Tesla reports quarterly loss, research spending up

Reuters (Detroit) - Electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc reported a deeper second-quarter loss on Wednesday as higher spending on research and hiring engineers to develop upcoming vehicles more than offset revenue gains.

Tesla reported a net loss of $58.9 million or 60 cents per share, compared with the loss of $38.5 million, or $5.04 per share, a year earlier when there were fewer shares outstanding.

Revenue was $58.2 million, up from $28.4 million a year earlier.

Tesla, which makes the battery-powered Roadster sports car, has never made a profit.

The company's plan for profitability hinges on the success of its upcoming Model S sedan, which is set to debut in mid-2012 and take the company beyond the niche market it established with the Roadster.

Tesla said it had 5,600 reservations for the Model S as of the end of July. Those reservations require a $5,000 deposit.

The company is also developing an SUV-like Model X that will have three rows of seating. Tesla said it expects that model to go on sale in late 2013 and to have sales of 10,000 to 15,000 of the all-electric crossover vehicles from 2014.

Tesla completed an initial public offering a little over a year ago. Toyota Motor Corp took a $50 million stake in the company.

Tesla's Roadster runs on lithium-ion battery cells made for laptop computers rather than the more expensive cells that power other electric vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt.

Tesla expects to begin shipping batteries and related components for Toyota's RAV4 EV in 2012.

Tesla expects to build and sell 2,500 Roadsters. The car, which will be phased out by January 2012, is designed to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in under four seconds, faster than a Ferrari.

The Roadster carries a base price of $109,000, but most of the vehicles in inventory are selling for $140,000 or more.

The Model S will be priced at about $57,400 before accounting for a $7,500 U.S. tax credit or other incentives, making it a competitor with more mainstream luxury cars.

In June, Tesla raised $231 million by selling additional shares to investors including Chief Executive Elon Musk and Blackstar, the private equity arm of German automaker, Daimler AG.

Tesla has also been given $465 million in loans from the U.S. Department of Energy. As of the end of the second quarter, the company said it had $331 million left to draw on that facility to fund Model S and Model X development costs.

Shares in Tesla have gained 2 percent since the start of the year. Over the same period, shares in General Motors Co, the largest U.S. automaker, have lost more than a quarter of their value.