Tesla sells $13.8M in credits (Silicon Valley)

Tesla Motors Inc. has sold $13.8 million in environmental credits, mostly to Honda Motor Corp, since 2008 according to SEC filings and first reported by Bloomberg.

Carmakers need zero-emission vehicle credits to meet California air pollution requirements. Under 2008 rules, five major automakers — Honda, Toyota Motor Corp., General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. — must sell 60,000 plug-in hybrid or all-electric vehicles in a three-year period. If they can’t, they have an option to buy credits from other companies that are producing them.

Tesla has not yet reached profitability and plans to raise $100 million in an upcoming public offering. Toyota announced late last month it would invest $50 million in Tesla and that the two carmakers would develop products together.

Read more in the San Francisco Business Times.