In today's edition, industrials editor/analyst Brendan Byrnes discusses Tesla and the much-anticipated launch of its Model S sedan tomorrow. Tesla has done a great job ramping up Model S production, and it expects to deliver more than 5,000 of the sedans this year and sell 20,000 next year. That's ambitious, but it would be great news for Tesla, which estimates it will be cash-flow positive after 8,000 sales.
Still, significant questions remain. What happens if Model S sales slow down? Can Tesla produce an affordable vehicle by 2015 like it says it can? And, perhaps biggest of all, can it convince a still-skeptical public to embrace EVs despite range and infrastructure issues? All these questions lead Brendan to rate the Tesla a hold; it's performed incredibly well so far, but too many questions still remain. Check out the video below for more on Tesla and the Model S launch, as well as the company's future prospects.
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