One-time-Presidential-candidate Mitt Romney famously to Tesla Motors—a Silicon Valley company that builds fast sports cars with electric engines—one of Barack Obama’s “losers”.  In the first presidential debate, Romney said, “

But don’t forget, you put $90 billion, like 50 years’ worth of breaks, into solar and wind, to Solyndra and Fisker and Tesla and Ener1. I mean, I had a friend who said you don’t just pick the winners and losers, you pick the losers, all right? So this is not the kind of policy you want to have if you want to get America energy secure.”

Ouch.  To be fair, Obama’s record funding green energy companies has not been stellar, though, unfortunately for Romney, Obama now has four more years to make up for mistakes.  But Solyndra has been a disaster and has prompted investigations from both the Energy Department and the Treasury.

Ener1, a lithium ion battery company, also the receipient of Department of Energy funds under Obama, had to file for bankruptcy in 2012 (though it has since reemerged).  Of course, also, the Anaheim-based  plug-in hybrid car company Fisker has a fate that is by-no-means secure, but the company has delivered at least 500 models to customers already.

Tesla Motors, based in San Carlos, CA, might be the brightest of the bunch, and may not at all be the “loser” Romney considered it.  Motor Trend just voted the Tesla Model S the 2012 Car of the Year  and investor analyst opinion on the company with a 3.5B market cap is slightly favorable.

At a sticker price of $59,900.00 Tesla’s offerings are a bit too rich for the modest consumer, especially in this economy.  But with carbon dioxide levels at record highs in 2011, demand for electric vehicles may grow faster than we think.  That could be a huge win for the company that has the highest-performing electric engines on the market.