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Tesla stock motors past $100

 
A Tesla Model S, shown outside the Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif., can travel up to 265 miles per charge.   
A Tesla Model S, shown outside the Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif., can travel up to 265 miles per charge. 
Published May 29, 2013

Tesla Motors, the electric-car maker led by Elon Musk, rose past $100 a share for the first time as it prepares to announce an expansion of its charger network for its vehicles this week.

Tesla gained 14 percent to $110.33 at the close in New York. The shares have more than tripled this year through Tuesday, compared with a 16 percent increase for the Russell 1000 Index.

Chief executive officer Musk said on May 20 that the announcement of the expansion of its so-called supercharger network was being pushed back to this week after the Palo Alto, Calif., company repaid a U.S. loan. Tesla became the first recipient of a U.S. Energy Department loan to pay its debt.

Tesla last year began installing solar-powered supercharger stations on major U.S. highways to allow for rapid recharging and extended driving range for the battery-powered Model S. The luxury car, with a $69,900 base price, is rated by the U.S. government as traveling as far as 265 miles per charge.

Musk has said the company will enlarge its network of nine chargers that allow a car to be repowered in about 30 minutes. Six of the stations are in California and three are in Connecticut and Delaware, according to Tesla's website.

At an unveiling of the company's supercharger station in Los Angeles in September, Musk said Tesla would install 100 of them across the United States and Canada by 2015.

Currently, the charging devices can be used with only high-end versions of the Model S, which feature an 85-kilowatt-hour battery pack and are priced from $79,900. Owners repower cars for free at the stations, using electricity from solar panels installed and maintained by SolarCity Corp., of which Musk is also the chairman and largest investor.

Separately, Goldman Sachs said in a report Friday that Tesla is "well positioned" to reach its 21,000 Model S production target this year.

"We were also encouraged by management commentary that points to improving U.S. demand trends for the Model S, as well as a significant growth opportunity in Europe and Asia," Patrick Archambault, an analyst, wrote in the report.