energy Efficiency and Cost of Ownership. We believe our Tesla Roadster offers and our planned Model S will offer consumers an attractive cost of ownership when compared to similar internal combustion engine or hybrid electric vehicles. Using only a single electric powertrain enables us to create a lighter, more energy efficient vehicle that is mechanically simpler than currently available hybrid or internal combustion engine vehicles. For example, assuming a 236 mile range of the Tesla Roadster, an average electricity cost of 11.0 cents per kilowatt-hour and an average gasoline price of $2.61 per gallon, which were the average electricity cost and gasoline price in the United States, respectively, as of December 31, 2009, the cost per mile to fuel the Tesla Roadster is approximately 75% less than the cost to fuel the 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera, which has an EPA mileage rating of 18 miles per gallon city and 25 miles per gallon highway. Furthermore, we expect our electric vehicles will have lower relative maintenance costs than hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or internal combustion engine vehicles due to fewer moving parts and the absence of certain components, including oil, oil filters, spark plugs, and engine valves. Additionally, government incentives that are currently available can reduce the cost of ownership even further.

 

   

High-Performance Without Compromised Design or Functionality. We believe we have been able to successfully overcome the design and performance tradeoff issues that encumbered most early electric vehicle designs. We believe the Tesla Roadster delivers an unparalleled driving experience with instantaneous and sustained acceleration through an extended range of speed. In addition, our planned Model S is being designed to seat five adults, provide best in class storage in the trunk and hood while offering design and performance comparable to, or better than, other premium sedans.

Our Competitive Strengths

We believe the following combination of capabilities and features of our business model distinguish us from our competitors and position us well to capitalize on the expected growth in the electric vehicle market:

 

   

Singular Focus and Leadership in Electric Powertrain Technology. With the introduction of the Tesla Roadster, we believe we demonstrated that performance, range, and efficiency can be achieved at an attractive energy cost per mile without compromising vehicle styling and the overall driving experience. We have spent over five years developing and optimizing our proprietary electric powertrain technology and its interaction with vehicle systems to achieve this compelling combination of range and performance. We have expertise in electrical engineering, thermal management, battery system design, battery cell testing and evaluation and electric vehicle safety and durability, as well as in the software systems and controls that govern the entire electric powertrain system. We are focused

 

94


Table of Contents
 

exclusively on developing our electric powertrain technology and, unlike many incumbent automobile manufacturers, we do not have to allocate financial and operational resources to support legacy investments in the internal combustion engine.

 

   

Combination of Expertise from Silicon Valley and the Traditional Automotive Industry. Our roots in Silicon Valley have enabled us to recruit engineers with strong skills in electrical engineering, software, and controls, and are further complemented by other members of our team with significant automotive expertise in vehicle engineering and manufacturing. Accordingly, we believe our team of engineers and managers combines the culture of innovation, rapid product development and flexible processes of leading technology companies with the operational experience of leading automotive companies.

 

   

Proprietary Systems Integration of Vehicle and Electric Powertrain. The commercial production of a highway capable, fully electric vehicle that meets consumers’ range and performance expectations required substantial design, engineering, and integration work on almost every system of our Tesla Roadster. We designed several vehicle systems, including the body, chassis, heating and cooling, low voltage electrics, power electronics, and software specifically for our Tesla Roadster. For example, controlling and managing the components of our powertrain to make driving an electric vehicle feel intuitive and responsive to driver demands required substantial software development. As a result, we believe we have developed significant vehicle engineering and integration expertise. Our ability to combine expertise in electric powertrain and vehicle engineering provides a broad capability in electric vehicle design and systems integration.

 

   

Rapid Customer Focused Product Development. We have designed our vehicles and business to quickly capture customer feedback and channel it to product development. We have also designed our product development process to use such data and customer feedback to rapidly introduce new features and designs. Our vehicles log usability data as soon as a customer begins driving, and we collect and supplement it with feedback from our company-owned sales and service operations. Since the performance of our electric powertrain is governed by control software, we believe we can quickly fine-tune our vehicles in response to this data. For example, within nine months of the Tesla Roadster’s commercial introduction, we launched a much improved Tesla Roadster 2, as well as a higher performance variant, the Tesla Roadster Sport.

 

   

Ownership of Sales and Service Network. We believe that by owning our own sales and service network we can offer a compelling customer experience while achieving operating efficiencies and capturing sales and service revenues incumbent automobile manufacturers do not enjoy in the traditional franchised distribution and service model. We believe we will also be able to better control costs of inventory, manage warranty service and pricing, maintain and strengthen the Tesla brand, and obtain rapid customer feedback. Further, we believe we will avoid the conflict of interest in the traditional dealership structure inherent to most incumbent automobile manufacturers where the sale of warranty parts and repairs by a dealer are a key source of revenue and profit for the dealer but often are an expense for the vehicle manufacturer. Our Tesla stores do not carry large vehicle inventories and, as a result, do not require corresponding large floor spaces. As a result, we believe we can efficiently and cost-effectively build out our sales and service network.

 

   

Brand Leadership. As the first company to commercially produce a high-performance, highway-capable fully electric vehicle, we have received substantial media attention. We believe the Tesla brand is well recognized in our target market, despite limited marketing spending by us to date. An independent third-party study completed in 2008 of over 4,000 consumers indicated that the average consumer would be more likely to buy an electric vehicle from Tesla than any other brand but Toyota/Lexus. Since that time, we believe the presence of more Tesla Roadsters on the road and increasing media attention has further strengthened the Tesla brand. In November 2009, Advertising Age provided further testament to our brand strength by selecting us as one of “America’s hottest brands” in a special report highlighting the year’s 50 top brands. We believe the strength of the Tesla brand value will

 

95


Table of Contents
 

result in strong consumer interest and loyalty, strong positioning as a premium electric vehicle and reduced competitive pricing pressure.

 

   

Substantial Funding in Place to Accelerate Growth. We have entered into our DOE Loan Facility for a $465.0 million loan and we have been granted up to approximately $31 million in tax incentives by the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority. We believe these loans and incentives will help accelerate the time to volume production for both the Model S and our electric powertrain business. In addition, we believe these loans and incentives provide us long-term financing that should enable us to focus more of our resources on the execution of our business plans.

 

   

Capital Efficiency. We believe our rapid product development process, our modular and adaptable powertrain, our plan to design and manufacture multiple product types on a singular platform, and our ability to hold lower inventory levels while still meeting customer demand will help reduce the capital required to reach operating efficiencies. This approach is designed with the aim of allowing us to achieve profitability at relatively low volumes and create a viable long-term business.

Our Strategy

We intend to be a leading global manufacturer and direct seller of electric vehicles and electric vehicle technologies. Key elements of our strategy include:

 

   

Successful Launch of the Model S. We believe the successful launch of the Model S is critical to our ability to capitalize on the expanding electric vehicle market opportunity. We are currently executing a detailed plan to finish the design and engineering of, and component sourcing for, the Model S and to develop the manufacturing facility and equipment to support its production. Our plan reflects a combination of what we believe are best practices from multiple industries and our experience from developing, manufacturing and marketing the Tesla Roadster. We are using advanced computer-aided design and crash simulations and concurrently engineering multiple vehicle systems which we anticipate will help speed development and enhance the safety of the Model S. Additionally, we believe our continued development of the Tesla Roadster for multiple international markets and the expansion of our retail presence in select countries around the globe will help us successfully certify, sell and distribute the Model S in these markets.

 

   

Use a Common Platform to Introduce New Models. We intend to design the Model S with an adaptable platform architecture and common electric powertrain that we can use to create future electric vehicle models, such as a sport utility vehicle, a cargo van or a coupe. We believe this strategy will enable us to introduce future models faster and in a more capital efficient manner than incumbent automobile manufacturers have been able to achieve in introducing traditional internal combustion vehicles.

 

   

Develop Integrated Engineering and Manufacturing Capabilities. We intend to identify a site to locate a substantially integrated electric vehicle manufacturing facility to manufacture components that are critical to our intellectual property and production of the Model S. We intend for our design, vehicle engineering, and manufacturing teams to work alongside one another in an effort to accelerate the Model S development. We also intend to design flexibility into our manufacturing facility so that we can produce multiple vehicle models on the Model S platform at high volumes on the same line. We believe that owning and operating integrated engineering and manufacturing facilities will enable us to maintain high quality control standards, and achieve cost efficiencies in our operations. In addition to developing our vehicle manufacturing facility, we are in the process of expanding our electric powertrain manufacturing facility in Palo Alto, California, which will focus on the design and manufacture of lithium-ion battery packs, electric motors and components both for our vehicles and for our original equipment manufacturer customers.

 

   

Continue to Focus on Technological Advancement and Cost Improvement. We have been able to achieve technological and design improvements in the production of the Tesla Roadster while simultaneously reducing manufacturing costs. We intend to continue to invest in technological

 

96


Table of Contents
 

innovation to further advance our proprietary electric powertrain system and the safety, reliability, range capabilities and functionality of our vehicles.

 

   

Expand our Company-Owned Sales and Service Network. As of December 31, 2009, we had opened 10 Tesla owned stores in the United States and Europe, located in Boulder, Chicago, Los Angeles, Menlo Park, Miami, New York, Seattle, London, Monaco and Munich. We plan to nearly double the number of Tesla stores opened by the end of 2010, with a goal of establishing approximately 50 stores globally within the next several years in connection with the planned Model S rollout. In addition, we intend to grow the Tesla Rangers mobile service program, which will enable our service technicians to travel to and service our customers’ vehicles in more geographic areas throughout the United States.

