Tesla Nearly Doubles Loss As Roadster Sales End

Palo Alto, Calif.-based electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc. reported a $90 million loss in the first quarter of 2012 compared with $49 million a year earlier.

Revenue dropped 38% to $30 million as the company discontinued North American sales of the Roadster, its sole model. Tesla derived more than one-third of the quarter's sales from contracts with Daimler AG and Toyota Motor Corp. to develop and supply electric powertrains and components.

Tesla's R&D expenses jumped by almost two-thirds to $63 million as development of upcoming models intensified. Capital spending more than tripled to $68 million to prepare its assembly plant in Fremont, Calif., to begin building the new Model S sedan this spring.

The company cheered investors by announcing that the $49,800 Model S will go on sale in June, one month earlier than planned. Tesla says it has more than 10,000 orders for the new model twice as many as it expects to deliver this year.

The company also signed an agreement with Daimler in February to develop an electric powertrain for an unidentified new Mercedes-Benz EV due by 2014.

Tesla expects revenue of about $30 million revenue in the current quarter and as much as $540 million in the second half of this year. The company reiterates that it could make its first profit next year.