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21
noted by networkworld.com: this spring, last fall at the New York
Stock Exchange (NYSE), and over a year ago at the Stratus launch.
But if Mr Duffy is holding Juniper’s feet to the fire, he sees some
promising signs. For one example, “Juniper beat Cisco in landing
the NYSE account, a demanding environment in which latency
cannot be tolerated when billions of stock market trades are
executed daily.”
Automotive
On a former Toyota-GM site, Toyota-Tesla
will explore the ‘infinite possibility’
of Tesla’s electric-car technology
Toyota Motor Corp is acquiring a $50 million stake in Tesla
Motors, Inc, the Palo Alto, California-based designer and
manufacturer of electric vehicles and power trains, and will
develop EVs with Tesla. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said
on 21
st
May that Tesla is buying a shuttered factory in the Silicon
Valley city of Fremont, in the San Francisco Bay area, to build
its Model S and other cars. The companies are to cooperate on
EV development, parts and production systems, and engineering
support.
Tesla will revive the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc plant,
known as NUMMI, a 25-year joint venture between Toyota and
General Motors that came to an end in April. The deal will create
1,000 jobs immediately, Mr Schwarzenegger said, and more jobs
later on. As reported by
Bloomberg News
, the announcement of
Toyota’s investment came as Tesla, which notably sells the $109,000
Roadster electric sports car, prepares to launch an initial share sale
to raise some $100 million. “I’ve felt an infinite possibility about
Tesla’s technology,” said a surprisingly rhapsodic Akio Toyoda, chief
executive of the Japanese auto maker founded by his grandfather.
“By partnering with Tesla, my hope is that all Toyota employees will
recall that spirit [of the Toyota-GM venture].”
Patrick May, of the
San Jose Mercury News
, collected other lyrical
passages on the Tesla-Toyota initiative. “This is like Christmas in
May,” said one respondent. Another said, “In a great big hurry, our
fortunes have changed.”Mr May contained himself: “Fremont’s back
on its feet,” he wrote. “Or at least up on one knee.” (“Resurrection
of NUMMI Auto Plant by Tesla and Toyota Lifts Spirits All Over
Fremont,” 22
nd
May)
If the wish of its mayor that Fremont become the electric
❈
❈
car capital of the US is to be fulfilled, Tesla must overcome
competition from General Motors, Nissan, Ford, and even
Toyota. Bloomberg noted that Tesla, which lost more than
$230 million while it was selling some 1,000 Roadsters, is using
the share sale and a $465-million government loan to help
produce its lower-price electric sedan. The company has said
that a federal tax credit will enable it to offer the Model S for
less than $50,000. Tesla founder-CEO Elon Musk – who also
founded the online payment company PayPal – had spent
more than $70 million on Tesla up to May 2009, when German
automotive giant Daimler acquired nearly 10% of the company.
Mr Musk said at the time that Tesla would supply Daimler with
battery packs for use in its own electric Smart car.