 

   

Leverage Industry Advancements in Battery Cells. We intend to leverage the substantial battery cell investments and advancements being made globally by battery cell manufacturers to continue to improve the cost per kilowatt-hour of our battery pack. To this end, we have designed our powertrain technology to permit flexibility with respect to battery cell chemistry, form factor and vendor. We believe our ability to change battery cell chemistries and vendors to benefit from improvements in battery cell technologies while retaining our existing investments in battery pack management, software, electronics, testing and vehicle packaging will enable us to quickly deploy advances in battery cells into our products and leverage the most current battery cell technology.

 

   

Build and Leverage Strategic Relationships. We intend to seek and develop strategic relationships with industry leaders to launch our electric vehicles and sell our electric vehicle powertrain components. For example, we collaborated with Daimler on the production of the battery pack for their Smart fortwo electric vehicle pilot program. We are also establishing strategic relationships with battery cell vendors who are leaders in the industry for advanced chemistries, high volume production and low cost manufacturing. We believe these and similar potential strategic relationships will enable us to efficiently expand our business while leveraging the expertise and knowledge of the automotive and related industries.

Our Vehicles and Products

We currently design, manufacture and sell the Tesla Roadster, our first production vehicle. We are designing our second vehicle, the Model S, and currently plan to begin production of the Model S in 2012. We intend to design the Model S with an adaptable platform architecture and common electric powertrain so that we can use the platform of the Model S to create future electric vehicles targeting additional segments of the passenger vehicle market.

The Tesla Roadster

Our first vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, is the first high-performance electric sports car and the only highway-capable electric vehicle available in the United States today. The two-seat, convertible Tesla Roadster has a combination of range, style, performance and energy efficiency that we believe is unmatched in the market today. As of December 31, 2009, we had sold 937 Tesla Roadsters to customers in 18 countries, almost all of which were sold to customers in North America and Europe, 107 of which were sold in the year ended December 31, 2008. As of December 31, 2009, our customers had driven the Tesla Roadster for an estimated 3.0 million miles. The Tesla Roadster complies with, or is exempt from, all applicable vehicle safety standards in the United States, the European Union as well as select other countries. Additionally, we have met battery shipping and testing protocols of the United Nations, United States Department of Transportation and other government agencies, allowing us to ship the Tesla Roadster to a number of countries throughout the world.

The current effective price of the base configuration of the Tesla Roadster is $101,500 in the United States, assuming and after giving effect to the continuation of a currently available United States federal tax credit of $7,500 for the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles. The Tesla Roadster offers performance characteristics that

 

97


Table of Contents

we believe are among the best in the industry. It can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds and has a maximum speed of approximately 120 miles per hour. We believe the Tesla Roadster’s lightweight and proprietary electric powertrain provides significant performance advantages over traditional internal combustion engine-powered sports cars. Specifically, the electric powertrain that delivers peak torque (in excess of 200 foot pounds) at extremely low revolutions per minute, or rpm, and remains near peak through 7,000 rpm of the 13,000 rpm range enables the Tesla Roadster to achieve its high levels of acceleration. With such a long and flat torque curve, we believe the Tesla Roadster delivers a compelling driving experience with instantaneous and sustained acceleration through an extended range of speed.

The Tesla Roadster combines this performance with high energy efficiency. The Tesla Roadster has a battery pack capable of storing approximately 53 kilowatt-hours of usable energy, almost double the energy of any other commercially available electric vehicle battery pack and has a range of 236 miles on a single charge, as determined by an independent third party using the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s, or EPA’s, combined two-cycle city/highway test. Recently, the EPA announced its intention to introduce and establish new energy efficiency testing methodologies for electric vehicles, which we believe could result in a significant decrease to the advertised ranges of all electric vehicles, including ours. The Tesla Roadster reportedly set a new world distance record of 313 miles for a production electric car in a rally across Australia as part of the 2009 Global Green Challenge. Assuming a 236 mile range of the Tesla Roadster and an electricity cost of 11.0 cents per kilowatt-hour, which was the average residential electricity cost in the United States as of December 31, 2009, the energy cost of powering the Tesla Roadster is approximately 3.4 cents per mile. In comparison, assuming an average gasoline price of $2.61 per gallon, which was the average price per gallon in the United States as of December 31, 2009, the 2010 Toyota Prius has a fuel cost of approximately 5.2 cents per mile and the 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera has a fuel cost of approximately 12.3 cents per mile. We believe these energy cost differences would be greater in Europe where gasoline prices can be almost three times higher than in the United States.

We have continued to rapidly develop the Tesla Roadster since its introduction. In June 2009, nine months after its commercial introduction, we launched the 2010 Tesla Roadster, known as the Tesla Roadster 2, as well as a high-performance variant, the Tesla Roadster Sport. As compared to the original Tesla Roadster, the Tesla Roadster 2 delivered a higher quality interior, a new push-button gear selector, improved heating and cooling performance, a more powerful electric powertrain, and improved noise reduction. New optional features were also added including clear coat carbon fiber trim for the exterior and interior, an adjustable suspension and improved vehicle data connectivity via a GSM module. In addition to making these enhancements, we simultaneously reduced our manufacturing costs significantly by making a number of modifications, including redesigning our power electronics module and switching to certain commodity components in our manufacturing process. The Tesla Roadster Sport offers a higher performance powertrain which improves acceleration from 0 to 60 miles per hour from 3.9 seconds to 3.7 seconds, adjustable suspension and performance tires and forged wheels, all without compromising the efficiency of the Tesla Roadster electric powertrain. The current effective price of the base configuration of the Tesla Roadster is $101,500 in the United States and the current effective price of the base configuration of the Tesla Roadster Sport is $121,000 in the United States, in each case assuming and after giving effect to the continuation of a currently available United States federal tax credit of $7,500 for the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles. We delivered our first right-hand drive version of the Tesla Roadster in January 2010, enabling the eventual introduction of the Tesla Roadster into new key markets such as Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia. We also believe the right-hand drive version will allow us to further penetrate certain existing markets such as the United Kingdom.

The Tesla Model S

Our planned second vehicle, the Model S, is currently expected to begin production in 2012. We intend to leverage the electric powertrain of the Tesla Roadster to create a four-door, five adult passenger sedan that produces zero tailpipe emissions while accelerating from zero to 60 miles per hour in a targeted time of under 6 seconds. The drivable early prototype of the Model S was revealed to the public in March 2009 and as of December 31, 2009, we had received approximately 2,000 customer reservations with a minimum refundable

 

98


Table of Contents

payment of $5,000. We intend to make the Model S available with three range variants – 160 miles, 230 miles, and 300 miles, on a single charge, as projected using the EPA’s combined city/highway test cycles – to allow customers to purchase an electric vehicle that best matches their personal driving needs. We are designing the Model S to include a third row with two rear-facing child seats, subject to applicable safety regulations and requirements, allowing us to offer a seven passenger sedan. The EPA has announced its intention to develop and establish new energy efficiency testing methodologies for electric vehicles, which we believe could result in a significant decrease to the advertised ranges of all electric vehicles, including ours.

To complement its range capabilities, we also plan to offer the Model S with a package of recharging options, including the capability to fast charge in as little as forty-five minutes at commercial charging stations that we anticipate may be available in the future. This feature would offer consumers a rapid and convenient way to recharge their vehicles. In addition, we are designing the Model S to incorporate a modular battery pack in the floor of the vehicle, enabling it to be rapidly swapped out at a specialized commercial battery exchange facility. We are designing the Model S to offer a compelling combination of functionality, convenience and styling without compromising performance and energy efficiency. With the battery pack in the floor of the vehicle and the motor and gearbox in line with the rear axle, we are designing the Model S to provide best in class storage space of approximately 26 cubic feet, including storage under both the tailgate and the hood. By way of comparison, this storage space exceeds the approximately 14 cubic feet of storage available in the 2009 BMW 5 Series sedan and the approximately 21 cubic feet of storage available in the 2009 Lincoln Town Car. We are also planning to equip the Model S with premium luxury features, including a 17” touch screen driver interface, advanced wireless connectivity, and driver customization of the infotainment and climate control systems of the vehicle. We believe the intended combination of performance, styling, convenience and energy efficiency of the Model S will help position it as a compelling alternative to other vehicles in the luxury and performance segments.

We currently anticipate introducing the base Model S at an effective price of $49,900 in the United States, assuming and after giving effect to the continuation of a United States federal tax credit of $7,500 for the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles. Even without the tax credit, we believe the base list price will be competitive with other premium sedans. We have not finalized pricing for the 230 or 300 mile range variants of the Model S.

