Tesla Motors has issued a teaser image of its upcoming Model S sedan which will be unveiled on March 26 at the California headquarters of founder Elon Musk’s other company, Space-X, which is where Tesla’s design studio is located.
Green car specialist website Autobloggreen noted that compared to the arch-rival Fisker Karma, the Model S appears to be significantly shorter and that the passenger compartment also appears to be larger than the Karma.
However, the website also noted that before it becomes anything more than a prototype, Tesla will need a lot more cash to pay for engineering and a factory to build it.
Tesla is applying to the US government DOE for low interest loans.
In a newsletter published on its website, Musk states: “Regarding funding, I am excited to report that the Department of Energy informed Tesla last week that they expect to disburse funds from our $350M Model S loan application within four to five months.”
The firm also says its US$40M financing round completed in December was ‘twice the amount Tesla needed to reach profitability’ and that it remains on track meet the goal promised to those investors of becoming profitable by mid-year.
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The main reason for this confidence, it said, is that Tesla is already in the fortunate position of being sold out until early November.
‘While we have had some cancellations due to buyers experiencing personal financial difficulties, new orders continue to flow in every week from the United States and Europe,’ the firm says in its newsletter. ‘We have now produced more than 200 Roadsters for customers and there are more than 1,000 customers still awaiting delivery,’ it claims.
