Cheshire Cat Photo Blog(...said the Cat: 'we're all mad here....')

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors told stockholders on June 6 that the long-awaited Model S is almost here!

The first two Model S electric sedans to roll off the production line in Fremont were delivered late last week – the first to Tesla board member Steve Jurvetson, the second to Musk. Customer deliveries are scheduled to begin June 22, and Musk said he wanted to put the car through one last round of executive-level quality control.

“It’s really important to thoroughly test your own product and be really tough on it before you give it to general customers,” Musk told the crowd of roughly 100 investors, gathered at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.

Now that the limited-edition Tesla Roadster has sold out, the future of Tesla Motors now rests on the Model S, the basic version of which will cost $57,400 before $10,000 in state and federal incentives.

The company has spent more than a year revamping part of the former New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. factory in Fremont to build the car, backed by a $465 million loan guarantee from the U.S. government.

Tesla plans to make more than 5,000 of the sedans in 2012 and 20,000 in 2013. More than 10,000 customers have placed reservations for the Model S at $5,000 each to get in line! Elon Musk said that Tesla should start turning a profit after selling about 8,000 of the new sedans.

“They’re bringing U.S. manufacturing to the forefront, when most people think that it’s all gone overseas,” said shareholder Daniel Goldsmith of Sunnyvale. “It’s extremely important, not only because they’re getting government help, but because it’s a model to other companies and other people to see that the U.S. can still be competitive and be on the leading edge.”

-Bill at

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