We are designing the Model S to provide a lower cost of ownership as compared to other vehicles in its class. We consider the purchase price, cost of fuel, and the cost of maintenance over a six year ownership period in this calculation. We assume comparable residual values, warranties, insurance costs and promotions and assume that currently available consumer incentives are still available at the time of a Model S purchase. In addition to the competitive pricing of the Model S relative to other premium sedans, we estimate that customers of electric vehicles will enjoy lower fuel costs. For example, assuming an average of 12,000 miles driven per year, an average electricity cost of 11.0 cents per kilowatt-hour and an average gasoline price of $2.61 per gallon over the full ownership of the vehicle, which were the average electricity cost and gasoline price in the United States, respectively, as of December 31, 2009, and based on our estimate of the energy efficiency of the Model S, we estimate that our planned Model S could have approximately $1,300 per year less in fuel costs than a comparable premium internal combustion engine sedan. Furthermore, we expect the planned Model S will have a lower maintenance costs than comparable premium internal combustion engine sedans due to fewer moving parts and the absence of certain components, including oil, oil filters, spark plugs, and engine valves.

Future Vehicle Roadmap Based on Model S Platform

We intend to design the Model S with an adaptable platform architecture and common electric powertrain so that we can use the platform of the Model S to create future electric vehicle models, such as a sport utility vehicle, a cargo van or a coupe. In particular, by designing our electric powertrain within the chassis to accommodate different vehicle body styles, we believe that we can save significant time in future vehicle development. In addition, we believe our strategy of using commercially available battery cells will enable us to leverage improvements in cell chemistries and rapidly introduce models of our Tesla Roadster and planned

 

99


Table of Contents

vehicles with different range options. Our design of the Model S, however, is not complete and we may make changes to the design of the Model S, including changes that may make it more difficult to use the Model S platform for future vehicles.

Powertrain Development and Sales

In May 2009, we entered into a development agreement with Daimler under which we performed specified research and development services for the development of a battery pack and charger for Daimler’s Smart fortwo electric drive. All development work related to the development agreement had been completed as of December 31, 2009. We have been selected by Daimler to supply it with up to 1,000 battery packs and chargers to support a trial of the Smart fortwo electric drive in five European cities. We began shipping the first of these battery packs and chargers in November 2009 and started to recognize revenue for these sales in the quarter ended December 31, 2009.

We intend to develop our electric powertrain component and systems business and have secured a $101.2 million loan under our DOE Loan Facility for the expansion of our engineering and production capability for this business in our Palo Alto facility. We anticipate our new facility will enable us to provide research and development services, including cell and component testing and prototyping, as well as produce powertrain components for sales to third parties. We also intend to centralize production of the battery pack and the motor for the Tesla Roadster at this facility so that we can efficiently share further powertrain innovations among the components for our vehicles as well as those of our customers.

Technology

We believe the core competency of our company and our core intellectual property is contained within our electric powertrain. This powertrain is fundamentally composed of four major elements: a modular battery pack, a power electronics module, a motor and the control software which enables the components to operate as a system. We designed each of these major elements for our Tesla Roadster and plan to use much of this technology in the Model S and our future electric vehicles. Our powertrain and battery pack have a modular design, enabling future generations of electric vehicles to incorporate a significant amount of this technology. Further, our powertrain is very compact and contains far fewer moving parts than the internal combustion powertrain. These features enable us to adapt it for a variety of applications, including our future vehicles and any powertrain components we build for other manufacturers.

From time to time, we intend to enter into development arrangements with other automobile manufacturers for electric powertrain development activities. From inception through September 30, 2009, our powertrain development activities have been exclusively pursuant to a development arrangement entered into in the year ended December 31, 2008 which was formalized pursuant to an agreement entered into in May 2009 with Daimler related to the development of a battery pack and charger for Daimler’s Smart fortwo electric drive. All amounts received under this development agreement are being recognized as an offset to research and development expenses in the consolidated statement of operations. In the fiscal years ended December 31, 2006, 2007 and 2008 and the nine months ended September 30, 2009, our research and development expenses were $25.0 million, $62.8 million, $53.7 million and $11.1 million, respectively after such offsets. As of December 31, 2009 all development work related to the development agreement had been completed and we expect that the full $23.2 million under the development agreement will be recognized in the quarter ended December 31, 2009.

As of December 31, 2009, we had 120 employees in our research and development department.

Battery Pack

We have designed our battery pack to have a life of over 100,000 miles. In addition, we have designed the battery pack to be modular so that it can be used in more than one vehicle. For example, the Tesla Roadster

 

100


Table of Contents

battery pack contains 6,831 lithium-ion cells, each similar to the 6 to 12 cells (made by third party lithium-ion cell providers) found in many standard laptop computers. The cells, in turn, are housed in 11 modules. The battery pack contains 53 kilowatt-hours of usable energy, almost double the energy of any other commercially available electric vehicle battery pack, thereby significantly increasing vehicle range capability. Designing an electric powertrain and a vehicle to exploit its energy efficiency has required extensive safety testing and innovation in battery packs, motors, powertrain systems and vehicle engineering. Our proprietary technology includes cooling systems, safety systems, battery engineering for vibration and environmental durability, robotic manufacturing processes, customized motor design, and the software and electronics management systems necessary to manage battery and vehicle performance under demanding real-life driving conditions. We have significant experience and expertise in the safety and management systems needed to work with lithium-ion cells in the demanding automotive environment. We believe these advancements have enabled us to produce a battery pack at a low cost per kilowatt-hour. As of December 31, 2009, our customers had driven the Tesla Roadster for an estimated 3.0 million miles.

We believe one of our core competencies is the design of our complete battery pack system. We have designed our battery pack system to permit flexibility with respect to battery cell chemistry, form factor and vendor that we adopt for battery cell supply. We maintain an internal battery cell testing lab and an extensive performance database of the many available lithium-ion cell vendors and chemistry types. We intend to incorporate the battery cells that provide the best value and performance possible into our battery packs, and we expect this to continue over time as battery cells continue to improve in energy storage capacity, longevity, power delivery and cost. We believe this flexibility will enable us to continue to evaluate new battery cells as they become commercially viable, and thereby optimize battery pack system performance and cost for our current and future vehicles. We believe our ability to change battery cell chemistries and vendors while retaining our existing investments in software, electronics, testing and vehicle packaging, will enable us to quickly deploy various battery cells into our products and leverage the latest advancements in battery cell technology.

The range of our electric vehicles on a single charge declines principally as a function of usage, time and charging patterns. For example, a customer’s use of their Tesla vehicle as well as the frequency with which they charge the battery of their Tesla vehicle can result in additional deterioration of the battery’s ability to hold a charge. We currently expect that our battery pack will retain approximately 60-65% of its ability to hold its initial charge after approximately 100,000 miles or 7 years, which will result in a decrease to the vehicle’s initial range.

To date, we have tested hundreds of battery cells of different chemistries, form factors and designs. Based on this evaluation, we are presently using lithium-ion battery cells based on the 18650 form factor in the Tesla Roadster. These battery cells are commercially available in large quantities. We currently intend to use the same battery cell form factor in the Model S.

Power Electronics Module

The power electronics module, or PEM, has two primary functions, the control of torque generation in the motor while driving and the control of energy delivery back into the battery pack while charging. Since our powertrains today use alternating current 3-phase induction motors, we need to create alternating current and voltage from the direct current that the battery provides. The PEM performs this function both when charging and discharging the battery.

Inside of the PEM are two distinct areas, the power section or “engine room” and the command and control section. We believe we have made significant innovations in each area. We have designed the command and control section to use a high-performance digital signal processor which runs some of the most complicated and detailed software in the vehicle.

We believe another significant innovation in our PEM is our ability to combine the battery charger into the same unit as the motor controller. This is not simply putting two separate systems into the same box as is the case

 

101


Table of Contents

with some other powertrains. Instead, we have reconfigured the same hardware and have used software to accomplish this reconfiguration. By combining these functions we are able to carry a high-power charger onboard the vehicle with no significant extra cost or weight. This enables us to use any available source of power to charge our vehicle. Our vehicles can recharge on any electrical outlet from a common outlet of 15 amps and 120 volts all the way up to a high power outlet of 70 amps and 240 volts, which provides optimal recharging.

Since the Tesla Roadster charger system is built into the vehicle, it is possible to charge the vehicle using a variety of power outlets. Charging the Tesla Roadster battery pack to full capacity will take approximately 9 hours using a 240 volt, 30 amp outlet that is widely available in many homes in the United States for electric appliances. A high power connection capable of 240 volts and 70 amps reduces this charging time to about 4.5 hours. Such a connection can be installed in many homes with the assistance of a qualified electrician. For additional flexibility, the Tesla Roadster battery pack can also be charged with a 120 volt, 15 amp connection. Using this lower power output, the Tesla Roadster battery pack can be charged to full capacity in about 42 hours. This flexibility in charging provides customers with additional mobility, while also allowing them to conveniently charge the vehicle overnight at home.

For the Model S, we plan to offer a fast charge option that will enable the vehicle to charge from higher amperage, higher voltage commercial charging stations that we anticipate may be available in the future.

Motor

Our powertrains currently use custom designed 3-phase induction motors. We believe we have made several important innovations in our motor design that minimize mass while still providing high power and efficiency. Our motors incorporate a proprietary fabricated copper rotor design. Our motors also include optimized winding patterns that allow for easy manufacture and fit in as much copper as possible to reduce resistance and energy losses.

We also use high-quality bearings and precision balancing on the rotor and shaft to enable the spin of the motor up to 13,000 revolutions per minute, or rpm, in normal operation. Combining this very high rpm rating with an instantaneous stall torque of over 200 foot pounds gives a broad torque-speed map that allows a single speed gearbox to deliver high vehicle performance.

