Things are getting ugly at Tesla Motors Inc. Martin Eberhard, who recently was replaced as CEO of the ballyhooed electric car startup, tells Tech Confidential he's not happy about the terms of his abrupt departure. "My disappointment stems from the board's failure to recognize my continued added value to the company and to allow me to continue to be a part of the company that I created," he says. "Instead, I was asked to leave without any discussion about it."

In shaking up its management, Tesla named Silicon Valley entrepreneur Ze'ev Drori as chief executive last week and said that Eberhard was staying on as president of technology. But late Friday the company issued a statement on its Web site saying that Eberhard had "transitioned from the board of directors and executive management of the company to the advisory board."

Eberhard responded with a lengthy statement of his own, posted on the company's fan site, TeslaMotorsClub.com. "I am not at all happy with the way I was treated," he wrote. "I do not think this was the very best way to handle a transition -- not the best for Tesla Motors, not the best for Tesla's customers (to whom I still feel a strong sense of responsibility) and not for Tesla's investors."

How to include -- or exclude -- a company's founder when a new CEO arrives on the scene is of course a classic problem for startups. But Eberhard points out that many companies manage to find homes for their founders. For example, Google Inc. founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin remain president of products and president of technology, respectively, with Eric Schmidt as CEO. Page and Brin "still drive the vision and technology of the company and still define the public image of Google," Eberhard says.

In an e-mail exchange, Eberhard says that there was "no great philosophical difference" between him and the company's other board members. "I was doing a pretty good job of presenting Tesla Motors to the world and articulating its vision," he says. "As I noted in the past, I was the one who initiated the CEO search many months ago. I made it clear from the beginning that I would be happy to take a different role in the company when a suitable CEO was found."

Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.

Eberhard appears to have no beef with Drori, who he describes as experienced and capable. "I am in fact very hopeful about Tesla Motors and about Ze'ev's ability to lead Tesla," Eberhard says, while adding that the new CEO has his work cut out for him.

Tesla, which has raised $100 million in venture capital, has had to delay launching its $100,000 roadster. The widely publicized sports car, which reportedly goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in four seconds and produces no emissions, is due out early next year.

"Starting a car company is indeed very difficult," Eberhard says. Drori "will be successful if he can quickly get his mind around all the many facets of launching a new car, new technology, a new car company, service centers for those cars, etc. It's a very big job."

- Mary Kathleen Flynn

See Nov. 29 post from Tech Confidential
See statement from Tesla Motors
See Eberhard's post from TeslaMotorsClub.com
See Oct. 30 story from Tech Confidential