The Tesla Model S, slated for 2011. (teslamotors.com)

The all-electric, hot and sexy Tesla Roadster goes zero to sixty in 3.9 seconds and sits in the garages of George Clooney, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, David Letterman, and the founders of Google.

There are six hundred of them in the world, put together not in Detroit but in Silicon Valley. In 2011, backed by almost half a billion dollars in government loans, Tesla plans to roll out a high-performance sedan, the Model S.

In a decade, claims Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, there could be a million new Teslas a year. They could revolutionize the U.S. auto industry, he says. And save the world.

Elon Musk dreams big. Is he just dreaming?

This hour, On Point: Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, on the future of electric cars – and the planet.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Los Angeles is Elon Musk, chairman, CEO and product architect of Tesla Motors. A Silicon Valley entrepeneur, he’s also CEO of Space X, a space technologies company that resupplies the Space Station and aims to colonize Mars; chairman of SolarCity, a solar power provider; and co-founder of PayPal.

From Detroit, we’re joined by Bill Vlasic, Detroit bureau chief for The New York Times.

More links:

You can see a photo gallery of Tesla’s cars at their website.

In a skeptical piece last June, BusinessWeek’s David Welch asked “Can Tesla Become a Real Automaker?” And on The New York Times’ Wheels blog, Jim Motavalli looked at some of the challenges facing Tesla’s Model S.

Here’s the Edmunds.com video review of the forthcoming Model S:

Watch a video about the forthcoming Tesla sedan, the Model S:

Egyptian villagers watch a live broadcast of the speech by President Barack Obama at Cairo University from a coffee shop in Qena, south Cairo, on June 4, 2009. (AP)

Post your comments below

Tectonic shifts this week.

General Motors actually in bankruptcy. Straight up bankrupt.

An American president, middle name Hussein, in Egypt speaking Arabic and quoting the Koran in ardent outreach to the Muslim world.

In the skies over the mid-Atlantic, a French airliner mysteriously down with 228 aboard.

And in church in Wichita, Kansas, Dr. George Tiller — serving as an usher on a Sunday morning — shot and killed in the church foyer by an anti-abortion crusader. He was 67.

This hour, On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

From Washington, we’re joined by Tony Blankley, columnist for The Washington Times and author of “American Grit: What It Will Take to Survive and Win in the 21st Century.”

From Paris, France, we’re joined by Christopher Dickey, Paris bureau chief and Middle East regional editor for Newsweek. His latest book is “Securing the City: Inside America’s Best Counterterror Force – the NYPD.”

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

General Motors Corp. headquarters in Detroit, July 2008. (AP)

Post your comments below

And so, it’s happened. General Motors — the once-mighty GM — has filed for bankruptcy.

The papers were submitted this morning to a federal clerk in Manhattan. President Obama is talking about it today. GM is talking. But in most ways that matter, the paperwork speaks for itself.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy. American taxpayers the majority owners of General Motors. Washington hip-deep in American business — with billions, and an industrial economy, on the line.

This hour, On Point: We’ll talk Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, at the center of the storm, about GM, Washington, and bankruptcy.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

David Welch, Detroit bureau chief for BusinessWeek. He wrote this week’s story, “The Tough Road Ahead for GM and Chrysler.”

Logan Robinson, professor of law at the University of Detroit Mercy, former general counsel of Delphi, ITT Automotive, and Metadynea, and former top international and commercial lawyer for Chrysler.

Jennifer Granholm, Governor of Michigan.

Allan Meltzer, professor of political economy and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and author of “History of the Federal Reserve, Vol. I: 1913-1951.” He served on the Council of Economic Advisors for Presidents Kennedy and Reagan.

Update: Listen to Gov. Granholm’s interview segment in today’s show, and read a transcript of key excerpts, on our Notes & Updates blog.

Here’s President Obama on the GM bankruptcy earlier today:

President Obama introduces federal appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee for the Supreme Court on Tuesday, May 26, 2009, at the White House. (AP)

Post your comments below

Big issues in the news this week. General Motors — GM — sliding into bankruptcy. Nuclear tests and missiles flying in North Korea. And an Obama Supreme Court pick named Sonia Sotomayor.

In North Asia, Chinese fishing boats have pulled back from the Korean coast and no one knows what comes next. Same in Detroit.

Across the country, Judge Sotomayor’s nomination has set off Hispanic celebration and a wild war of words over “wise Latina woman” and GOP charges of “racism.”

This hour, On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Ron Brownstein, political director for Atlantic Media, columnist for National Journal, and author of “The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America.”

Also from Washington we’re joined by Margaret Talev, White House correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers. She’s headed out to cover the president next week as he travels to the Middle East.

And from Hanover, N.H., is Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

A child seeking medical treatment waits to be attended at the makeshift waiting area set up at the entrance to the Naval hospital in Mexico City, Thursday April 30, 2009. (AP)

Post your comments below

It’s been the week that “swine flu” became “H1N1” and very nearly, says the WHO, a pandemic. Masks, Mexico and hog farms in the news. A small world and a quick spread.

