Tesla News

  • 2012 Tesla Model S

    It's dangerous to assume, as the saying goes. And a lot of assumptions about why people buy electric cars are wrong--including that they only do so because they're "green," meaning to help the environment. Now a new attitudinal survey shows this isn't much true for Tesla owners and fans. A study by Gravity.com (via AutoblogGreen) compared and contrasted Toyota Prius hybrid owners and followers to those for the Tesla Model S. Just not so green? The Prius people, it said, are "keenly interested in Eco-friendly subject matters and Social Change." The Tesla folks? Here's what Gravity.com said...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    Tesla Model S Gets Five Stars For Crash Safety From NHTSA

    The Tesla Model S electric sedan has become the latest car to be awarded a full five star crash test rating by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While it's no surprise for modern cars to score highly in such tests, it's still an impressive feat for a young automaker like Tesla...

  • Tesla owners & supporters gather in Statehouse in Austin to support company [photo: John Griswell]
    Tesla Earns 'Modest' Q2 Profit, Delivers 5,150 Cars, Boosts Margin On Carmaking

    Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] slightly increased its profit in the second quarter, and delivered more Model S electric cars than last quarter. The company released its Q2 financial results this afternoon, with net income of $26 million compared to $15 million for Q1. The company said it delivered 5,150...

  • First 2013 Tesla Model S delivered in Europe (Photo: @TeslaMotors on Twitter)
    First 2013 Tesla Model S Delivered Outside North America--In Oslo

    It's been out in the U.S. for over a year now, but today marked the first delivery for a Telsa Model S on European soil. The first 2013 Tesla Model S delivered in Europe rolled out of a Tesla Store in Norwegian capital Oslo, according to the Tesla Motors twitter feed. Norway is Europe's most...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    2013 Tesla Model S: New Options, Packages, And Prices

    It's still fairly early days for the Tesla Model S, and while the car is finding fans across the globe, it's still seeing various updates and option packages that early buyers didn't have access to. Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] has recently announced a new line of option packages and pricing for...

  • 'Revenge of the Electric Car' premiere: Elon Musk arrives in a Tesla Roadster
    Tesla's Musk Promises Deep Dive Into Electric-Car Emissions

    The environmental impact of plug-in electric cars is a hot topic right now, and a fiercely debated one at that. A couple of weeks ago, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk pledged to dive into it himself. Musk tweeted, "Am seeing many poorly argued attacks on 'true' CO2 impact of electric cars. Will rewrite...

  • Ray Lane takes delivery of the first Fisker Karma

    Venture capitalists fund a lot of startup companies, and most of them don't pan out. So famed venture firm Kleiner Perkins' stake in Fisker Automotive--which is still trying to sell itself, but hasn't built a car for 12 months--could be viewed as just another failed investment. On the other hand, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] successfully offered itself to the public in June 2010, and is now on track to build and sell 20,000 or more of its Model S electric luxury sport sedan during 2013. Its stock has since risen fivefold, and the company turned a profit in the first quarter of this year--albeit...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    Tesla In China: Promised Land, Huge Risks...Or Both?

    Despite its pollution problems, China has never shown much interest in the electric car and sales have been a mere fraction of a fraction of the country's huge new car market. Not that Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] CEO Elon Musk is put off by unfavorable odds, as he pushes towards Tesla sales in China...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    Tesla Trips Limousine Service Approved In Portland, Will Use Model S Sedans

    Want to move around the city with minimal stress? If you live in Portland, you'll now be able to do so in the back of a Tesla Model S, thanks to Tesla Trips. The company, which normally organizes road trips around Oregon in the cars, applied back in April for a license to serve Portland as an...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan [photo by owner David Noland]
    Tesla Model S: Canada's 2nd-Best-Selling Plug-In Electric Car

    Readers of our monthly analysis of the Canadian plug-in electric car market know two things well: a) the Chevy Volt dominates, with sixteen consecutive months of sales leadership; and b) Canadian plug-in figures are hard to come by. Our posts on June plug-in sales in the United States and Canada...

  • Tesla's Fremont factory and surrounding land. Image via Google Maps.
    Tesla Motors Buys 35-Acre Test Facility In Fremont, CA

    As Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] faces the obstacle of obstreperous dealer organizations, rides the wave of its strong production figures, and quietly welcomes recent evidence that its batteries in the Roadster are lasting longer than predicted, another development: the electric car company has...

  • Dan Akerson
    It's Official: General Motors Now Sees Tesla As A Threat

    "History is littered with big companies that ignored innovation that was coming their way because you didn’t know where you could be disrupted." General Motors will be hoping those words, from vice chairman Steve Girksy as the automaker begins to study electric upstart Tesla Motors...

