If it goes public, Tesla would mark the first offering from a U.S. automaker since Henry Ford’s Ford Motor debuted its shares in 1956. The potential IPO symbolizes the resurgence of electric-car technology that most carmakers had dismissed as impractical until recently.

The financial turmoil in the latter half of 2008 virtually shut down the IPO market, but the demand has since picked up considerably. Tesla’s IPO would follow the successful debut of lithium ion battery maker A123 Systems, whose shares rallied 50 percent on their first day of trading on September 25th. Tesla will have to compete with a slew of established automakers that are racing to launch electric or plug-in vehicles.

A combination of factors, including the Obama administration’s push to have one million rechargeable vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015 and low-cost department of Energy loans, has driven the recent interest in developing electric vehicles.

The automaker said in September that it has delivered over 700 Roadsters since February 2008. The Roadster, which is built on a Lotus frame, can do 0 to 60 in less than four seconds and is faster than a Porsche 911 or Ferrari Spider. Tesla is also currently in the process of developing a lower cost model known as the Model S, which will have a base price of just under $50,000.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about Clean Energy

Without incentive from outside forces, the American public tends to buy whatever it likes, regardless of the logic and potential impacts, and that usually means big. Apparently, the main obstacle is the belief that small cars are unsafe and as we’ve seen time and again, changing perception is often a lengthy process.

I must admit, this is a rather worrisome trend and once that I hope automakers can reverse with a concerted effort to reverse this fear with marketing that touts the benefits of these vehicles and reframes the discussion – think cost-savings and and maneuverability for starters.

Features that can add value beyond a car’s relative size or lack thereof, certainly won’t hurt their case either and would go along way towards bolstering the auto industry as a whole. Considering that they have been viewed as decidedly out of step with consumer desire, particularly in recent years, this would be a huge boon indeed. And it appears they’re making strides with the addition of “connected” systems for entertainment, navigation and calling, but beyond greater functionality, this also adds price. And it’s hard to say if consumers will be willing to pay a lot of money for a lot less car.

[image via rick]

The move is twofold: meeting current consumer demand – primarily among its Focus and Escape models, two of the most popular purchases under the fuel-efficiency program – and refilling dealerships’ depleted stock so that sought after vehicles don’t disappear before the end of the year.

Ford isn’t the only the automaker attempting to leverage this overall market trend and renewed consumer spending – Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and Chrysler have all boosted manufacturing at many of their US plants. But despite the emerging signals that the economy is being to rebound, this confidence in a return to business as usual seems to carry a lot of risk.

The data around the public’s recent car-buying habits have certainly been inflated by the “Cash for Clunkers” program and even with the recent injection of cash, most estimates see it only lasting through September, either through exhausting funds or overall market saturation. A fact that no one seems to dispute, which begs the question, what then?

And while no automaker wants to be caught without the inventory to meet demand, rushing headlong back into a “post-recession” mindset doesn’t seem like a prudent course of action. Sure, the lights are back on in factories and people are returning to their jobs as a result, but we want to make sure this a level that we can sustain, lest we forget the hard lessons of recent history.

[image via Van Pelt]