It's still a ways off, but Tesla Motors is going public at the end of the year.  Assuming the initial price is fair, I'm probably going to get in on this.  Anyone else have an opinion on this?

Well, the Tesla cars sure do not come cheap. Even the highly anticipated sedan will be priced at $60K. It will take more than tech geeks like Robert Scoble buying one... http://scobleizer.com/

Then again, with the way oil is going you never know.

I may get one of those sedans myself...  Think they'll come in "used?"

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tonyleachsf, Zecco Associate

tonyleachsf:

I may get one of those sedans myself...  Think they'll come in "used?"

 

I hope TATA Motors (Carmaker from India) comes up with a Tesla generic model so everyone can enjoy a ride in a cheap, smokeless, hot car.

In 2012 they're supposedly producing an economy car that will cost around $30,000.  Frankly, Tesla just seems to be lightyears ahead of all the other automakers as far as design goes.  They're cars go 250 miles on a single charge and don't use ANY gas.  Even the Chevy Volt is only going to be able to do about 40 miles, and it still has a reserve gas engine.

Forget Tesla guys. I just found my new dream car. Soon I'm gonna get 230 mpg and a whole lot of looks in my new Aptera.

http://www.aptera.com

Woohoo!

I was honestly half-expecting a flying car from the picture, lol.

... a bit disappointed

They have what, over 100,000 orders for that Roadster?  (sorry can't find a link for that number, I just feel like I read it somewhere)  Maybe that is confused with the over $100,000 it costs, but hey, if those are both somewhat true numbers we would be looking at gross sales revenues of $10 Billion!  As long as they have a decent profit margin they should be able to make money. 
So lets see, a company that possesses vision, years ahead of competitors, and has [yet to be released] highly demanded products that they charge a lot of money for.  Sound like another company that has seen huge growth?  <cough>AAPL</cough>

I'll probably buy a few shares. I don't think it will make that much money becasue its too pricy for the regular public. I was at a Honda dealership and they said they would sell 10 Civics before they would sell one Honda S 2000.

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N3AL the Great

How would you go about getting in on an IPO anyhow?  I'm fairly new to investing, so just wondering.

millertym:

How would you go about getting in on an IPO anyhow?  I'm fairly new to investing, so just wondering.

IPOs are generally not offered to small investors. Usually they are sold to big investors. Sometimes, very rarely, brokers like E*Trade will offer some shares to small time investors, but that is a rare case. Once they are sold to the big guys / banks, then they are sold to the public, generally at a higher price.

I'd stay away from buying stocks right after they are placed on the market. Visa was of the rare exceptions to that.

If you want a good play in the alternative energy automotives, take a look at QTWW. They are making the batteries/parts for Fisker Automotive, another electric car company. Fisker made car designs for BMW and a few other companies.

Yeah I love QTWW.  I own some already.  Personally I really think the alternate energy market for vehicles is set to grow like mad within a few years, so I'm going long on that one.  Thanks for the info on IPOs... I guess our best bet as small investors is to wait for it to go public and then buy it on the market when things look right eh?