  • Google Glass

    Wearable computers and electric cars. Two things you might not think have much in common--but one app developer is exploring ways of linking the two cutting-edge technologies. Glasstesla is the brainchild of software engineer Sahas Katta, and pairs certain car functions with the abilities of Google's unique augmented reality headset. For the time being, reports Forbes, this has involved reverse-engineering Tesla's official Android app to work with Google Glass, as there's no official development toolkit available. Katta--in the fortunate position of being one of Google's "Google Glass...

  • Tesla Roadster driven by Joe Nuxoll on Laguna Seca racetrack, Re:Fuel event, June 2013
    Tesla Model S, Roadster Break Electric-Car Lap Record At Laguna Seca

    In just a few years, the Re:Fuel racing event has become legendary among those who like their electric cars really, really fast. Two years ago, Joe Nuxoll set a new lap record for electric cars there (1:50.888), driving a completely standard Tesla Roadster. At this year's event, held at...

  • Tesla Supercharger fast-charging system for electric cars
    Why Tesla Launched Battery Swapping; Is It Now In Danger?

    Tesla Motors has surprised a lot of skeptics in its decade of existence. But last month's announcement of battery swapping for Model S cars traveling long distances deserves some additional context. It adds a new and quicker way for some Model S drivers to cover distances beyond the battery range...

  • 2011 Tesla Roadster 2.5
    Battery Life In Tesla Roadster Is Likely Better Than Predicted

    Battery life is the subject of lingering doubt for many electric vehicle owners, but doom and gloom degradation projections don't always come true. Not for the Tesla Roadster at any rate, which is confounding Tesla's own battery life expectations for the car. According to data recorded by Plug In...

  • Red 2013 Tesla Model S cars roll down the production line (Photo: @elonmusk on Twitter)
    Tesla Model S Electric-Car Production Above 400 A Week, Musk Says

    All is still well at Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA], it seems, with CEO Elon Musk announcing the company is beating its self-imposed production targets. As Bloomberg reports, Tesla is ahead of its 400-per-week production goal, by a margin Musk describes as "not trivial". Meeting such a target is all the...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S
    Yes, Teslas Can Tow: Model S Trailer Hitch Installation (Video)

    If you think about it, the Tesla Model S comes close to being the ideal tow vehicle for lighter loads. It's large, weighty and stable at speed. It's rear-drive, for good traction. And it has plenty of torque. If those aren't good tow car characteristics, we don't know what are. Now, one company has...

  • 2014 Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid

    In less than a year, the Tesla Model S has created a new category of car: the electric luxury sport sedan. But with impending launches by two experienced, prestigious German luxury brands, will Tesla find the Model S facing new competition among wealthy buyers who like plugging in to drive? We just drove the 2014 Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid, the first-ever plug-in hybrid car from the famed German sports-car brand now owned by Volkswagen. That car will go on sale for 2014, and is expected to find its largest audience among wealthy Californians--who get a number of incentives to drive fully or...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    Tesla Model S Early Orders In Hong Kong Strong, Says Company

    An inordinate quantity of the internet's exotic car pictures seem to originate from Hong Kong. People certainly appreciate their fancy cars over there, that's for sure. That may explain why, despite the city's slow electric car sales up until now, orders for the Tesla Model S electric sedan are...

  • Tesla's retail store concept
    Petition For Tesla Motors Direct Sales Crosses 100,000 Signatures

    The fans have spoken: Over 100,000 people have now signed a White House petition asking for Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] to be allowed to sell its cars directly in all fifty states. Started by one Tesla supporter on June 5, support from across the electric car world piled in with signatures increasing...

  • Tesla Model S
    Buy A House (For $1.3 Million), Get A Tesla Model S (Lease)

    Everyone loves a great deal. Just how many times have you bought an extra bottle of soda because it's on a "buy one, get another free" offer? Or shopped 'til you dropped in an "everything must go" sale? It's not often you're offered a free car though, even when buying a house. That's exactly what...

  • Tesla Store  -  Portland OR
    Will 100,000 Sign Petition For Tesla Motors Sales By Friday?

    On June 5, a Tesla Motors fan mounted what seemed like another quixotic effort to support Tesla in selling its electric cars directly to buyers. The petition at WhiteHouse.gov that he or she launched required 100,000 people to sign it within a month, by Friday, July 5. Suddenly, it seems that...

  • Tesla owners & supporters gather in Statehouse in Austin to support company [photo: John Griswell]
    Anti-Tesla Bill Backed By North Carolina Car Dealers Is Dead

    Tesla Motors has dodged two big bullets fired its way by New York and North Carolina legislatures and auto dealers. Last week, the New York State Senate and Assembly adjourned until January without acting on two bills pushed by state auto dealers that would have made it illegal to register a Tesla...

News First Drives Electric Cars Hybrids Guides Green Life