In Detroit, Chrysler falls into the arms of bankruptcy and Fiat. In Washington, Supreme Court Justice David Souter dreams of summer in New Hampshire, and decides he’ll retire.

Arlen Specter makes a different change — from Republican to Democrat. And VP Joe Biden rolls out his version of snakes on a plane.

This hour, On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

What’s your top story this week? Do you see Chrysler-Fiat coming back strong? Arlen Specter lining up for Obama? Have H1N1 and Joe Biden scared you off the plane? The subway? Out of your wits? Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Michael Gerson, columnist for The Washington Post, former White House advisor and speechwriter for President George W. Bush, and author of “Heroic Conservatism: Why Republicans Need to Embrace America’s Ideals (And Why They Deserve to Fail If They Don’t).”

Also from Washington we’re joined by Margaret Talev, White House correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers.

And from Hanover, N.H., is Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

Dodge Ram trucks are seen on a lot across from the Warren Truck Assembly in Warren, Mich., on Feb. 18, 2009. (AP)

Post your comments below

Bankruptcy is staring GM and Chrysler straight in the face now. They were gods of the auto industry. GM was the king. Now — within days for Chrysler, weeks for GM — both could be in bankruptcy.

The White House is right in the middle of it. Wall Street, the unions, an ocean of workers, and the shape of a nation’s economic future all right there, too. Plus, what you drive, and who makes it where.

If these onetime giants were crash test dummies, they’re about to hit the wall. Can it be avoided? What would survive?

This hour, On Point: GM and Chrysler on the brink of bankruptcy.

You can join the conversation. Did you ever think you’d live to see this? What’s your question on where we’re headed? What survives?  Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

From Detroit, we’re joined by Michelle Krebs. She has covered the auto industry for more than 25 years and is now senior editor for Edmunds, which publishes automotive consumer web sites. She is also past president of the Automotive Press Association in Detroit.

And with us from Naples, Florida, is Paul Ingrassia, former Detroit bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, where he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for coverage of GM, and former president of Dow Jones Newswires. He’s co-author, with Joseph B. White, of “Comeback: the Fall and Rise of the American Automobile Industry” (1994). His new book, “Crash Course,” about the auto industry’s current crisis, will be published by Random House in January.

From New York, we’re joined by Edward Janger, professor at Brooklyn Law School. He has written extensively about bankruptcy law.

Electric car "charging spots," part of the proposed Better Place mobile operator network. (BetterPlace.com)

Post your comments below

Electric cars have been kicking around the clean-energy conversation for decades, but they’ve been held back by short battery life and limited range.

Tech visionary Shai Agassi thinks he’s got a solution — and sees zero-emission cars hitting Main Streets in just two years.

It’s all about infrastructure: recharging stations and battery replacement bays blanketing the roads. Customers buying miles like cell phone minutes. Some think he’s dreaming — but he’s already got the governments of Israel, Denmark, and Australia signed on.

This hour, On Point: Shai Agassi’s vision for electric cars that go the distance.

You can join the conversation. Can electric cars break our dependence on fossil fuels? Is Shai Agassi dreaming – or really onto something?

Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Jane Clayson, guest host

Guest:

Shai Agassi is founder and CEO of Better Place, a green-tech venture that aims to bring electric cars with replaceable batteries to the mass market by 2011.

More links:

“Batteries Not Included” – a profile of Shai Agassi and Better Place in last Sunday’s issue of The New York Times Magazine.

Agassi spoke at the 2009 TED conference. Watch the video here.

President Barack Obama gestures during a press conference at the end of the G20 Summit at the Excel centre in London on April 2, 2009. (AP)

It was G20 time this week. President Barack Obama’s debut on the world stage, and a stab at slowing global economic meltdown.

There were no miracles, but there were steps: a trillion dollars for emerging nations and — in spite of the First Lady touching the Queen (oh, horrors!) — a sense of shared purpose, for now.

Back home, the White House got most of the budget it wanted from Congress. Deficit to follow. And Detroit got a big, fat ultimatum. Bankruptcy for GM now a real and not-distant possibility.

This hour, On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Has the G20 done enough? Too much? The right thing? What about the Obamas abroad? The Obama budget at home? The White House ultimatum for GM and Chrysler?

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

From New York we’re joined by Chrystia Freeland, U.S. managing editor of The Financial Times. She interviewed President Obama on the eve of the G-20 summit in London.

Joining us from Washington is Liz Halloran, Washington correspndent for NPR.org.

And from Hanover, N.H., we’re joined by Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

General Motors Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner listens as President Barack Obama, not pictured, speaks about the economy in Washington on March 12, 2009. GM confirmed on Monday that Wagoner will step down immediately at the request of the White House, and new directors will make up the majority of GM's board. (AP)

Rick Wagoner, chairman and CEO of General Motors, is out of a job. Directed to go by the Obama administration as new billions in federal aid are weighed for GM.

And more change is coming. President Obama is speaking today on the fate of the American automotive industry, and what Washington will require to keep pumping in support. Chrysler: told to pair up with Italy’s Fiat to stay in the game. Bankruptcies in Detroit: not out of the question. The warranty on your American-made car may be backed by Uncle Sam.

