While the world still waits for the Tesla Model 3, an electric car that will get upwards of 200 miles per charge and cost around $35,000, General Motors today revealed a prototype for its Chevy Bolt, which aims to match that upcoming Tesla in both mileage and cost. [More]
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Tesla Launching Battery Swap Pilot Program For Some Model S Owners Next Week
By 12.19.14
While many electric car owners love being gas-free, the time-consuming process of recharging a vehicle can be a bit of a setback. So to cut down on that lengthy process, Tesla says it’ll be starting a pilot program next week that will allow some drivers to swap out their battery packs in just a few minutes. [More]
Tesla Batteries Might Be The Next Big Threat To Electric Companies
By 12.5.14
Electric cars might not be great for gas companies, but they feel like a net win for the electric utilities: after all, if you’re plugging in a Tesla in the garage every night, that’s a little more juice they can charge you for using. Tesla’s goal, though, isn’t just to make cars less environmentally hostile, but to make everything else that way too. And that might just be a huge problem for existing electric utilities. [More]
Why Doesn’t Tesla Just Use Dealerships To Sell Its Cars?
By 10.23.14
Earlier this week, auto dealers in Michigan successfully manipulated the state’s lawmakers to clarify that the only way any car company can sell any vehicles in Michigan is through franchised auto dealers. A handful of other states have similar laws banning Tesla or any other car company from selling their products straight to consumers. So why doesn’t Tesla just give in and work with dealers? [More]
Michigan Joins List Of Tesla-Hating States; Bans Direct Sales Of Cars
By 10.21.14
Even though only a few dozen Teslas have been sold to people in Michigan, and even though the electric vehicle maker has no storefront display operations in the state, the home of America’s auto industry has decided it needed to pass a law actually banning carmakers from selling automobiles to Michigan consumers without first going through a franchised dealership. [More]
Michigan May Be Latest To Ban Direct Sales Of Teslas
By 10.17.14
Because car dealerships don’t want to move beyond an era of gladhanding salesman upselling customers on unnecessary add-ons — and because they apparently want to give electric car company Tesla as much free advertising as possible — they are pushing for Michigan to enact legislation preventing carmakers from selling directly to consumers in the state. [More]
Elon Musk Predicts Tesla Cars Will Be Able To Drive Themselves 90% Of The Time In 2015
By 10.3.14
Do you see that, off in the distance? Where flying cars are zooming around without a human hand to guide them? It’s what I call “The Jetsons Horizon” and if Elon Musk has anything to say about it, we’ll be getting closer to that line as soon as 2015. [More]
Massachusetts Court Throws Out Lawsuit Trying To Block Tesla From Selling Fancy Cars Directly To Consumers
By 9.16.14
High-tech electric car company Tesla has spent the year fighting with a huge number of states over their preferred business model: the company sells vehicles directly to consumers, instead of going through the traditional dealer route. Tesla has been wildly successful selling their cars this way. So successful, in fact, that dealers in many states are fighting hard to claim Tesla’s model is illegal under state law — or getting state law changed to make sure it’s illegal. Dealers in Massachusetts trying their own variation on that maneuver, however, have just had their case tossed out of court, allowing Tesla to continue operations in that state. [More]
Georgia Car Dealers Ask The State To Shut Down Tesla Store Because It Sold Too Many Cars
By 9.3.14
It’s no secret that traditional car dealerships aren’t fans of Tesla for selling cars directly to consumers — we’ve seen quite a tussle in other states like New Jersey already, among other states — where officials have considered legislation banning direct sales. And now a group representing about 500 dealerships in Georgia wants the state to revoke Tesla’s license to sell there, too, because it’s sold too many cars already. [More]
Elon Musk Reveals Details On Upcoming $35,000 Tesla
By 7.16.14
Dealerships and automakers around the country have been fighting electric car maker Tesla’s direct-to-customer sales model, but many have wondered why they care so much about a car that costs more than most people earn in a year. Now you can expect that fight to get even nastier after Tesla founder Elon Musk announced plans for a high-end electric car that only costs around $35,000. [More]
White House Responds To Petition Asking For Direct-To-Consumer Tesla Sales In All 50 States
By 7.15.14
While the White House will respond to any We The People petition over 100,000 signatures, that doesn’t mean that the answer is always going to be something petitioners want to hear. And in the case of the 138,469 who wanted the administration to prevent sales from banning direct-to-consumer auto sales from companies like Tesla, that reply is pretty much, “Can’t do it, that’s Congress’ thing.” [More]
Tesla Investigating Why A Stolen Model S Split In Half After High-Speed Chase, Collision
By 7.7.14
It’s not every day that a car splits in half, and it’s definitely not an event carmakers want to have happen. That’s why Tesla is now pledging to fully investigate how a stolen Model S split in half at the end of a high-speed chase and collision with a light pole. [More]
New Jersey Assembly Passes Bill That Would Allow Sale Of Tesla Vehicles
By 6.17.14
Can you feel it? The slight wind that passes over the hands of Tesla CEO Elon Musk as he rubs his hands together in anticipation of a greater glee down the road? The automaker is one step closer to getting the stamp of approval to sell its cars in New Jersey, after a bill saying as much easily passed the state Assembly. [More]
Tesla Opens Patents For Rivals To Use In Attempt To Speed Up Electric Car Adoption
By 6.12.14
For the most part inventors hold their patents near and dear to their hearts, not allowing others to cash in on their ideas. That’s not the case for Tesla CEO Elon Musk. [More]
Elon Musk Wants To Share Supercharger Patents In Order To Spread The Electric Car Love
By 6.9.14
While Tesla continues to work on spreading its network of supercharging stations around the country to more easily serve drivers of its electric cars, CEO Elon Musk doesn’t want those stations to be used solely by owners of Tesla vehicles like the Model S. In his quest to spread the popularity of electric cars, Musk says he wants other manufacturers to know how to build their own Supercharger stations. [More]
Missouri The Latest State To Add Legislation That Would Bar Direct Sales Of Tesla Cars
By 5.9.14
Tesla has its work cut out for it in Missouri, where yesterday legislators followed states like New Jersey and added a nugget into a previous bill going around that would bar the company (or any other carmakers) from selling vehicles directly to consumers in that state. Tesla, of course, isn’t happy about this. [More]
Should Tesla Be Allowed To Sell Directly To Consumers? The FTC Thinks So
By 4.25.14
For all those states currently placing either limits on or banning outright the direct sale of Tesla cars to the consumers, the Federal Trade Commission has a few pennies for your thoughts. Namely, that by claiming that such regulations protect consumers, they’re actually protecting the industry itself, to the detriment of consumers. [More]
CBS Apologizes For “Audio Error” Of A Loud Car Engine Dubbed Over Tesla Footage
By 4.1.14
One of the main reasons someone might purchase a Tesla is part of what makes the vehicles what they are — being an electric car means having an engine that’s quieter than the usual grumble and rumble of a traditional car. So anyone watching 60 Minutes this past Sunday might’ve been surprised to hear what seemed like an electric car with a nasty cold. [More]