Control Software

The performance and safety systems of the Tesla Roadster and its battery required the development of sophisticated control software. There are numerous processors in the Tesla Roadster to control these functions, and we write custom firmware for many of these processors. The flow of electricity between the battery pack and the motor must be tightly controlled in order to deliver the performance and behavior expected in the vehicle. For example, software algorithms enable the vehicle to mimic the “creep” feeling which drivers expect from an internal combustion engine vehicle without having to apply pressure on the accelerator. Similar algorithms control traction, vehicle stability and the sustained acceleration and regenerative braking of the vehicle. Drivers use the information systems in the Tesla Roadster to optimize performance and charging modes and times. Software also is used extensively to monitor the charge state of each of the cells of the battery pack and to manage all of its safety systems.

We plan to leverage our investment in software for the development of the Model S. In addition to the vehicle control software, we also intend to develop software for the infotainment system of the Model S.

Vehicle Design and Engineering

In addition to the design and development of the powertrain, we have created significant in-house capabilities in the design and engineering of electric vehicles and electric vehicle components and systems. We

 

102


Table of Contents

design and engineer bodies, chassis, interiors, heating and cooling and low voltage electrical systems in house and to a lesser extent in conjunction with our suppliers. We are building core competencies in computer aided design and crash test simulations which we expect to reduce the product development time of new models.

Several traditional automotive subsystems required substantial redesign and custom optimization to integrate with the powertrain of an electric vehicle. For example, the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, or HVAC, system was redesigned to integrate with the battery thermal management system and to operate without the energy generated from an internal combustion engine. In addition, low voltage electric systems which power features such as the radio, power windows, and heated seats also needed to be designed specifically for use in an electric vehicle. We have developed expertise in integrating these components with the high-voltage power source in the vehicle and in designing components that significantly reduce their load on the vehicle battery pack, thereby maximizing the available range of the vehicle.

Additionally, our team has expertise in lightweight materials, a very important characteristic for electric vehicles given the impact of mass on range. The Tesla Roadster is built with an internally-designed carbon fiber body which provides a balance of strength and mass. We intend to build the Model S with a lightweight aluminum body and have been designing the body and chassis with a variety of materials and production methods that will help optimize the weight of the vehicle.

We intend to develop a substantially-integrated electric vehicle manufacturing facility to manufacture components that are critical to our intellectual property and quality of the Model S. We intend for our vehicle design, engineering, and manufacturing teams to work alongside one another in an effort to accelerate the Model S development. We believe the co-location of our vehicle design, engineering and manufacturing teams will help accelerate the development of new products and allow for faster introduction of product changes.

As of December 31, 2009, we had 71 employees in our vehicle design and engineering department.

Sales and Marketing

Target Market

We believe the size of the relevant markets for Tesla vehicles is a function of both the market for electric-based vehicles and the market for the traditional segments targeted by our vehicles. Specifically, we believe our Tesla Roadster and planned Model S may appeal to some consumers because the vehicle offers functionality and performance relative to the traditional class of vehicle desired by the consumer, such as the premium sports vehicle market for the Tesla Roadster or the premium sedan market for the Model S. However, we also believe our Tesla Roadster and planned Model S may appeal to consumers who are environmentally and politically conscious or who are interested in the technological and economic benefits of electric vehicles.

The Tesla Roadster

We believe the Tesla Roadster competes in the premium sport vehicle market against selected premium roadsters and coupes. According to CSM Worldwide, the Porsche 911, the Chevrolet Corvette, the Jaguar XK and the Mercedes SL and SLK together represent approximately 97,000 vehicle sales in North America and Europe in 2008. The base list prices for 2009 models in the premium roadsters and coupes market ranged from approximately $47,000 for the Mercedes SLK to $140,700 for the 911 Turbo Cabriolet in the United States.

The Tesla Model S

We believe the combination of functionality, performance, style, energy efficiency and overall cost of ownership of the planned Model S will draw buyers from several market segments, including the lower, medium and upper premium sedan classes. According to CSM Worldwide, the Audi A3, A4, A6 and A8, the BMW 3, 5

 

103


Table of Contents

and 7 series, the Lexus IS, ES, GS and LS, the Volvo S40, S60, S80, V50, and V70/XC70 and the Mercedes C, CLS, E and S Class together represent approximately 2.1 million vehicle sales in the United States and Europe in 2008. The base list prices for 2009 models in the premium sedan and equivalents market ranged from approximately $29,000 for the Volvo S40 to $96,000 for the Audi S8 (the high-performance version of the Audi A8) in the United States.

Company-Owned Sales

We market and sell cars directly to consumers. Until we opened our first store in Los Angeles, California in May 2008, all of our sales of the Tesla Roadster were conducted via the phone and internet, or in-person at our headquarters and corporate events. Increasingly, sales are being made through our network of Tesla stores. Our Tesla stores are highly visible, premium outlets in major metropolitan markets that combine retail sales and service. As of December 31, 2009, we had opened 10 Tesla owned stores in the United States and Europe, located in Boulder, Chicago, Los Angeles, Menlo Park, Miami, New York, Seattle, London, Monaco and Munich. We plan to nearly double the number of Tesla stores opened by the end of 2010, with a goal of establishing approximately 50 stores globally within the next several years in connection with the planned Model S rollout.

In 2009, the average cost of building out our stores was approximately $500,000 per store. Going forward, we generally expect the build out cost of opening new stores to range from approximately $500,000 to $1 million per store. Since we plan to maintain only limited inventory at our stores, we do not require large floor spaces. We believe our Tesla store operating costs are low relative to traditional dealers as a result of our small store footprint, low head count and limited inventories. As a result, we believe we can efficiently and cost-effectively build out our sales and service network.

Our Tesla stores offer several benefits to our customers. The integrated design of our Tesla stores and service centers showcases our vehicles and permits customers and potential customers to have an unobstructed view of Tesla vehicles being serviced. Our customers deal directly with our own Tesla-employed sales and service staff, creating what we believe is a differentiated buying experience from the buying experience consumers have with franchised automobile dealers and service centers.

Reservations

We typically carry very limited inventory of our vehicles at our Tesla stores. While some customers purchase their vehicles from this inventory, most of our Tesla Roadster customers choose to select the options and customize the appearance of their vehicle. Potential customers may reserve slots in our production schedule for their vehicle by entering into a reservation agreement and paying a refundable reservation payment. Reservation payments are used by us to fund, in part, our working capital requirements and help us to align production with demand. If the prospective customer decides to purchase a vehicle, the reservation payment can be used toward the purchase of a vehicle. In the United States, we accept reservations for our Tesla Roadster with a $9,900 reservation payment and for the Model S with a minimum $5,000 reservation payment. In the United States, approximately three months prior to production of a Tesla Roadster, we require the customer to make full payment of the balance owed on the vehicle to lock in a production slot. Our current reservation agreements for the Tesla Roadster provides that prior to locking in the production slot for the Tesla Roadster, reservation payments are refundable, less a cancellation fee of $250. After locking in the production slot, the reservation payments are not refundable. For the Model S, our current reservation agreements provide for a $50 cancellation fee until the customer selects options. Upon selection of options, the customer will make an additional reservation payment, following which the cancellation fee becomes $10,000. The drivable early prototype of the Model S was revealed to the public in March 2009 and as of December 31, 2009, we had received approximately 2,000 customer reservations for the vehicle. As of September 30, 2009, we had an aggregate of $24.8 million in refundable reservation payments for the Tesla Roadster and the Model S.

 

104


Table of Contents

Marketing

Our principal marketing goals are to:

 

   

generate demand for our vehicles and drive leads to our sales teams;

 

   

build long-term brand awareness and manage corporate reputation;

 

   

manage our existing customer base to create loyalty and customer referrals; and

 

   

enable customer input into the product development process.

As the first and currently only company to commercially produce a federally-compliant, fully electric vehicle that achieves market-leading range on one charge, we have been able to generate significant media coverage of our company and our vehicles, and we believe we will continue to do so. To date, media coverage and word-of-mouth have been the primary drivers of our sales leads and have helped us achieve sales without traditional advertising and at relatively low marketing costs. We also use traditional means of advertising including product placement in a variety of media outlets and pay-per-click advertisements on websites and applications relevant to our target demographics.

The strength of our brand has been highlighted by independent authorities. An independent third-party study completed in 2008 of over 4,000 consumers indicated that the average consumer would be more likely to buy an electric vehicle from Tesla than any other brand but Toyota/Lexus. Since that time, we believe the presence of more Tesla Roadsters on the road and increasing media attention has further strengthened the Tesla brand. In November 2009, Advertising Age provided further testament to our brand strength by selecting us as one of “America’s hottest brands” in a special report highlighting the year’s 50 top brands.

Our marketing efforts include events where our vehicles are displayed and demonstrated. These events range from widely attended public events, such as the Detroit, Los Angeles, and Frankfurt auto shows, to smaller events oriented towards sales, such as private drive events.

As of December 31, 2009, we had 83 employees in our sales and marketing department.

Company-Owned Service and Warranty

Service

Service of our electric vehicles takes place at most of our Tesla stores. In addition, in the United States, we are able to provide service coverage to our customers who do not live in close proximity to our stores through our mobile service technicians known as the Tesla Rangers. We charge customers $1 per mile for our Tesla Rangers technicians’ return trip from the location of the customer’s vehicle to the nearest Tesla store.

