California-based electric car manufacturer Tesla announced that it has reached a deal with German automaker Daimler AG to sell 1,000 battery packs for use in electric versions of the Smart minicar. Daimler, parent company of Smart, says it is planning to bring the Smart EV to market in the near future.
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Seems like not having any money is a sickness that is spreading like the plague in the auto industry. According to insiders Tesla Motors has approximately $9 million left in it’s coffers.

$9 million might be a significant sum to private individuals, but it does not even equal 1% of of the annual advertising spending of General Motors.

Elon Musk, one of the founding members of PayPal has invested heavily in the company and is currently the acting CEO. Tesla Motors has entered the automotive industry seemingly overnight, by buying prebuilt Lotus base vehicles and outfitting them with electrical systems for power.

Tesla seems to have about 1200 deposits for it’s Roadster model with down payments ranging between $4,000 and $60,000.

According to some, as many as 100-200 have been paid in full, which is quite staggering, because the cars cost upwards of $100,000 a piece.

Up to date $150 million has been invested into Tesla Motors by various investors. It would be a shame if the company would go belly up now. A few are guessing that Musk might be willing to flip Tesla to a major car manufacturer to earn a nice return on his investment. Others are saying that another round of financing is in order.

What do you think?