Two Assault-On-Battery Cases

First: the Tesla is a lemon without a less expensive battery. -- Barron's.

Tesla's stock was down 2.5% to below $99.33 in the first minutes of trading today. This is well off its closing high of $110.33.

This comes after Bill Alpert at Barron's wrote that Tesla's Model S "owes its better-than-200-mile range to batteries costing tens of thousands of dollars."

Tesla needs to drastically cut battery costs by 2016 when it plans to launch a car that is more affordable. "If Tesla's next-generation car can't go the distance at half the price, its stock will head much lower," Alpert wrote.

The sub-head of the summed up Alpert's stance. "Tesla's electric car offers a quiet, powerful ride. But unless it comes up with a cheaper, stronger battery, the stock could turn out to be a lemon.

Why Tesla is the darling of car enthusiasts, I will never know. Tens of thousands of dollars for a battery that will fetch you two hundred miles. What's wrong with that picture?

Second: Exide files for bankruptcy protection -- MarketWatch reports.

The filing is Exide’s second. It emerged from an earlier Chapter 11 restructuring in 2004.

The company makes Exide- and NorthStar-branded lead-acid batteries for vehicles and other machines. Its customers include auto makers, parts suppliers and retailers. 

Exide, which employs about 10,000 people in more than 80 countries, listed assets of about $1.9 billion and debts of $1.1 billion in its Chapter 11 petition.

Its profits have fallen amid high production costs, tight liquidity and stiff competition from its main competitor, Johnson Controls Inc.

Wal-Mart did them in. Wal-Mart chose Johnson Controls as its exclusive battery supplier.