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Big news for late on a Friday afternoon: Tesla Motors<\/a>, the darling of the burgeoning electric car market, has filed for an initial public offering worth $100 million<\/a>. If it pulls it off, electric vehicles will have officially gone mainstream.<\/p>\nTesla was one of several companies in the cleantech sector named as likely IPO candidates at the start of the year, along with Silver Spring Networks<\/a> in the Smart Grid space. With solar system maker Solyndra<\/a> also filing in December, it looks like green might be one of the most active areas for public exits in 2010 — just as the Cleantech Group predicted<\/a>.<\/p>\n But this isn’t your average public sale. Eyes have been fixed on the company’s success since its inception, both because of its sexy product and its notorious CEO, Elon Musk — who has been pushing toward this IPO for years<\/a>. For this reason, its success could boost business for the whole electric car market, including competitors like Fisker Automotive<\/a>, Th!nk North America<\/a>, Coda Automotive<\/a> and even General Motors with its Chevy Volt<\/a>. However, if the filing languishes, or it doesn’t exceed $100 million, it could dampen excitement for the next generation of advanced vehicles.<\/p>\n It’s hard to imagine Tesla failing at this juncture. The company saw a series of wins in 2009. Not only did it achieve profitability in July due to sales of its hot $109,000 Roadster, but it swept the country with new showrooms in major cities, landed $82.5 million in new financing<\/a>, even more from Daimler, and built up hype for its forthcoming sedan, the Model S. This more practical model, starting at $50,000 before rebates, should open up new sales channels for Tesla.<\/p>\n The company has also been shrinking its losses. It reported a loss of $31.5 million for the third quarter of 2009, down from $57.3 million the year previous. Its revenue also skyrocketed from a mere $580,000 to $93.4 million. This is an amazing turnaround for a company that was rumored to have $9 million left in the bank in the fall of 2008 when the downturn hit.<\/p>\n That said, Tesla still is losing money. This highlights a broader issue with cleantech companies looking to go public. A123Systems<\/a>, which broke the seal on public sales in the sector last September, is still in the red. Solyndra also is a long way from profitability. Clearly, losses have no bearing on how big a sale can be — A123’s exceeded expectations by almost 50 percent<\/a>– but will shareholders be willing to stick with stock that may not break even for months? Years?<\/p>\n Tesla could be an excellent case study. Its executive team has already admitted that it will probably continue to lose money until the launch of the Model S in 2012.<\/p>\n Investors include Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, The Westly Group<\/a>, Aabar Investments<\/a>, Daimler, Draper Fisher Jurvetson<\/a>, DraperValor Equity Partners, Technology Partners<\/a> and Compass Venture Partners<\/a>. The IPO’s underwriters include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank Securities.<\/p>\n This will be the first IPO filed by an automaker in the U.S. since Henry Ford’s Ford Motor Company went public in 1956.<\/p>\n