Tesla Motors Corp was founded in 2003 by a group of intrepid Silicon Valley engineers with the aim of producing increasingly affordable electric cars which are available to the consumer. The company has a vision to reduce global dependence on petroleum-based transportation and significantly lower the cost of electric cars. In alternative energy stock news (further information available at reuters), one of the first IPO's by a U.S. carmaker since Ford in 1956 took place with the electric carmaker Tesla Motors Corp. The stock price rallied by more than 40% as investors put there money where their belief is: that electric cars will define the future of transportation. Tesla was the biggest gainer on the Nasdaq that day, and this was the strongest first-day performance since the stock debut of Financial Engines Inc's March, which leaped 44%.

Matt Therian, an analyst with Connecticut-based IPO research house Renaissance Capital explained that the debut comes amid increasing interest in electric cars, and as the well know automakers are preparing their launch of various models of battery-powered vehicles, they are competing not only against the standard internal combustion engine, but also against alternative fuels such as fuel cells and compressed natural gas. Although it is still a little premature to say that electric cars are going to be the next big thing in cars, but if this technology does predominate the potential is massive.