Silicon Valley electric car pioneer Tesla plans to stop
production of its first electric car the Roadster in December
2011, according to a filing.   Silicon Valley electric car
pioneer Tesla plans to stop production of its first electric
car, the Roadster, in December 2011, according to a filing. The
news of a set deadline for the end of manufacturing of the
Roadster emerged in a document Wednesday morning that detailed
how Tesla plans to raise another $214 million in a combination
of a follow-on public offering and a private placement, with
shares bought by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and a subsidiary of
Daimler, Blackstar Investco.  Tesla’s substantial gap between
when it planned to end production of the Roadster and when it
will begin selling its next car the Model S, or a next-
generation Roadster, has been known for some time. But this is
the first time I’ve heard the actual month it will stop
producing, and the fact that Roadster manufacturing will stop
within 2011 (not 2012). Tesla will still sell the remaining