Electric car sales are nowhere near what the auto industry -- or Washington -- hoped they'd be by now, though Tesla Motors' hot Model S sedan doing great, and the the Chevy Volt is finally getting some traction. But is the electric revolution stalled, or just accelerating too slowly?
Here are a few things that will shape the week ahead on Wall Street: Microsoft will show off Windows 8 tablets; Tesla's hot Model S will reach buyers; Cricket gets the iPhone; Barnes & Noble opens its books; and Bed Bath & Beyond turns back the covers on earnings.
Upstart automaker Tesla Motors confirmed this week that its groundbreaking Model S, an all-electric luxury-sports sedan, was on track to enter production by this summer. It already has pre-orders for more than 8,000. Is the moment coming soon when electric cars go mainstream?
Tesla Motors, which went public with much fanfare last June, nearly tripled its losses for 2010 as it invested heavily to engineer and get ready for producing the Model S, its second offering and the first that targets a broader consumer market.
The automaker has licensed technology from the Energy Department's Argonne National Laboratory that will boost the performance of lithium-ion battery cells for its electric Chevy Volt. The next-generation power packs will be made at a new plant in Michigan by Korea's LG Chem.
IPOs have been pretty tame so far this year, but here comes a much-buzzed-about offering from Tesla, featuring supersexy electric vehicles, like the Model S, and Elon Musk -- a CEO who's so far making far more headlines than cars.
