Electric-car maker Tesla files for $100m IPO

Tesla Motors Inc, the maker of electric sports cars that hasn’t posted a profit in six years, filed for an initial public offering of shares to raise as much as $100m.

The Palo Alto, California-based maker of the $109,000 electric Roadster said it may use the proceeds to pay for factories and equipment, which it estimates will cost as much as $125m this year, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission today showed. Tesla may also use proceeds of the sale to fund possible acquisitions. The company said it doesn’t have agreements or commitments for specific purchases.

Electric cars have been touted by US policy makers including President Barack Obama as a component of the nation’s efforts to reduce oil use and cut dependence on foreign sources. Tesla, which has sold less than a thousand Roadsters while losing more than $230m, is using the share sale and a $465 million loan from the government to help produce its Model S electric sedan and boost revenue. The model will cost less than $50,000 after a federal tax credit.

“They’re taking advantage of all of the green buzz,” said Joe Phillippi, president of AutoTrends Consulting in Short Hills, New Jersey. “Tesla has to get its sedan launched.”

Underwriters

The automaker hired New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Deutsche Bank AG in Frankfurt as lead underwriters for the sale.

Tesla’s Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said this month in an interview at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit that the company planned to sell shares in an initial offering this year, “though certainly not in the first half.”

The company’s spokesman Ricardo Reyes declined to comment today on the filing, citing SEC regulations.

Tesla is backed by investors including Mountain View, California-based Google Inc’s co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Daimler AG in Stuttgart, Germany, and the government of Abu Dhabi. The company didn’t disclose in its SEC filing how many shares it plans to sell, at what price range or whether its owners intend to sell stakes in the IPO.

The carmaker has 2,000 reservations for the Model S sedan and intends to begin “volume” production in 2012 with a projected annual output of as much as 20,000 a year, according to the filing.

Cost of Batteries

The $100m offering may not be enough to overcome the costs Tesla faces to develop the batteries used to power its electric vehicles, according to Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.

The automaker is also getting more competition for its vehicles. Companies including General Motors Co, Toyota Motor Corp and Ford Motor Co unveiled electric models this month at the Detroit auto show.

“The idea that $100m is going to get you some place is really a bit short of the mark,” she said. “There’s just so many things you’re facing with what really is unproven technology.”