The Tesla Model S was first shown to the public in early 2009 and it has definitely wet the appetitie of many a green car aficionado since first seeing and hearing about it. While Tesla promised that an Alpha version of the Model S would be wheeling around in 2010, we hadn’t heard anything about it until now.

According to Autoblog Green, rumors are now circulating that the Model S Alpha is up and rolling around and just hasn’t been announced to the press yet.

It’s also reassuring to find out that some of the problems that often accompany developing cars, like the expected price increase for Fisker’s Karma from $80,000 to $95,900, The Model S is still expected to maintain its $57,000 price tag. Also of interest is the fact that the Model S battery pack will be fully swappable as a single unit.

Impressively, the Model S will also boast some impressive range options based on the battery package the buyer chooses. The ranges will include 160, 230 and 300 miles per charge. No word on the price difference for the various ranges but we will keep you updated as more info comes out.

Reuters has reported that Tesla Motors is on the verge of getting a new partner in the form of a big investment from Panasonic. The association of the two companies is nothing new as the Panasonic is already has a contract with Tesla as they will be the ones providing the lithium-ion batteries for the upcoming electric sedan, the Model S (pictured above).

While the Panasonic investment in Tesla hasn’t been officially announced, Reuters is reporting that the amount of capital being injected into Tesla Motors will be less than the $50 million that Toyota brought to it in May of this year.

As we reported earlier, Tesla Motors has been working with Toyota on an electric version of the RAV4. Now it seems that the name of this electric SUV will be the Tesla Model X.
Tesla CEO, Elon Musk told Green Tech Media that they are hoping to show a prototype of the EV SUV in late 2011.

While we wait for the Tesla Model X, we will see the highly anticipated electric sedan, the Tesla Model S (pictured above), put into production in mid 2012 with an anticipated production volume of 7,000 in the first year, followed by another 20,000.

As most people know, however, this early hit is entirely to be expected and doesn’t really factor into how one might expect Tesla to fair in the future. Any company with such intensive research and development and manufacturing processes is sure to take a while before turning a profit, especially one that just purchased a $42 million factory to produce its upcoming electric car the Model S. It’s likely that we’ll continue to see quarterly reports of loss for the next year or more.

Clearly investors aren’t phased by this report as the Tesla Motors (TSLA) stock prices hadn’t moved with this announcement and remain slightly below the opening price.

A previous report we brought you on how Tesla was teaming up with Toyota to build electric cars in California now needs to be slightly clarified. This recent update is based on a recent IPO statement from Tesla that states that although the two companies announced their intention to cooperate on Tesla Model S electric car development, they have not made any formal agreements to do so and may never at all.

While it still remains true that Tesla and Toyota will be sharing space at the NUMMI factory as well as some strategies, it definitely brings potential investors a dose of reality as Tesla prepares to be publically traded on the Nasdaq.

Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger held a joint press conference today in which they announced that Toyota would be teaming up with Tesla to produce the Model S electric car in California.

Tesla Model S production will take place in the recently closed NUMMI factory in Fremont. Toyota, the previous owner of the factory, will invest $50 million for a private placement of Tesla common stock and will a production system and possibly some of Toyota’s suppliers.

Schwarzenegger, for his part, offered a sales tax abatement to Tesla for all capital equipment expenditures in retooling the factory. Tesla estimates put the value of the abatement at approximately $20 million over the course of three years or so.

Tesla stated that the Model S production will likely see the return of about 1,000 of the former Toyota factory employees as they look to produce about 20,000 Model S electric cars per year. Tesla also hinted at the possibility of increasing production to a point of requiring  10,000 workers.

The electric car that put Tesla on the map and gave the electric car movement a shot in the arm when it needed it, is getting the plug pulled on it barely after it was plugged-in, so to speak.

As Tesla Motors goes public for the first time, a disturbing bit of info has come out in its Initial Public Offering (IPO). The Tesla Roadster will cease to be produced in 2011 for the simple reason that Tesla won’t have anywhere to build the high-end electric sports car.

“We do not plan to sell our current generation Tesla Roadster after 2011 due to planned tooling changes at a supplier for the Tesla Roadster,” the company write in its IPO.

Since the Tesla Roadster is built by Lotus, they are probably talking about the factory in Hethel, England getting changes that will prevent production there.

The Tesla Roadster is slated to see production again, but it won’t be until 2013 at the earliest. And since we all know how these things go, that’s probably a very generous estimate.

The Tesla Model S will be launched in 2012, but that still leaves two years without any cars going out and it’s based on the assumption that everything goes as planned and production deadlines are met perfectly.

Let’s put it this way, if I were in the market for a $100,000 electric car with a 244 mile range and can go from 0-60 mph in under 4 seconds , I’d probably pick one up sooner than later.

Last year Tesla Motors announced that they would be moving their head offices from San Carlos, CA to San Jose. Then the economic meltdown happened and dried up all the funding required to make the move.

Now, with the aid of low-cost loans from the DOE, they are prepared with a new plan to move Palo Alto. The new Tesla Motors offices will occupy the three-building complex in the Stanford Research Park that was previously occupied by Hewlett-Packard.

The buildings will be renovate to accommodate the Tesla’s research and engineering staff, head offices, as well as the new powertrain manufacturing facility.

Tesla is likely hoping to tap into the same mix of talent and money that has helped make so many wildly successful companies come out of Silicon Valley. Will it lead to a Tesla Model S (pictured above) with a 500-mile range, near-instant charging, for a retail cost of $19,000? Well, maybe that’s asking for too much, but we can dream.

Tesla and the Department Of Energy recently announced that the California Electric Vehicle maker will get two loans totaling $465 million from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program (ATVMP). $100 million will be used to set up an electric powertrain manufacturing plant to provide components such as motors and battery packs to other automakers.

The majority of the money, $365 million, is allocated for production engineering and a factory to build the Model S. Both factories are expected to be built in existing facilities and Tesla is in negotiations for locations in California. Tesla hopes to start production of the sedan by the end of 2011.

Less than 9 weeks ago, Tesla unveiled its ultra-slick luxury electric sedan, the Model S. Since then they have accepted more than 1,000 orders for the Models S which is a great indicator that there is indeed a market for electric cars.

The basic version of the Model S is expected to cost $57,400 but would make purchasers eligible for a $7,500 tax rebate giving it an actual valuation of $49,900. Tesla Motors has also claimed that after calculating savings for gas that it would have an equivalent cost of $35,000 assuming gas prices of $4/gallon.

The basic version of the Model S comes with a 160-mile range battery pack. It’s interesting design allows it to seat seven people with luggage (assuming two are children). It has a 17-inch display screen that is fully Internet and 3G capable. It can be recharged in 4 hours and accelerates from 0 – 60mph in 5.5 to 6.0 seconds.

The Tesla Model S will begin production in the Fall of 2011.