@D_Robb: "Do a more significant 50% and you raise the amount of carbon put into the atmosphere. "

@jmith: Generalize much?

Dear Mr. Lutz,

@komododave: The Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program "is a $25 billion direct loan program funded by Congress in fall 2008 to provide debt capital to the U.S. automotive industry for the purpose of funding projects that help vehicles manufactured in the U.S. meet higher millage requirements and…

@Ben Wojdyla: Nice rejoinder. You seem to be arguing ex post facto that the EV1 was an experiment because GM canceled it when they succeeded in eliminating the ZEV mandate. At the time GM advertised (badly) this "experiment" as a car you could lease. Was the Pontiac Aztek an "experiment" too, since GM canceled it?…

@philibuster: Tesla sold more shares than they originally intended, so they made more money.

@oyumurtaci: Big deal. So the US rare earth mines that closed because it's so much cheaper from China will reopen, and Bolivia and Argentina will accelerate the development of their huge salt plains full of lithium.

@SinisterSaracen: Tesla has the $465M DoE loan, I think that's their only debt. I think Musk's original funding and the Daimler and Toyota investments all translated into stock (so they've all done rather well in the last 24 hours).

@HiramJahoovafat: Bullshit. Musk made his fortune selling Zip2 and then PayPal. He could have spent it all on yachts, hookers and blow, instead he created SpaceX, Solar City, and Tesla Motors. He's using his money to create companies that change industries as well as make more money, you'd think everyone across the…

@danio3834: The Elise can't drive without using gasoline, you can't refuel an Elise at home, the Elise wastes fuel even at a standstill. If you want an electric sports car, it's the Elise that's lacking.

@parabellum2000: Lithium batteries (and NiMH) are not toxic, unlike the LEAD ACID battery in your current car.

@my favorite car is a motorcycle: I remember when de-chroming was the rage and cars with chrome window surrounds looked tired and dated. Then chrome grilles and window surrounds came back, IIRC starting with luxury European cars in the early 200s. Why? Why!

@SantaRita: I think they did, the GM (and BMW and Mercedes) two-mode hybrid. But 4 clutches make my head explode. Toyota's hybrid synergy drive is so much simpler.

@Aaron Stein: The Volt has a gasoline engine as a range-extender so you can take it on a road trip and refuel with gasoline for unlimited range. Maybe you're thinking of the Nissan Leaf where after 100 miles you need to find a fast-charging station or wait 8 hours, but that's a $33k car before the $7500 federal tax…

@Coreboy: Maybe it's because you and most Americans have a "fill'er up" mentality — I'm paying $40 for 14 gallons, how far will I go? If you thought in terms of "I drive 300 miles a week, how much gas is that going to take", you'd find the other measurement more useful.

@protomech: It astounds me that on a car site where gearheads get an erection over a BMW CSL or Porsche Spyder model that shaves 25 pounds of weight off a car by thinner windows, or a modified exhaust that boosts power from 430 to 452bhp, they simultaneously deride an engineering advance that takes fuel efficiency…

In the Google search box at the top right in Firefox, just type "50 mpg in l/100km" and pause. A tooltip appears underneath with the answer ("= 4.704..."), you don't have to press Enter! This also works for "180 kW in horsepower", etc. Amazing!

@archdukeferdinand: You don't know anything about initial public offerings, do you. There's a lock-up period during which existing owners of Tesla shares aren't allowed to sell their shares. Looking at the Tesla prospectus around page 54, that appears to be 180 days after the completion of the offering.

@siuol11.2: The only loan to Tesla I'm aware of is the DoE's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program. Musk, Daimler and Toyota invested in the company, as will anyone who buys a share in the IPO. The combination of all that comes to over $700M depending on the proceeds from the IPO. In the roadshow…

@siuol11.2: The Fisker Karma is as non-existent as the Model S. Tesla has at least assembled and sold one car in low volumes, plus developed their own electric motor, motor/generator/regen electronics, and battery management for it. How exactly is making the Roadster (the only highway-capable BEV for 2008-2010, the…