Tesla owners can upload data from their vehicle and send it to us on a memory stick or via an on-board GSM system, allowing us to diagnose and remedy many problems before ever looking at the vehicle. When maintenance or service is required, a customer can schedule service by contacting one of our regional Tesla stores. Our Tesla Rangers can perform an array of procedures at a remote location, from annual inspections and firmware upgrades to full replacement of a power electronics module and other mechanical and electrical components. If service is more extensive and requires a vehicle lift, we can coordinate shipping of vehicles to and from the nearest Tesla store.

We believe that our company-owned service enables our technicians to work closely with our engineers and research and development teams in Silicon Valley to identify problems, find solutions, and incorporate improvements faster than incumbent automobile manufacturers.

As of December 31, 2009, we had 35 employees in our service department.

 

105


Table of Contents

New Vehicle Limited Warranty Policy

We provide a three year or 36,000 mile New Vehicle Limited Warranty with every Tesla Roadster, which we extended to four years or 50,000 miles for the purchasers of our 2008 Tesla Roadster. Customers have the opportunity to purchase an Extended Service Plan for the period after the end of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty to cover additional services for an additional three years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. The New Vehicle Limited Warranty is similar to other vehicle manufacturer’s warranty programs and is intended to cover all parts and labor to repair defects in material or workmanship in the body, chassis, suspension, interior, electronic systems, battery, powertrain and brake system. Exceptions to the New Vehicle Limited Warranty include wear items such as tires, brake pads and rotors, paint wear and tear, interior wear and tear, and battery performance.

Battery Replacement Option

While battery failure due to defects in material or workmanship is included in the New Vehicle Limited Warranty, battery performance, specifically its ability to store electricity over time, is not covered in either the New Vehicle Limited Warranty or the Extended Service Plan. However, within three months of purchasing their vehicle, customers may purchase a one time option to replace the battery pack at any time after the expiration of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty but before the tenth anniversary of the purchase date of the vehicle. For customers that select this option, we agree to replace the original battery of the vehicle with a replacement battery which will store at least 53 kilowatt-hours of usable energy. Charges in addition to the option purchase price apply if the customer exercises the battery replacement option prior to the seventh anniversary of the purchase date of the vehicle. The customer is entitled to a partial refund of the option purchase price if the option is not elected by the eighth anniversary of the purchase date of the vehicle.

Manufacturing

Vehicle Assembly

We currently use a multi-site manufacturing process for production of the Tesla Roadster and plan to transition to a substantially integrated site for production of the Model S and future vehicles. The initial body and chassis assembly processes for our Tesla Roadster occur at a Lotus Cars Limited, or Lotus, facility in Hethel, England where our staff works closely with Lotus. For vehicles destined for the United States or Asian markets, we ship the rolling chassis, which does not contain our electric powertrain and which we call a glider, to our final assembly facility in Menlo Park, California. At our Menlo Park location, we install the full electric vehicle powertrain and perform a pre-delivery inspection prior to shipping the Tesla Roadster to customers. For European deliveries, the full vehicle is assembled on-line at the Lotus facility and pre-delivery inspection occurs at a nearby Tesla facility in Wymondham, England. Pursuant to the supply agreement with Lotus, we are obligated to purchase a minimum of 1,700 vehicles or gliders over the three year term of the agreement, which will expire in March 2011. We do not currently have a supply agreement with Lotus for the supply of Tesla Roadster vehicles or gliders beyond the 1,700 minimum referenced above. As of December 31, 2009, we had purchased approximately 1,000 vehicles or gliders under this agreement.

We intend to develop a substantially-integrated electric vehicle manufacturing facility to manufacture components that are critical to our intellectual property and quality of the Model S, including body assembly, paint operations, battery pack manufacturing, final vehicle assembly and end-of-line testing. Certain major component systems, such as interior console and seats, will be purchased from suppliers. We currently intend to target an annual production rate at this facility for the Model S of up to approximately 20,000 cars per year. We believe that we will be able to increase the annual production capacity of this plant beyond this amount through additional capital spending as well as by changing operating patterns and adding additional shifts.

 

106


Table of Contents

Powertrain Component Manufacturing

We manufacture several components of our electric powertrain and the batteries and chargers that we have started to sell to Daimler.

 

   

Motor. Our copper-rotor alternating current induction motors have historically been manufactured at our Taiwanese subsidiary. We have operated our own manufacturing facility in part to protect the proprietary technology we developed for our motor. We are presently transitioning this operation to our new corporate headquarters in Palo Alto, California. We expect to complete this transition in the first half of 2010.

 

   

Battery Packs. We currently assemble the Tesla Roadster and Daimler Smart fortwo electric drive batteries at our facilities in San Carlos, California. These operations are also transitioning to our Palo Alto facility where we plan to produce batteries and chargers for additional technology sales customers. We expect to complete this transition in the first half of 2010.

 

   

Power Electronics Module. Our power electronics module, or PEM, is manufactured based on our design by a contract manufacturer located in Taiwan.

We intend to develop our electric powertrain component and systems business and have secured a $101.2 million loan under our DOE Loan Facility for the expansion of our engineering and production capability for this business in our Palo Alto facility.

Supply Chain

The Tesla Roadster uses over 2,000 purchased parts which we source from over 150 suppliers, many of whom are currently our single source suppliers for these components. Our supply base is located globally, with about 30% of our suppliers located in North America, 40% in Europe and the remaining 30% in Asia. We have developed close relationships with several key suppliers particularly in the procurement of cells and certain electric powertrain components. While we obtain components from multiple sources whenever possible, similar to other automobile manufacturers, many of the components used in our vehicles must be custom made for us. We refer to these component suppliers as our single source suppliers. In addition, Lotus is the only manufacturer for certain components, such as the rolling chassis of our Tesla Roadster, and we refer to it as a sole source supplier. To date, we have not qualified alternative sources for most of the single sourced components used in our vehicles and we generally do not maintain long-term agreements with our single source or sole source suppliers. For example, while several sources of the battery cell we have selected for the Tesla Roadster are available, we have fully qualified only one supplier for these cells. Any disruption in the supply of battery cells from such vendor could temporarily disrupt production of the Tesla Roadster until such time as a different supplier is fully qualified and there can be no assurance that we would be able to successfully retain alternative suppliers on a timely basis. Moreover, battery cell manufactures may choose to refuse to supply electric vehicle manufacturers to the extent they determine that the vehicles are not sufficiently safe.

While we believe that we may be able to establish alternate supply relationships and can obtain or engineer replacement components, we may be unable to do so in the short term or at all at prices or costs that are favorable to us. We are currently evaluating, qualifying and selecting our suppliers for the planned production of the Model S and we intend to establish dual suppliers for several key components of the Model S, although we expect that a number of components for the Model S will be single sourced. In addition, we have entered into a letter of intent with Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, an affiliate of Daimler, whereby it will provide us access to its parts catalogue. We contemplate using such parts in the Model S during its development phase and ultimately in its production. We intend to negotiate an agreement to finalize this arrangement.

We use various raw materials in our business including aluminum, steel, carbon fiber, non-ferrous metals such as copper, as well as cobalt. The prices for these raw materials fluctuate depending on market conditions and global demand for these materials. We believe that we have adequate supplies or sources of availability of the raw materials necessary to meet our manufacturing and supply requirements. There are always risks and uncertainties, however, with respect to the supply of raw materials that could impact their availability in sufficient quantities or reasonable prices to meet our needs.

 

107


Table of Contents

We have implemented enterprise resource planning and management software to automate our procurement and inventory processes and integrate them with our financial accounting. We plan additional investment in our management systems to support further growth in our operations.

Quality Control

Our quality control efforts are divided between product quality and supplier quality, both of which are focused on designing and producing products and processes with high levels of reliability. Our product quality engineers work with our engineering team and our suppliers to help ensure that the product designs meet functional specifications and durability requirements. Our supplier quality engineers work with our suppliers to insure that their processes and systems are capable of delivering the parts we need at the required quality level, on time, and on budget. Our quality systems engineers create and manage our systems, such as configuration management and corrective action systems, to help ensure product developers, supplier chain managers, and production controllers have the product information they need.

As of December 31, 2009, we had 142 employees in our manufacturing department.

Customers and Selected Relationships

We currently sell our cars primarily to individual customers. We have strategic or commercial relationships with Daimler and Lotus, as well as with various battery cell providers. We intend to expand our business by developing and selling additional powertrain components to Daimler and other third party OEMs, and have secured a $101.2 million loan under our DOE Loan Facility to fund the infrastructure for this business.

Daimler AG

Beginning in 2008, we commenced efforts on a powertrain development arrangement with Daimler. In May 2009, we entered into a development agreement with Daimler under which we have performed specified research and development services for the development of a battery pack and charger for Daimler’s Smart fortwo electric drive. All development work related to the development agreement had been completed as of December 31, 2009. We have been selected by Daimler to supply it with up to 1,000 battery packs and chargers from us to support a trial of the Smart fortwo electric drive in several cities in Europe and the United States. We began shipping the first sets of these battery packs and chargers in November 2009 and started to recognize revenue for these sales in the quarter ended December 31, 2009.

