TESLA - a car with electric performance

San Carlos based Tesla Motors led by Martin Eberhard (see pic) have raised US$40 million Series C financing led by VantagePoint Venture Partners, one of the largest CleanTech investors in Silicon Valley (US$2.8 Bn funds - ) , and by Elon Musk, founder of Paypal and CEO of SpaceX -. Musk co-founded Zip2 Corporation which was sold to Compaq in 1999. Mr. Musk is an early investor in Tesla Motors and also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the company.Total funds raised now = USD$60 Mn) ... a launch is expected - and eagerly awaited.

Other investors with vision include Draper Fisher Jurveston (website The DFJ website is www.dfj.com) ( Hotmail (acquired by MFST), Baidu (BIDU), Skype (acquired by EBAY), United Online (UNTD), Overture (acquired by YHOO), Interwoven (IWOV), 411 (acquired by YHOO), Parametric (PMTC), and Digidesign (acquired by AVID). ) and JP Morgan Bay Area Equity Fund and Clean Tech groupies such as googly Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Nick Pritzker ( Tao LLC), and Jeff Skoll ( Capricorn Management LLC).

The money will fund the company's first high performance electric sportscar, and to support final safety compliance testing and production. The company also announced that Jim Marver, managing partner and co-founder of VantagePoint Venture Partners, will join Tesla's Board of Directors.

"Tesla is driving change throughout the CleanTech sector in bringing to market real-world innovations for consumers. The Company will be instrumental in transforming the way that consumers view CleanTech products -- they can now have style and speed -- and be good for the environment," said Jim Marver of VantagePoint Venture Partners.

"By leading the technology change from gasoline to electric vehicles, I believe Tesla has the potential to be one of the great car companies of the 21st century," said Elon Musk, Chairman of Tesla Motors. "The starting point is a high performance sportscar, but the long term vision is to build cars of all kinds, including low cost family vehicles. Tesla is one of those rare opportunities to change the world in a positive way and build a valuable company in the process."

About Tesla Motors

Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning founded Tesla Motors was founded in June 2003 to create efficient electric cars for people who love to drive. The company currently employs 70 people, including teams in California, the UK and Taiwan.

Tesla Motors creates vehicles that conform to all U.S. safety, environmental and durability standards. Tesla's cars include modern safety equipment such as airbags, front crumple zones, side impact protection, 2-1/2 mph bumpers. Tesla will sell cars in the US only when they pass the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS).

CEO of Tesla Martin Eberhard was previously CEO of NuvoMedia in 1997, Martin's company created the market for electronic books with the Rocket eBook and pioneered the distribution of electronic content securely over the Internet. As CEO of NuvoMedia, Mr. Eberhard raised $27 million in three rounds between 1997 and 1999. In 2000, he negotiated the sale of the company to Gemstar/TV Guide International for $187 million.

Prior to founding NuvoMedia, Martin was Vice President of Electronics at Belfort Memory International, co-founder and Chief Engineer of Network Computing Devices, Inc., and developed high-volume terminals for Wyse Technology Inc.

Marc Tarpenning worked with him at Nuvo Media and is Head of Engineering.

Martin has a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering and Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois. says "What we’re building is completely different than the others cars on the road. It’s fun to drive, beautiful, and quick, and it’s electric, environmentally friendly and incredibly efficient."

Martin says "We’re changing the way cars are. Ten years from now, it’ll be obvious that electric cars are the way to go. They are more efficient than any other car on the road, and they are the ultimate multi-fuel technology, because you can make electricity with whatever comes along. If we want to free ourselves from our addiction to oil, it’ll be through electric cars."

VP, Vehicle Integration, Malcolm Powell is a Limey and worked with Lotus for many years and Ford before then.

Checkout a video here of the electric Wrightspeed 0-60 in 3.00 seconds which gives some idea of what an electric sports car can do. (see pic)

Want to have a handy "Bluffers" Guide to Electric vehicles and the questions to ask ? Go here