The company is once again building roadsters and may have its run of 2008 models built and sold before the end of 2009, meaning they maybe have room and capacity for building the Model S. Of course, none of this will likely happen without government funding or some other large funding source, which is a tricky bet. Hopefully, the company will overcome its recent stumbles because this sedan, despite its possibly vapory qualities, looks decent. It's got a touch of Quattroporte but smaller.

[Tesla via Auto Blog]

To be fair, these pics were taken this past Sunday, so it's poor evidence the place is in fact a ghost town but let's just say a tumbleweed rolling through the parking lot wouldn't be out of place. Aside from the fancy sign out front and the etched glass doors, it looks like every other sparsely decorated suburban office we've ever seen.

We love the reading materials in the lobby — all the buff books, plus Vanity Fair, a book on classic cars, The Toyota Way and its wonderful explanation of "lean manufacturing" and the Toyota Production System (may we also recommend Machine That Changed The World and the End of Detroit). TPS, as you know, is the management process where a company welcomes questions and seeks to solve problems via all manner of available help. Openness and communication is key with TPS. Hmm, maybe they only got through the first couple of chapters.

Hilariously, our two favorite books laying around have to be the Tesla bio on the waiting room table sitting across from The Car That Could, a book about the life and death of GM's EV1. We'll let you draw your own conclusions from that one.

We're hearing that approximately 90 Tesla employees, or 90% of the Detroit office, was simply let go, and the remaining employees have to make their way to the San Carlos headquarters with no moving costs covered, no increase in salary and no help getting rid of their old homes. Fortunately, the real estate market in Detroit is red-hot, and the cost of living is about the same in San Carlos.... right?

The relevant section from the Tesla pink slip blog-post-of-death below:

There will also be some headcount reduction due to consolidation of operations. In anticipation of moving vehicle engineering to our new HQ in San Carlos, we are ramping down and will close our Rochester Hills office near Detroit. Good communication, tightly knit engineering and a common company culture are of paramount importance as Tesla grows.

That's right folks, "good communication" is key.

[Photo: James Nielsen/Getty Images]

Tesla is absolutely committed to development of our next generation vehicle, to be unveiled early next year. However, we are going to reduce activity on detailed production engineering, tooling and commitments to suppliers until our Department of Energy loan guarantee becomes effective.

Our translation below the jump.

If they cut back on production engineering, tooling and commitments to suppliers, they are essentially saying they'll show off their prototype but will make no more production plans until they get a federal loan guarantee for their plant in San Jose. This, like everything, is being blamed on the Financiapocalypse.

This actually follows up on some news we heard way back in January that the Whitestar/Model S was toast, despite having seen the Model S mule. Look for a prototype soon and, depending on the market, a production car at some point in the future... maybe. For more on the Valley implications of this check out Valleywag's coverage

[Souce: Tesla Motors]

Tesla to produce all-electric luxury sedan in California

Tesla to assemble all-electric Model S luxury sedan and build corporate campus in heart of Silicon Valley

SAN JOSE, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)— Tesla Motors Inc. plans to build a $250 million facility to manufacture a zero-emission luxury sedan in the heart of Silicon Valley. The nation’s leading all-electric car company will also relocate its corporate headquarters and research and development efforts to a consolidated campus in San Jose, Calif.

Tesla President and CEO Ze'ev Drori announced that construction on the 89-acre site would begin in the summer of 2009. When fully operational, the facility will employ approximately 1,000 workers.

Tesla selected San Jose in part because the region already enjoys a high concentration of highly skilled engineers and support infrastructure. The factory – expected to achieve gold certification from U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) – will be 20 miles from the current headquarters in San Carlos, minimizing inconvenience for more than 250 employees.

“Big deals like this happen when both parties have something significant to gain,” said Drori, who praised San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed’s 15-year “Green Vision” job-creation initiative. “Locating Tesla’s headquarters, manufacturing and R&D in San Jose will allow us to proceed with minimum disruptions and virtually no dislocations.”

Model S is Tesla’s zero-emission, five-passenger luxury sedan powered by a lithium-ion battery pack. It is expected to have a base price of about $60,000 and get about 240 miles per charge with exceptional performance. The first sedans will likely roll off the assembly line in late 2010.

Tesla’s first production vehicle is the Roadster, a zero-emission, all-electric, two-seat sports car. On sale now in the United States and Europe, the Roadster is assembled at a Group Lotus PLC factory in Hethel, U.K. Tesla has no plans to move Roadster production.

Tesla, which has delivered about 30 Roadsters so far, announced last week it was ramping up production amid scorching demand. About 1,200 people have put down deposits to reserve a Roadster.

Tesla also announced recently a string of high-profile hires with deep industry expertise. Executive Vice President Mike Donoughe, who spent 24 years at Chrysler, is overseeing Tesla’s Model S and Roadster programs. Chief Financial Officer Deepak Ahuja was formerly controller at Ford. Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen, former director of design for Mazda North America, is designing the Model S.

“Tesla has amazing momentum right now. The excitement within the company is palpable,” said Tesla Product Architect and Chairman Elon Musk. “The company has clearly taken production of all-electric vehicles to the next level, and the Model S assembly plant will dramatically accelerate our growth.”

And how much does this reek of a PR stunt? What automaker parks a mule for their new anti-gas secret weapon at an abandoned building that will some day be a store for the automaker? Can someone say a set-up? [TeslaMotorsClub via Autoblog Green]

"Tesla Motors, which finally shipped its first electric car earlier this month, hopes to raise $250 million in equity and debt to fund its mass production push, over the next two years. Chairman Elon Musk wants to conduct an IPO in New York or London, raise money privately and apply for a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy to build a U.S. production plant for Tesla's forthcoming electric sports sedan."