In addition to the development agreement described above, we have entered into an exclusivity and intellectual property agreement, or EIP Agreement, with Daimler North America Corporation, or DNAC, an affiliate of Daimler, in which we agreed to begin negotiating in good faith to enter into further agreements within certain strategic cooperation areas, including technology collaboration in various electric powertrain areas, automotive engineering support, joint electric vehicle development efforts and access to component parts for Tesla designed products. Under this EIP Agreement, we agreed that, until November 11, 2009, we would not negotiate or enter into any agreements with other parties that would be competitive with the arrangements contemplated for these strategic cooperation areas, unless the results of such arrangement would be marketed solely under the Tesla brand. As of that date, we had not executed any further agreements with Daimler in the areas of strategic cooperation.

The EIP Agreement provides that ending on the earlier of May 11, 2014 or three years following consummation of our initial public offering, if the company receives an offer from a strategic competitor of Daimler to enter into an agreement for development of a non-Tesla branded vehicle or an integrated electric powertrain system, DNAC would be given the right of first refusal to enter into such agreement with the company instead of, and on the same terms offered by, the third party.

 

108


Table of Contents

The EIP Agreement also provides that if we execute a strategic cooperation agreement with DNAC to jointly engineer an electric vehicle, then additional exclusivities would apply until the earlier of May 11, 2014 or three years following consummation of our initial public offering, provided a minimum annual volume of sales is achieved. The EIP Agreement provides that none of the restrictions set out in that agreement, or in any strategic agreement, would limit us from developing technology with any third party for use in a Tesla-branded product or service or related to the Tesla Roadster or Model S, engaging in any transaction with a company that is not a Daimler competitor, or supplying components for electric powertrains that are designed by third parties.

The EIP Agreement also provides that if the parties enter into the strategic agreements or further agreements, those agreements will allocate intellectual property rights according to certain principles outlined in the EIP Agreement. In addition, until the earlier of May 11, 2014 or three years following consummation of our initial public offering, before licensing intellectual property generated outside the scope of any strategic cooperation area to a Daimler competitor, we would first have to offer DNAC the right to license the intellectual property on a non-exclusive, royalty-bearing basis, or on an exclusive basis in the automotive field; and if DNAC requests the latter, we must negotiate such a license in good faith. If no agreement is reached, however, we would be free to license the technology to the Daimler competitor, and DNAC could take a non-exclusive license.

Both we and Daimler have the right to terminate the EIP Agreement in the event the other party undergoes, or executes an agreement to undergo, a change of control. Any strategic cooperation agreements entered into between us and Daimler prior to termination will not be affected by such termination.

To date, with the exception of the development agreement for the Smart for two electric drive, the strategic agreements described in the EIP Agreement have not been entered into, and there can be no assurance that the parties will ever enter into such agreements. Even if we were to enter into such agreements, the parties may negotiate and agree to terms that are different to those set forth in the EIP Agreement and outlined above. Such different or new terms may be more or less favorable to us.

In addition to these agreements, Blackstar lnvestco LLC, or Blackstar, an affiliate of Daimler, held approximately         % of our capital stock outstanding as of December 31, 2009, based on             shares of common stock outstanding at December 31, 2009, after giving effect to the conversion of all outstanding shares of our preferred stock into common stock effective immediately prior to the closing of this offering and the issuance of             shares of common stock upon the assumed net exercise of warrants that expire upon the completion of this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, and Blackstar’s representative, Dr. Herbert Kohler, serves as a member of our Board of Directors.

Lotus Cars Limited

Lotus currently provides us with assembly and other manufacturing services. Although we complete the final assembly of our Tesla Roadster, the initial body and chassis assembly processes occur at a Lotus facility in Hethel, England where our staff works closely with Lotus. For vehicles destined for the United States or Asian market, we ship the glider to our final assembly facility in Menlo Park, California. For European deliveries, the full vehicle is assembled on-line at the Lotus facility and pre-delivery inspection occurs at a Tesla facility in Wymondham, England. Pursuant to the supply agreement with Lotus, we are obligated to purchase a minimum of 1,700 vehicles or gliders over the three year term of the agreement, which will expire in March 2011. We do not currently have a supply agreement with Lotus for the supply of Tesla Roadster vehicles or gliders beyond the 1,700 minimum referenced above. If we are unable to meet this volume requirement, we are still responsible for payment to Lotus of the lesser of the sum of the actual costs incurred and an agreed upon profit margin per vehicle up to the minimum volume requirement or £5,400,000. As of December 31, 2009, we had purchased approximately 1,000 vehicles or gliders under this agreement.

 

109


Table of Contents

Governmental Programs, Incentives and Regulations

United States Department of Energy Loans

On January 20, 2010, we entered into a loan facility with the Federal Financing Bank, or FFB, and the United States Department of Energy, or DOE, under the DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program, as set forth in Section 136 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, or ATVM Program. We refer to such loan facility as the DOE Loan Facility. Under the DOE Loan Facility, FFB has made available to us two multi-draw term loan facilities in an aggregate principal amount of up to $465.0 million and the DOE has agreed to reimburse FFB for any liabilities, losses, costs or expenses incurred by FFB with respect to the term loan facilities. Up to an aggregate principal amount of $101.2 million will be made available under the first term loan facility to finance up to 80% of the costs eligible for funding under the ATVM Program for the powertrain engineering and the build-out of a facility to design and manufacture lithium-ion battery packs, electric motors and electric components, or the Powertrain Facility. Up to an aggregate principal amount of $363.9 million will be made available under the second term loan facility to finance up to 80% of the costs eligible for funding under the ATVM Program for the development of, and to build out the manufacturing facility for, our Model S sedan, or the Model S Facility. Under the DOE Loan Facility, we are responsible for the remaining 20% of the costs eligible for funding under the ATVM Program for the projects as well as any cost overruns for each project. The costs paid by us to date for the Powertrain Facility and the Model S Facility will be applied towards our obligation to contribute 20% of the eligible project costs, and the DOE’s funding of future eligible costs will be adjusted to take this into account. Our remaining obligations for these projects are budgeted to be an aggregate of $33 million, plus any cost overruns for the projects.

Our ability to draw down funds under the DOE Loan Facility is conditioned upon several draw conditions. For the Powertrain Facility, the draw conditions include our achievement of progress milestones relating to the development of the powertrain manufacturing facility and the successful development of commercial arrangements with third parties for the supply of powertrain components. For the Model S Facility, the draw conditions include our achievement of progress milestones relating to the design and development of the Model S and the planned Model S manufacturing facility, including an environmental assessment of such facility approved by the DOE and completion of the National Environmental Policy Act process. Certain advances will be subject to additional conditions to drawdown related to the site on which the applicable project is located.

We will be required to maintain, at all times, available cash and cash equivalents of at least 105% of the amounts required to fund such commitment, after taking into account current cash flows and cash on hand, including cash on hand amounts raised in this offering, and reasonable projections of future generation of net cash from operations, losses and expenditures.

Loans may be requested under the facilities until January 22, 2013, and we have committed to complete the projects being financed prior to such date. On the closing date, we paid a facility fee to the DOE in the amount of $0.5 million. We intend to receive the first drawdown under each facility starting in the first quarter of 2010. We plan to make an initial request for eligible project costs under both projects that we have incurred from December 15, 2008 through September 30, 2009.

Advances under the DOE Loan Facility accrue interest at a per annum rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury as of the date of the advance, and will be based on the Treasury yield curve and the scheduled principal installments for such advance. Interest on advances under the DOE Loan Facility is payable quarterly in arrears. Advances under the Powertrain Facility are repayable in 28 equal quarterly installments commencing on December 15, 2012 (or, for advances made after such date, in 26 equal quarterly installments commencing on June 15, 2013). All outstanding amounts under the Powertrain Facility will be due and payable on the maturity date of September 15, 2019. Advances under the Model S Facility are repayable in 40 equal quarterly installments commencing on December 15, 2012 (or, for advances made after such date, in 38 equal quarterly installments commencing on June 15, 2013). All outstanding amounts under the Model S Facility will be due and payable on the maturity date of September 15, 2022. Advances under the loan facilities may be voluntarily prepaid at any time at a

 

110


Table of Contents

price determined based on interest rates at the time of prepayment for loans made from the Secretary of the Treasury to FFB for obligations with an identical payment schedule to the advance being prepaid, which could result in the advance being prepaid at a discount, at par or at a premium. The loan facilities are subject to mandatory prepayment with net cash proceeds received from certain dispositions, loss events with respect to property and other extraordinary receipts.

All obligations under the DOE Loan Facility are secured by substantially all of our property. All of our existing and future domestic subsidiaries will also be required to guaranty our obligations under the DOE Loan Facility. Our existing and future foreign subsidiaries may, under certain circumstances, be required to guaranty our obligations under the loan facility. Any such guarantees by existing and future subsidiaries will be secured by substantially all of the property of such subsidiaries.

The DOE Loan Facility documents contain customary covenants that include, among others, a requirement that the projects be conducted in accordance with the business plan for such project; compliance with all requirements of the ATVM Program; and limitations on our and our subsidiaries’ ability to incur indebtedness, incur liens, make investments or loans, enter into mergers or acquisitions, dispose of assets, pay dividends or make distributions on capital stock, pay indebtedness, pay management, advisory or similar fees to affiliates, enter into certain affiliate transactions, enter into new lines of business, and enter into certain restrictive agreements, in each case subject to customary exceptions.

