"Profitable electric automaker" sounds like a loaded oxymoron if there ever was one, but Tesla Motors has shown that electric vehicles can be not only good looking, but good business as well.  Its Roadsters have strong appeal among luxury buyers -- from the "green" factor, to the convenience of never getting gas, to the responsive performance of a powerful electric motor.

Thus when Tesla filed on Friday to make a $100 million USD public stock offering, it has turned many heads.  The IPO from the six-year-old company could be the hottest of 2010 -- after all, there hasn't been an IPO from a U.S. automaker since Ford Motor Co. first issued public stock in 1956.

Tesla has not announced a date for the IPO, but it is expected to land before the end of 2010.

The IPO has strong financial backing – Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and Deutsche Bank Securities are underwriting the IPO.  Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are among the venture capitalists that have already jumped at the chance to invest in the promising new star of the green auto world (Daimler also holds a stake).

The company also has a new vehicle on the horizon -- the Tesla Model S.  The Model S sedan is expected to get 160 to 300 miles on a charge and retail for approximately $49,900 after a $7,500 federal tax credit.  While still rather expensive, that price makes it somewhat competitive with the 2011 Chevy Volt (expected to retail in the low 30s after tax credit) and much more approachable for entry-level luxury buyers.

In other recent Tesla news -- also found within the SEC filing -- is an interesting nugget of information regarding the Roadster which is the only vehicle that Tesla currently sells. Unfortunately for Tesla, the company won't be able to sell the current Roadster after 2011 "due to planned tooling changes at a supplier for the Tesla Roadster."

It's more than likely that Tesla is talking about a "tooling change" happening at Lotus' Hethel, UK facility where the Roadster's chassis is assembled. The Roadster shares a number of components with the Lotus Elise -- including the dashboard, windshield, and suspension pieces -- so any change that affects the Lotus Elise is bound to affect the Roadster as well.

Previous reports have noted that the next generation Elise could be in production by 2011 at the earliest, but most likely in 2012. This would coincide with the timeframe that Tesla notes with regards to the end of first generation Roadster production. Tesla explains, "we do not currently plan to begin selling our next generation Tesla Roadster until at least one year after the launch of the Model S, which is not expected to be in production until 2012."

2012 will be a pivotal year for the company with no sales of the Roadster to bank on and a financially burdensome launch of a brand new vehicle (Model S). "We are almost entirely dependent upon revenue generated from the sale of our electric vehicles, specifically the Tesla Roadster, in the near term," adds Tesla Motors "Our future success will be dependent upon our ability to design and achieve market acceptance of new vehicle models, and specifically the Model S."