In this hour, we will listen to the President’s speech on this country’s auto-making future, and weigh the measures the President is prescribing — and the stakes.

This hour, On Point: President Obama speaks on the future of Detroit.

You can join the conversation. Are you ready to see GM and Chrysler go down? To pour in what resources to save them? With what conditions?

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Ann Arbor, Michigan, is Micheline Maynard, senior business correspondent for The New York Times. She writes about Rick Wagoner, GM’s outgoing CEO, in today’s paper.

And from Hanover, New Hampshire, we’re joined by Matthew Slaughter, associate dean and professor of international economics at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business.

Unsold 2009 Ranger pickup trucks sit at a Ford dealership in Colorado on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008. (AP)

Post your comments below

A century ago, the U.S. auto industry led the United States into a new era of industrial might. Today, Detroit — right behind the Wall Street banks — is pointing the country toward a new level of government involvement in industry.

The talk in Washington is of billions, bailout, bridge loans, and a government “car czar” to steer Detroit out of crisis, remade and rebuilt, and into better times.

Could that work? Can a car czar do from Washington what Detroit could not do for itself?

This hour, On Point: A car czar, and what to do with the American auto industry.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Detroit is Neil Boudette, the Detroit bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal.

From Philadelphia, we’re joined by John Paul MacDuffie, associate professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and co-director of the International Motor Vehicle Program, a research consortium at MIT focused on the challenges facing the global automotive industry.

And from Washington, we’re joined by David Rothkopf. Currently a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, he was deputy under secretary of commerce for international trade policy in the Clinton administration.  He’s author of “Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making.”

A Ford plug-in hybrid Edge cruises on Capitol Hill, Jan. 17, 2007. (AP)

Post your comments below

The American auto industry is on its knees, with its hand out.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler want a bailout now, and they want it fast. They’re hemorrhaging cash. GM says it will be unable to pay its bills by the end of the year. That’s six weeks from now.

The flailing Big Three have asked for many billions from the federal government. Congress appears sympathetic. But should Detroit be bailed out? Or allowed to go bust, and rebuild on new terms?

How much of the U.S. economy can or should the U.S. government float?

This hour, On Point: Dire straits. Should Washington bail out Detroit?

You can join the conversation. What do you say? Yea or nay? And why? Can we afford to bail out Detroit? Can we afford not to? Does it make sense?

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Micheline Maynard, business reporter for The New York Times. Her article on the front page of this morning’s Times is “G.M.’s Troubles Stir Question of Bankruptcy vs. a Bailout.” She’s been blogging about her personal switch to a new hybrid car at NYTimes.com’s “Green Inc.”

Matthew Slaughter, associate dean and professor of international economics at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business.

Susan Helper, professor of economics at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and research affiliate for the International Motor Vehicle Program at MIT.

More Links:

The Wall Street Journal examines the politics of the bailout debate. For a scathing indictment of Detroit’s way of doing business, see Thomas Friedman’s column in yesterday’s New York Times. Meanwhile, David Greising at The Chicago Tribune opines that Detroit deserves a piece of the bailout action.

Ford workers assemble the new 2008 Ford Focus in Wayne, Mich., May. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Gary Malerba)

Talk about automotive irony.

Centennial celebrations in Michigan this week. The 100th anniversary of the founding of General Motors. And the 100th anniversary of the rollout of the Model T — the “Tin Lizzie” that made the Ford Motor Company.

And both American automotive giants, plus Chrysler, are in crisis. Billions in losses. Plummeting sales. Talk of bankruptcy.

With four-dollar gas, the SUV-truck parade is over. Ford, announcing this week it will massively retool for compacts. GM wants to plug in electric. But is there time?

This hour, On Point: The U.S. auto industry, up against the wall.

-Tom Ashbrook

* * *

Guests:

Bill Vlasic, Detroit bureau chief for The New York Times.

Walter McManus, director of automotive analysis at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute. He formerly worked for General Motors, where he developed models to forecast vehicle sales and created tools to stimulate new product development.

David Magee, author and auto analyst, he appears frequently on Fox News and has written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe. He’s the author of “How Toyota Became #1″ and “Turnaround,” about Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn.

John Wolkonowicz, senior analyst and forecaster for Global Insights, he worked as a product planner for GM and Ford.

The last time the United Auto Workers went on strike nationally against GM, back in 1970, most Americans alive today had not been born. And that’s not all that’s changed.

The UAW had 400,000 members on strike then. Yesterday, it was a shadow of that — 73,000 — who walked off the job. In 1970, GM was king of auto-making. Now, it’s lost the throne to Toyota and is struggling.

This time, all the marbles are on the table — whether GM pulls the rest of its manufacturing out of the U.S., whether U.S. manufacturing workers can make a decent wage, by their fathers’ standards.

This hour, On Point: a strike lights up a tough world.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joe White, Detroit Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal.

Kate Bronfenbrenner, labor economist and director of labor education research at Cornell University.

Matthew Slaughter, professor of international relations at the Tuck School of Management at Dartmouth and former member of President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisors.

Dolores Sox, striking United Auto Worker in Michigan.