The DOE Loan Facility documents also contain financial covenants requiring us to maintain a minimum ratio of current assets to current liabilities, and (i) through December 15, 2012, a minimum cash balance, and (ii) after December 15, 2012, a maximum leverage ratio, a minimum interest coverage ratio, a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio, a limit on capital expenditures and, after March 31, 2014, a maximum ratio of total liabilities to shareholder equity. Under the DOE Loan Facility, we are required to fund a debt service reserve account on or before December 31, 2012, in an amount equal to all principal and interest that will come due on the advances on the next two payment dates. Once we have deposited such two payments, we will not be required to further fund such debt service reserve account. We have also agreed that, in connection with the sale of our common stock in this offering, at least 75% of the net offering proceeds will be received by us and, in connection with the sale of our stock in any other follow-on equity offering, at least 50% of the net offering proceeds will be received by us. Offering proceeds may not be used to pay bonuses or other compensation to officers, directors, employees or consultants in excess of the amounts contemplated by our business plan approved by the DOE.

In addition to our obligation to fund a portion of the project costs as described above, we have agreed to set aside 50% of the net proceeds from this offering and any subsequent offerings of stock occurring before the completion of the projects up to an aggregate of $100 million, to fund a separate, dedicated account under our DOE Loan Facility. We will use amounts deposited into this dedicated account to fund project costs of the Powertrain Facility and the Model S Facility which would have otherwise been funded through advances made under the DOE Loan Facility such that, while there are funds available in the dedicated account, for each dollar of project costs advanced under the DOE Loan Facility, one dollar of project costs that would otherwise have been funded under the DOE Loan Facility will be funded from the dedicated account. The dedicated account can also be used by us to fund any cost overruns for these projects. Once the funds deposited into this dedicated account have been used in full, we will be reimbursed by the drawdown of additional funds for amounts paid from this account, and we will be required to deposit a portion of these reimbursements into the dedicated account in an amount equal to up to 30% of the remaining project costs for the applicable project. These amounts will similarly be used to fund project costs and cost overruns and will similarly be eligible for reimbursement by the drawdown of additional funds once used in full.

The DOE Loan Facility documents contain customary events of default, subject in some cases to customary cure periods for certain defaults. Events of default include, among others, non-payment defaults, inaccuracy of representations and warranties, covenant defaults, defaults under or termination of our leases for the projects, a default in the event of a change of control, including a failure of Elon Musk, our Chief Executive Officer,

 

111


Table of Contents

Product Architect and Chairman, and certain of his affiliates, at any time prior to one year after we complete the project relating to the Model S Facility, to own at least 65% of capital stock held by Mr. Musk and such affiliates as of the date of the DOE Loan Facility, cross-defaults to certain other material indebtedness, failure to timely complete the projects, material judgment defaults, bankruptcy and insolvency defaults and force majeure events with respect to the projects. The occurrence of an event of default could result in an acceleration of all obligations under the DOE Loan Facility documents, an obligation by us and any guarantor to repay all obligations in full, and the exercise of remedies by the DOE or their agent. Our failure to make a timely payment could result in an increase to the applicable interest rate.

In connection with the DOE Loan Facility, we have also issued the DOE a warrant to purchase up to 9,255,035 shares of our Series E Preferred Stock. Beginning on December 15, 2018 and until December 14, 2022, the shares subject to purchase under the warrant will become exercisable in quarterly amounts depending on the average outstanding balance of the loan during the prior quarter. The warrant may be exercised until December 15, 2023. If we prepay the DOE Loan Facility in full prior to December 15, 2018, no shares will be exercisable under the warrant, except in the case of an event of default, which could accelerate the vesting.

California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority Tax Incentives

In December 2009, we finalized an arrangement with the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority that will result in an exemption from California state sales and use taxes for up to $320 million of manufacturing equipment. To the extent all of this equipment is purchased and would otherwise be subject to California state sales and use tax, we believe this incentive would result in tax savings by us of up to approximately $31 million over a three year period starting in December 2009. The equipment purchases may be used only for three purposes: (i) to establish our production facility for the Model S sedan in California, (ii) to upgrade our Palo Alto powertrain production facility, and (iii) to expand our current Tesla Roadster assembly operations at our Menlo Park facility.

California Air Resources Board’s Zero Emissions Vehicle Program

In connection with the delivery and placement into service of our zero emission vehicles in a number of states, we have earned and will continue to earn tradable credits that can be sold. Under California’s Low-Emission Vehicle Regulations, and similar laws in other states, vehicle manufacturers are required to ensure that a portion of the vehicles delivered for sale in that state during each model year are zero emission vehicles. Currently, the states of California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont have such laws in effect. These laws provide that a manufacturer of zero emission vehicles may earn credits, referred to as ZEV credits, and may sell excess credits to other manufacturers who apply such credits to comply with these regulatory requirements. As a manufacturer solely of zero emission vehicles, we earn ZEV credits on each vehicle sold in such states and have entered into agreements with other automobile manufacturers to sell the ZEV credits that we earn.

We have entered into two contracts for the sale of ZEV credits. For the year ended December 31, 2008 and the nine months ended September 30, 2009, we earned revenue from the sale of ZEV credits of $3.5 million and $7.6 million, respectively. Our current agreement provides for the sale of the ZEV credits that we earn from the sale of vehicles that we manufactured between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009, and we have until June 30, 2010 to sell these ZEV credits under the agreement. We are currently negotiating to extend this agreement for vehicles manufactured in 2010 and 2011. As of December 31, 2009, we had sold credits for 340 vehicles under this agreement. We previously had an agreement with a different buyer for our ZEV credits earned during the year ended December 31, 2008.

 

112


Table of Contents

Federal and State Incentives in the United States

As of December 31, 2009, incentives in the United States include:

United States Federal Tax Credits

The Qualified Plug-In Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Tax Credit program instituted by the United States federal government provides a tax credit of up to $7,500 for the purchase of new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicles. This credit applies to the first 200,000 vehicles sold per manufacturer. Purchasers of the Tesla Roadster are currently eligible for a tax credit under this program of $7,500. To the extent such program is still in effect when the Model S is available for purchase, we expect purchasers of the Model S to also be eligible for a $7,500 tax credit under this program. In addition, the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Tax Credit provides for tax credits for businesses up to 50% of the cost of installing alternative fueling equipment, not to exceed $50,000. Consumers who purchase residential fueling equipment but are not eligible to depreciate such equipment may receive a tax credit of up to $2,000. The program includes electricity as an alternative fuel and potentially can be used by Tesla customers to offset the cost of their home charging systems and by businesses to offset the costs of installing electric vehicle charging stations. These credits will expire on December 31, 2010.

State Incentives

A number of states and municipalities in the United States, as well as certain private enterprises, offer incentive programs to encourage the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles, including tax exemptions, tax credits, exemptions, and special privileges. For example, New Jersey and Washington exempt the purchase of electric vehicles from state sales tax. Other states, including Colorado, Oregon, Georgia and Oklahoma, provide for substantial state tax credits for the purchase of electric vehicles. In California several utilities offer reduced electricity rates for the purpose of charging electric vehicles. As of December 1, 2009, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, for example, offered an off-peak discount of approximately 50% off of the regular residential electricity rate for electricity used to charge electric vehicles. Similar programs exist with Southern California Edison and other utility companies. Municipalities in California also offer parking incentives for electric vehicles which include free or reduced fee parking in major metropolitan areas.

CAFE Standards and Credits

In 2009, the United States federal government proposed a new national program to raise and accelerate the current Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards and to establish new national greenhouse gas emissions standards under the Clean Air Act. Under the new CAFE proposal, manufacturers’ passenger vehicle fleets must achieve a combined average fuel economy standard of 34.1 mpg by 2016, a significant increase over current standards. Financial penalties exist for non-compliance. The proposed new CAFE standards will also advance the fuel economy target levels four years earlier than required under previous law, which required average fuel economy of 35 mpg by 2020. Furthermore, this new program will allow automakers the flexibility to earn CAFE credits by exceeding the standard in a given model year, and they can either apply those credits to shortfalls in future years or trade them to another automaker. The Obama administration suggested in November 2009 that automakers be given CAFE credits that would let low and zero emission vehicles count for up to two cars when annual fleet fuel efficiency averages are calculated. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, and the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, are jointly developing final rules to implement the new CAFE standards. In 2009, NHTSA adopted regulations that permit the transfer and trading of CAFE credits earned from vehicles with model years later than 2010.

 

113


Table of Contents

Incentives in Europe

As of December 31, 2009, incentives in Europe include:

E.U. Emissions Regulations

We believe Europe has a regulatory environment that is generally conducive to the development, production and sale of small, alternative fuel vehicles. Through emission legislation, tax incentives and direct subsidies, the European Union is taking a progressive stance in reducing carbon emissions and increasing demand for electric vehicles. In 2007, The European Commission instituted regulations targeting average new vehicle emissions of approximately 19% below 2007 levels. These regulations begin in 2012 and will affect 65% of new vehicle sales and phase in to 100% by 2015. The penalties imposed by this legislation on manufacturers that exceed target levels will rise over time, from €20 per vehicle in 2012 to €95 per vehicle in 2015.

