Tesla to Reveal Model X Crossover Concept, Stop Making the Roadster

We haven’t even gotten the sedan yet, but Tesla is dangling the SUV carrot before our noses once again. What the heck, we’re so hungry for an actual mass production vehicle from the EV specialist that we’ll bite: apparently, the company will release the prototype version of the Model X electric crossover before the year’s end, according to a filing made Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Inside Line.

Why announce the project in such a way, well the carmaker is more of a prototype showcase company that's also backed by millionaires sharing the same dream, so they need a lot of money for to make the Model X. As a result, Tesla has announced it plans to offer another 5.3 million shares of stock to help fund the Model X and said it will "end the production run of the Tesla Roadster in December 2011."

So instead of the sexy, Lotus-based convertible, Tesla will be transitioning to more practical cars. The Model S sedan will debut next year and the road-going version of the crossover is planned for a 2014 launch.

The filing said that Tesla is "designing the Model X to incorporate the functionality of a minivan with the consumer appeal of a sports-utility vehicle." It added that the powertrain developed for the Tesla Roadster "has provided the foundational technology for the Model S, the Model X and for electric powertrain components that (Tesla) has begun selling to Daimler and its affiliates that (Tesla) intends to sell to Toyota."

While the Model X and Model S sound good on paper, we think that Tesla is taking to much of a risk by stopping production of the Roadster, a model that people associate the brand with, and that has come to be synonymous with eco sportscars for Hollywood A-listers.