NPR: Credit Crunch Slows Electric Car

Credit Crunch Slows Electric Car

Filed under: News

Not so fast.

Tesla moters

I'd read that Tesla, the Silicon Valley company making electric sports cars, had laid off a fifth of its staff. I didn't know why.

Business Week made the phone call. The answer? Tesla tells the magazine it's the credit crunch.

When I profiled Elon Musk, the multi-multi-millionare who is backing the effort, he told me his dream was for Tesla to become the next big American car manufacturer.

Tesla now faces the challenge of the Chevy Volt, and cheaper gas prices, but Musk still talks that way. "Our sedan will crush everything out there," he told Business Week.

The sports cars are just hitting the road, and cost about $100,000. Don't have the cash? You can take radio ride in one here.

David Kestenbaum

7:55 AM ET | 11- 3-2008 | permalink

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