According to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission the high end electric car builder Tesla Motors->ke1842 is planning to raise as much as $100 Million in capital through the aide of public investors. While the entire automotive manufacturing industry is facing difficult times, Tesla hopes that they will be able to supplement the $465 Million loan from the federal government and claim a lasting stake in the new car market by increase the public’s awareness about the forward thinking green car builder’s intent to mass produce electric vehicles for a wide range of consumers.

The California based car builder Tesla is currently offering a lineup of only two cars, with the high performance $100,000+ open air Roadster->ke1843 leading the charge and the $60,000 Model S sedan following closely behind. By opening themselves up to public investors with an IPO, the electric automaker is adding another element of uncertainty to their plans in an already unstable new car market; however Tesla co founder and CEO Elon Musk is no stranger to taking chances.

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Like when he decided to head in a different direction than the competition at Fisker Automotive->ke1074 by opening up a network of owned and operated freestanding dealerships that gave him more control over the sales and service of his new products. However the cost of expanding from their California outlets to a host of nationwide retail centers in major population centers in and around the U.S. hasn’t taken a toll on the electric car builder so far, and we are pretty sure that Mr. Musk knows what he is doing.

However according to the web site Autopia, Tesla will cease production of their flagship Roadster until 2013. This means that the 2012 four door BEV Model S will be left as the sole product to get the automaker through their period of public investment. It is believed that the decision was made due to the fact that the lightweight English automaker Lotus is preparing for the next generation Elise, the vehicle that the Tesla Roadster is based upon, leaving the American automaker with a bit of downtime before they come back with an all new Roadster for 2013.