Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)
Elon Musk’s 800mph people tube (SpokesMan)
If any billionaire entrepreneur besides Elon Musk said he’d like to shoot me through a tube at close to the speed of sound I probably wouldn’t consider it. But Musk has an impressive track record of bringing Jetson-esque pipe dreams to practical (and profitable) realities. Still, the Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO’s latest solution for the future of transportation is his hardest to stomach yet. In the most simple of terms the Hyperloop would be an enclosed tube that carries capsules of people traveling at over 800mph. The capsules would float on pockets of air, propelled by a linear induction motor; kind of like a hockey puck on an air hockey table, only the puck would help provide its own lift.
Tesla opens final assembly plant in the Netherlands (EVFleetWorld)
Located in Tilburg, a town just north of the Belgian border and around 70 miles from Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s regional headquarters in Amsterdam, the 18,900 square metre facility will also head up Europe’s parts distribution and servicing operations. The carmaker said Tilburg was chosen for its excellent transport infrastructure, with the port of Rotterdam around 50 miles away and easy access to road and rail networks. Tesla recently delivered its first European-market Model S electric luxury cars to customers in Norway, and has just begun deliveries in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany with handovers at the Tilburg plant.
Tesla Aiming for China After Hundreds of Hong Kong Orders (BusinessWeek)
When Bem Ho discovered the minivan he drives doesn’t earn him much respect, he ordered a set of wheels that will turn more heads: a Model S electric sedan from Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) “I’m getting sick of driving my van because when people see the car they always think I’m a chauffeur,” said Ho, who runs an apparel manufacturer in Hong Kong. “It’ll be like a talking point when you go out: ‘Oh that’s an electric car.’”
Tesla Motors trademarks future brand (BusinessTech)
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), the electric car maker led by billionaire Elon Musk, has filed an application to trademark the “Model E” name to potentially use on future automobiles, clothing and repair service. The name is in keeping with Tesla’s style. The automaker now sells an electric sedan called the Model S and next year, it will launch the Model X crossover. Musk’s branding strategy is a nod to the Model T, which became the first vehicle middle-class Americans could afford when Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) introduced it in 1908.
