It takes a strong stomach and a lot of money to build a car that is gentle on the environment. Just ask Elon Musk.  In mid October, multimillionaire Musk assumed the full-time job as chief executive at his start-up, Tesla Motors, and said the company would have an unspecified number of layoffs. On Friday, Musk said that he will lay off at least 20% of Tesla's 363 employees and pump $10 to $20 million more of his own money into the high-profile San Carlos, Calif.-based company to help it weather the ongoing financial crisis.  Tesla announced last week that it would downsize its operations, including shuttering an office in Michigan, but it didn't specify how many of its 363 employees would be laid off. Musk replaced Tesla's former CEO Ze'ev Drori, who had held the post for less than a year. Musk made his fortune as one of the founders of Internet-payment service PayPal; he's also backed a private rocket company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp.  In an interview with Forbes.com, Musk said he remains optimistic about Tesla despite the still-sour financial markets and lower oil prices, which could damp enthusiasm for many risky, eco-friendly companies aiming to reduce the nation's reliance on fossil fuels. Tesla has raised $147 million from investors. About $55 million of that came from Musk, who financed the company himself in its early days.  When he decided to put more cash into Tesla, Musk figured that he had to step into daily management as well. "Now that I've got so many chips on the table, I'm going to have to manage this thing personally," he says. Tesla's main product now is the Tesla Roadster, a flashy, all-electric $109,000 sports car. Tesla began shipping the car to customers over the summer after more than a year's delay. It has so far delivered about 50 cars and has reached a production rate of approximately 10 per week.  But Tesla is delaying plans to build a cheaper, four-door sedan, called the Model S. Tesla had hoped to snare about $100 million in funding for the project but is now waiting for a Department of Energy loan to finance part of it instead. If that loan comes through, Tesla will need to raise an additional $50 million for sedan development, Musk says.  Tesla's plans call for it to begin shipping those cars in mid-2011 from a new manufacturing facility in San Jose, Calif. Musk said Tesla "could have raised the money" in lieu of waiting for the government loan, but "it would have just been on horrible, horrible terms" given the volatility of the market. Other clean-energy firms backed by Silicon Valley venture capitalists may face similar quandaries as the credit markets continue to swoon.  Building A Green Dream A Car
With fewer employees and more money from founder Elon Musk, the electric car company continues on its road map.