Tesla Electric Roadster Revving Again with $40M

The $109,000 Tesla sexy electric roadster sputtered and almost came to a grinding halt with only $9 million in the bank, spiraling costs and major management reshuffles.

But with a new $40 million convertible debt financing package announced today, the company is again gunning the pedal.

That is good news if you are the owner of the Tesla that was spotted on Google’s campus last week, and are planning to come in for a service any time soon (see pic).

What is interesting is that there is an acknowledgment that being a pure-play car manufacturer will not be sufficient to take the company to profitability. A significant portion of the capital will go to support the development of the company's power train business, selling Tesla's technology to other auto manufacturers. Another VC-backed company that is saying goodbye to lala land.

(www.teslamotors.com)