Consumer Incentives

In addition to a favorable regulatory environment, European countries have announced attractive combinations of subsidies and tax incentives. For example, the United Kingdom has announced a plan for up to £5,000 in support of electric vehicles and France has proposed €5,000 in direct subsidies for electric vehicle purchases through 2012. Additionally, a number of European countries are shifting their registration tax regime to a carbon dioxide-based system which typically reduces or eliminates annual registration taxes for electric vehicles due to their zero emissions profile. Certain European countries such as Norway have also adopted significant tax incentives for individuals to purchase electric vehicles. For example, in Norway, an owner of a vehicle similar to the Tesla Roadster in terms of performance but powered by an internal combustion engine would be required to pay a one-time registration tax, while an owner of a electric vehicle such as the Tesla Roadster would not be required to pay such registration tax.

Regulation—Vehicle Safety and Testing

Our vehicles are subject to, and the Tesla Roadster complies with, or is exempt from, numerous regulatory requirements established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or the NHTSA, including all applicable United States federal motor vehicle safety standards, or the FMVSS. As a manufacturer we must self-certify that a vehicle meets or is exempt from all applicable FMVSSs, as well as the NHTSA bumper standard, before the vehicle can be imported into or sold in the United States.

There are numerous FMVSSs that apply to our vehicles. Examples of these requirements include:

 

   

Crash-worthiness requirements—including applicable and appropriate level of vehicle structure and occupant protection in frontal, side and interior impacts including through use of equipment such as seat belts and airbags which must satisfy applicable requirements;

 

   

Crash avoidance requirements—including appropriate steering, braking, electronic stability control, and equipment requirements, such as, headlamps, tail lamps, and other required lamps, all of which must conform to various photometric and performance requirements;

 

   

Electric vehicle requirements—limitations on electrolyte spillage, battery retention, and avoidance of electric shock following specified crash tests;

 

   

Windshield defrosting and defogging—defined zones of the windshield must be cleared within a specified timeframe; and

 

   

Rearview mirror requirements—rearward areas that must be visible to the driver via the mirrors.

Several FMVSS regulations that NHTSA has promulgated or amended recently contain phase-in provisions requiring increasing percentages of a manufacturer’s vehicles to comply over a period of several model years.

 

114


Table of Contents

Those FMVSSs generally allow low volume manufacturers (those who manufacture fewer than 5,000 vehicles annually for sale in the United States) and limited line manufacturers (those who sell three or fewer vehicle lines in the United States) to defer compliance until the end of the phase-in period. We currently qualify as both a low volume manufacturer and a limited line manufacturer, and as a result, we are currently exempt from certain requirements, such as some new advanced airbag requirements, the advanced side impact requirements, and certain electronic stability control requirements, until the end of the applicable phase-in periods. In addition, we have applied for, and have been granted, an exemption from certain other advanced air bag requirements, which applies to Tesla Roadsters manufactured through January 28, 2011. We intend to request an extension of such exemption for Tesla Roadsters manufactured after such date. Under U.S. law, we are required to certify compliance with all applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards and we have done so with respect to each vehicle we have offered for sale in the U.S. Based on testing, engineering analysis, and other information, we have certified that the Tesla Roadster complies or is exempt from all applicable NHTSA standards by affixing a certification label to each Tesla Roadster sold.

We are also required to comply with other NHTSA requirements of federal laws administered by NHTSA, including the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, consumer information labeling requirements, early warning reporting requirements regarding warranty claims, field reports, death and injury reports and foreign recalls, and owner’s manual requirements.

Our vehicles sold in Europe are subject to European Union safety testing regulations. Many of those regulations, referred to as European Union Whole Vehicle Type Approval, or WVTA, are different from the federal motor vehicle safety standards applicable in the United States and may require redesign and/or retesting. Our Tesla Roadsters are currently approved for sale on a limited basis in the European Union via the Small Series WVTA, which permits the manufacture and sale in the European Union of no more than 1,000 vehicles per year. We plan to keep European sales of our Tesla Roadsters at less than 1,000 vehicles per year, and have no plans to commence testing our Tesla Roadsters for the WVTA to assure compliance with the European Union requirements to permit unlimited sales. Similarly, Australia and Japan have additional testing regulations applicable to high volume manufacturers. We also plan to keep Australian and Japanese sales of our Tesla Roadsters at a low volume, and have no plans to comply with the Australian and Japanese requirements to permit high volume sales in these jurisdictions. In connection with the planned introduction of the Tesla Roadster in Australia and Japan, we conducted a frontal impact test based on European Union testing standards on the Tesla Roadster in November 2009, which is required for sales exceeding certain annual volumes outside the United States. While the Tesla Roadster met most of the criteria for occupant protection and all criteria for high voltage safety in the front impact crash test, there were two criteria that were not met in the test. Based on our analysis of additional compliance options in Australia and Japan, we believe such an outcome should not limit our ability to sell the Tesla Roadster in Australia below certain annual volumes or, subject to compliance with certain Japanese import rules, have a material impact on our ability to sell Tesla Roadsters in Japan.

The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, requires us to calculate and display the range of our electric vehicles on a label we affix to the vehicle’s window. The FTC specifies that we follow testing requirements set forth by the Society of Automotive Engineers, or SAE, which further requires that we test using the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s, or EPA’s combined city and highway testing cycles. The EPA announced in November 2009 that it would develop and establish new energy efficiency testing methodologies for electric vehicles. Based on initial indications from the EPA, we believe it is likely that the EPA will modify its testing cycles in a manner that, when applied to our vehicles, could reduce the advertised range of our vehicles by up to 30% as compared to the combined two-cycle test currently applicable to our vehicles. However, there can be no assurance that the modified EPA testing cycles will not result in a greater reduction. To the extent that the FTC adopts these procedures in place of the current procedures from the SAE, this could impair our ability to advertise the Tesla Roadster as a vehicle that is capable of going in excess of 200 miles. Moreover, such changes could impair our ability to deliver the Model S with the initially advertised range, which could result in the cancellation of a number of the approximately 2,000 reservations that have been placed for the Model S.

 

115


Table of Contents

Although the real life customer experience of the range of our electric vehicles will not change due to the changes in the FTC or EPA standards, the reduction in the advertised range could negatively impact our sales and harm our business.

The Automobile Information and Disclosure Act requires manufacturers of motor vehicles to disclose certain information regarding the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, optional equipment and pricing. In addition, the Act allows inclusion of city and highway fuel economy ratings, as determined by EPA, as well as crash test ratings as determined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration if such tests are conducted. As a manufacturer of only electric vehicles, compliance with the EPA labeling requirements on fuel economy is currently optional for us.

Regulation—EPA Emissions & Certificate of Conformity

The Clean Air Act requires that we obtain a Certificate of Conformity issued by the EPA and a California Executive Order issued by the California Air Resources Board, or CARB, with respect to emissions for our vehicles. The Certificate of Conformity is required for vehicles sold in states covered by the Clean Air Act’s standards and the Executive Order is required for vehicles sold in states that have sought and received a waiver from the EPA to utilize California standards. The California standards for emissions control for certain regulated pollutants for new vehicles and engines sold in California are set by CARB. States that have adopted the California standards as approved by EPA also recognize the Executive Order for sales of vehicles.

Manufacturers who sell vehicles in states covered by federal requirements under the Clean Air Act without a Certificate of Conformity may be subject to penalties of up to $37,500 per violation and be required to recall and remedy any vehicles sold with emissions in excess of Clean Air Act standards. We received a Certificate of Conformity for sales of our Tesla Roadsters in 2008, but did not receive a Certificate of Conformity for sales of the Tesla Roadster in 2009 until December 21, 2009. This Certificate of Conformity covered sales of Tesla Roadsters from December 21, 2009 through December 31, 2009.

The EPA’s Self-Audit Policy allows companies to self-report violations of federal environmental laws and thereby mitigate potential penalties. We reported the failure to obtain a Certificate of Conformity for 2009 to the EPA on December 20, 2009. In January 2010, we and the EPA entered into an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Audit Policy Determination in which we agreed to pay a civil administrative penalty in the sum of $275,000. The EPA agreed to treat any 2009 Tesla Roadsters sold prior to December 21, 2009 as if they were covered by a valid Certificate of Conformity based on our agreement to treat these vehicles as if they had been certified when sold for emissions and emissions warranty purposes. Prior to obtaining the Certificate of Conformity on December 21, 2009, we sold 637 vehicles in 2009 in states where such a certificate is required for such sales. The EPA has closed the matter and we have been notified that it considers the violations resolved as of January 2010. All Tesla Roadsters we sold prior to obtaining the Certificate of Conformity in 2009 are now considered lawfully sold for purposes of the Clean Air Act with no impediments to further registration, use or subsequent sale. We received a Certificate of Conformity for the sales of model year 2010 Tesla Roadsters on December 31, 2009.

Regulation—Battery Safety and Testing

Our battery pack conforms with mandatory regulations that govern transport of “dangerous goods,” which includes lithium-ion batteries, that may present a risk in transportation. The governing regulations, which are issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHMSA, are based on the UN Recommendations on the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods Model Regulations, and related UN Manual Tests and Criteria. The regulations vary by mode of transportation when these items are shipped such as by ocean vessel, rail, truck, or by air.

 

116


Table of Contents

We have completed the applicable transportation tests for our prototype and production battery packs demonstrating our compliance with the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, including:

 

   

Altitude simulation—simulating air transport;

 

   

Thermal cycling—assessing cell and battery seal integrity;