TechPulse 360

Elon Musk says Roadster to be profitable in second quarter

Electric car startup Telsa Motors will produce a third electric car following its Roadster and S Sedan that it hopes will appeal more broadly to the public, Chairman Elon Musk said Friday.

The car will sell for under $30,000 and production volumes will reach 100,000 unites, Musk said at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

Musk offered no additional details, but said it low price should increase its appeal. The company’s Roadster has a base price of $109,000 and its being made presently at a pace of 10 a week.
Tesla, which made news recently with its planned layoffs, should see the Roadster become profitable in the second quarter of next year, Musk said.

Manufacturing volumes should increase to 30 a week early next year and between 1,200 and 1,500 are to be made during the year.

Musk said the San Jose company expects to release a “power pack” for the car next year that will permit it to go from zero to 60 in 3.6 to 3.7 seconds. The Roadster is more efficient than a Toyota Prius hybrid, he claimed.

Tesla’s S Sedan will be half the price of the Roadster and is to be available in the first quarter of 2009. Production volumes will increase 10 fold to about 15,000 to 20,000 a year.

The goal in building the Roadster and S Sedan, with their high prices limiting their market appeal, is to prove the technology works, he said.

“You start with something expensive,” Musk said. But “it’s really to get to mass market electric cars.”