tesla

The only thing surprising about Martin Eberhard's latest move is that it took so long to happen. Eberhard was co-founder of Tesla Motors along with Mark Tarpenning, and he was ousted from the company in November 2007 by then-chairman Elon Musk. Musk has never been one to hide his feelings about other people (or much of anything) - and comments he has made about Eberhard and his role in the company have clearly not gone over well.

Both Fisker Automotive and Tesla Motors are bringing electric-powered luxury sedans and convertibles to market, but each is going about it in entirely different ways. Fisker's strategy, steered by former BMW and Volvo sales director Vic Doolan, is to license independent dealerships - some of the biggest in the country - to sell their premium green automobiles on their behalf. Tesla's approach, on the other hand, is to set up factory-owned stores which the company likens to Apple stores.

Since it was announced that the highly quotable Bob Lutz would be departing from his General Motors management spotlight, automotive bloggers and reporters everywhere have been mourning the loss of an executive with such an exquisite way with words. Now it appears that the pining may have been premature, thanks to the emergence of another top management type with the brass, it seems, to freely speak his mind in public.

It's been barely a week since the curtain was lifted on the Tesla Model S, and not only has its design received positive reviews, those sensuous lines have seduced 520 people to fork over some deposit cash for the new all-electric sedan. Tesla won't say, however, how many people chose the standard version that requires a refundable deposit of $5,000 or one of the 2,000 Signature Edition models that requires a $40,000 deposit.

Tesla has a big media event planned today at 12PM PST to unveil the new Model S sedan. That plan has been blow out of the water a bit thanks to social media mogul Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg.com, who has uploaded what appear to be a few official images of the all-electric sedan on his Flickr page. We get two views of the car's backside, which looks to crib design cues from modern day Jaguars and Aston Martins. The new XF comes most readily to mind, and while the Model S may be charged with being too heavily influenced by the leaping cat brand, that doesn't take away from the fact that it still looks stunning.

Former president Bill Clinton came this close to joining fellow politicos like Arnold Schwartzenegger and Gordon Brown as veterans of the Tesla Roadster Test Drive Club.

At a recent event put on by Shangri La Industries (a green building contractor) at Burbank's Bob Hope Airport, Clinton was on "Guest of Honor" and speech duty, exhorting all that could be good for business and the planet. But just as he was handed the keys and set free to experience the electric thrill that is the Tesla Roadster, the Secret Service stepped in and said playtime was over, it was time to go.

Knowing how much the ex-Prez loves adventure, and if, as it was claimed, Clinton has been into the green thing for 30 years, well, we imagine he'll be back for a spin.