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.

In the last two years the number of potential vehicle purchasers who are considering making their next vehicle an electric car, has doubled. It seems that supply and demand will be keeping pace too as the number of electric car options available to buyers is gaining serious momentum over the next year or two.

The few electric vehicle manufactories currently out there, like Tesla Motors, will have to make room as the EV market broadens with the likes of the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf (pictured above).

While doubling does sound impressive, it should be noted that those considering buying an electric vehicle in 2007 amounted to all of 2%, which has now risen to 5%. So 5% of the US market looking for a car is considering an EV. It’s not exactly a green revolution, but it’s a start.

Hopefully as prices continue to drop, range is extended, and companies like Better Place are able to establish an EV charging infrastructure, we might double that number again in a couple years.

It was over half a year ago that Tesla announced an amped up version of the Tesla Roadster would be made available in the Tesla Roadster Sport.

Since then we hadn’t heard much of the Sport and we had seen even less. In fact, the new images that have just been released, mark the first official pictures of the high-powered electric vehicle to be made available to the drooling public.

The Tesla Roadster Sport (pictured above finally), boasts a hand-wound stator that helps eliminate resistance while increasing peak torque, as well as a set of ultra high performance Yokohama tires. The Sport also boasts a few other little Lotus-inspired components which can be tailored to the purchasers choice.

The Tesla Roadster Sport costs a little more than its standard counterpart with a base price of $128,500.

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.

If you’ve been dreaming of a Tesla Roadster sitting in your driveway, or better yet, ripping through the countryside like a silent, emission free torpedo, but don’t quite have enough to pay cash for the over $100,000 electric sports car, you might be making a trip to the Bank of America.

Bank of America has worked out an agreement with Tesla Motors to offer financing for the Roadster.

While the terms of the Roadster financing hasn’t been stated, we can assume it still won’t be cheap since for the same price you could probably buy four homes in Detroit and a couple condos in Las Vegas.

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.

Telsa Motors issued a recall notice on Thursday called “Tesla To Do House Calls.” These house calls involve the Tesla technicians to the 345 owners of the now-infamous Tesla Roadsters to check whether their “rear, inner hub flange bolts” are properly torqued. All the Roadsters built before April 22, 2009 needs to have its engine examined.

According to Tesla, the problem was discovered after a “root-cause analysis” showed that the “uncharacteristic handling” reported by one owner was caused by improper torquing of those pesky bolts by Lotus, the Roadster’s contract manufacturer. Thus alerted, Lotus is also checking some of its Elise and Exige models.

Andrew S. Ross, writing for the San Francisco Gate, recently wrote an article that made an compelling observation. Based on the 9% stake that Daimler purchased for $50 million, Tesla’s valuation is about $550 million. That’s about half of General Motor’s market valuation ($1.17 billion) with their share at $1.92. The most recent price for a GM share is now around $1.25, meaning that Tesla is now worth more than half of General Motors.

Andrew S. Ross wrote:

“From the what-a-world department: Daimler AG’s $50 million investment in Tesla Motors this week means the San Carlos electric car maker is worth roughly half the value of the world’s largest auto manufacturer, General Motors Corp. With one roadster on the market and one sedan in prototype, Tesla, thanks to Daimler’s 9 percent stake, is valued at $550 million. GM sold 8.35 million vehicles worldwide in 2008; its market value as of Thursday was $1.17 billion, based on the closing stock price of $1.92.”

Could this be another sign that the electric vehicle is about to take it’s rightful place at the head of the table, and that the time of the SUV is nearing it’s end? Let’s hope so.

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.

Elon Musk, Tesla Motor’s CEO, appeared on Letterman last night and got a chance to plug Tesla’s Roadster and Model S. Both vehicles are electric cars, apparently a powertrain that Letterman has particular fondness for.

At the end of Musk’s appearance on the Letterman he got to wheel out a Tesla Model S and state that the expected cost of owning one of these ultra sleek electric sedans will be $49,900. After stating the Model S price, Musk tries to add something “important” but is cut off by Letterman who insists on ending with a horrible gag where he pretends to be electrocuted by the electric car. Musk was most likely about to add the fact that after a $7,500 government tax break for being an eco-friendly vehicle it would come in at $42,400. Looking at that amazing electric car it sounds pretty reasonable, especially when compared to the Tesla Roadster $109,000 price tag.

But hold on a second. Business Insider took a look at Tesla’s numbers and they are predicting that the Model S won’t be able to make a profit at the price. While Autoblog Green points out that the Business Insider calculation had at least one error (replacement battery cost is $30,000, not $36,000), it still raises some concerns since that’s enough money to buy a pretty sweet sedan by itself.

When we hearken back to all the hubbub when it was announced that the Tesla Roadster would cost more than expected (since Tesla would be charging extra for Roadster components that were originally supposed to be included in the base model price), it’s worrisome to think they might have a similar situation on their hands again.

The Tesla Model S is still about 2 ½ years away from hitting the streets so we’ll see how things change. In the meantime it’ll be interesting to see if Elon Musk starts to raise the predicted price of the Model S on us. Here’s to hoping it stays under $50,000.

UPDATE: Tesla has responded to Business Insider’s Model S price examination and pointed out some problems with the fact that BI Business Insight used “a source who’d prefer to be nameless.”

Tesla responded by saying that: “Wild guesstimates from ostensible experts unwilling to identify themselves have little credibility. Perhaps the biggest flaw in their alleged reasoning is that Tesla has the same cost structure as an enormous automaker; in fact it’s probably the leanest and most efficient in the industry.“