Tesla News

  • 2013 Tesla Model S

    Sharp-eyed Tesla Model S buffs may be wondering why the mid-range 60-kWh car, which costs $10,000 less, is rated more efficient than the top-of-the-line 85-kWh model. The EPA said last week that the 60-kWh Model S has a range of 208 miles, and its efficiency rating is 95 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent). That's about 7 percent better than the 89 MPGe rating for the 85-kWh version--which has a rated range of 265 miles. Measured from a different angle, the EPA says the 60-kWh car uses 35 kWh of electricity to go 100 miles. The equivalent number for the longer range version is 38 kWh, meaning...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S
    Tesla Model S Already A Future Classic? Auto Library Thinks So

    Put a group of auto enthusiasts in a room, ply them with suitable amounts of alcohol, and soon conversation will turn to 'future classics'. The term refers to a modern car which gains the kind of respect and appeal of a classic vehicle in its lifetime, guaranteeing it a similar status many years in...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    Tesla Model S Depositors: You Can't Sell Your Reservation, Legally

    There's lots of interest in the award-winning Tesla Model S electric luxury sport sedan about now. With production slowly ramping up, even the wealthiest electric-car fans have to wait as Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] works through its 14,000 reservations. So, perhaps the impatient among them may turn...

  • Tesla Store  -  Portland OR
    Tesla Gets Green Light To Open Store In Natick, Massachusetts

    After more than an hour of discussion last night, the town selectmen of Natick, Massachusetts, voted 4-1 to grant a license to sell cars to Tesla Motors Massachusetts. The local company, which the Selectmen concluded was legally separate from Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA], will operate out of a property...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S
    2013 Tesla Model S: Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2013

    Two years ago, our first-ever Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy award went to the first modern battery-electric car sold in the U.S. How far we've come. This year, our third annual winner is the 2013 Tesla Model S, a car that takes the all-electric vehicle to a new and far more elevated level. But...

  • Tesla Model S owner David Metcalf after covering more than 400 miles [photo: Gene Kruckemyer]
    How Far Will A Tesla Model S Go? One Owner Did 405 Miles

    Back in May, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] released range estimates for the 2012 Model S. While the company predicted that 250-300 miles would be typical for the largest, 85 kilowatt-hour battery, and the EPA confirmed this with an official 265 miles, insiders at Tesla had a sneaky feeling that 400...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S

    U.K. Tesla fans jealous of their counterparts in the U.S. are finally able to reserve their own 2013 Tesla Model S. Buyers will be able to choose between Model S and Model S Signature, and will get to enjoy the same specifications as buyers in the U.S. That means the same color and trim options, and the same choice between regular models and Performance versions. Likewise, Tesla is quoting the same 230-mile and 300-mile range estimates, at 55 mph, for 60 kWh and 85 kWh batteries. There's no mention of a 40 kWh version, however. Prospective customers will have to pay a hefty deposit if they...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    Tesla Model S 60-kWh Version: EPA Range Rated At 208 Miles

    Without any fanfare, the EPA has released its range rating for the second version of the Tesla Model S to come to market. The 2013 Tesla Model S fitted with a 60-kilowatt-hour battery pack has a rated range of 208 miles. That compares to 265 miles for the Model S version with the largest 85-kWh...

  • 'Revenge of the Electric Car' premiere: Elon Musk arrives in a Tesla Roadster
    Tesla Motors In The Black, This Week, Tweets CEO Musk

    Some of the biggest news of the year has been broken on social networking site, Twitter. For Tesla CEO Elon Musk, that includes regular tweets about the company. Yesterday, he tweeted that Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] was in the black. "Am happy to report that Tesla was narrowly cash flow positive last...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    Tesla Model S 60-kWh Delayed To Jan: Bye-Bye, 2012 Tax Credit

    Well, it looks like there won't be a Tesla Model S under my Christmas tree after all. Even more annoying, that means I'll have to wait until April 15, 2014, to take advantage of my $7,500 electric-car tax credit. As Model S reservation holder P717, I'd hoped to take delivery of my car this month...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S Signature
    More Updates For 2012 Tesla Model S: Voice Commands, Faster Acceleration

    Tesla has released details of an impending software update, for the 2012 Tesla Model S electric sedan. Among the changes, owners will now be able to use new features like an app launcher and voice commands, while seeing improvements to some of the controls, and even acceleration response. New...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    New Tesla Model S Pricing Announced For Jan 1, Battery Pack Costs Too

    As of January 1, it'll cost you more to buy a 2013 Tesla Model S--as the company said last week. Now, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] has released the details of the price increases on the different versions of the Model S all-electric luxury sport sedan. The new prices are $59,900 for the base version...

  • XP Technology concept vehicle

    Oh, those DoE loans. They arose in the recent U.S. presidential debate--not just once or twice, but three times--and continue to generate debate. So here's more fuel for the fire: A company rejected three years ago for loans is now suing the DoE. Its proposed product? An inflatable electric car. Two applications by XP Technology for low-interest loans of $25 million and $45 million under the DoE's advanced technology vehicle manufacturing program were rejected in August 2009. At the time, XP issued a press release saying it was "extremely disappointed," and then vanished from sight. Its...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S, brief test drive, New York City, July 2012
    Tesla Model S Price Increase Coming, But For New Buyers Only

    Much of economics is simple: Makers of desirable, popular products can raise their prices--to some degree. One example: Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] confirmed in a blog post yesterday that it would raise prices on its 2013 Tesla Model S all-electric sport sedan in the next two or three weeks. But...

  • Tesla's retail store concept
    Injunction To Shut Tesla Store Denied In MA, Dealers To Fight On

    Score one for startup carmakers trying to do things differently. Last Friday, a judge denied a request by the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association for an injunction that would have shut down the Tesla Store in Natick, which opened on September 28. If the dealers' request had been...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S Signature
    2012 Tesla Model S: Consumer Reports Joins Chorus Of Praise (Unofficially)

    It isn't easy to impress Consumer Reports. Fisker Automotive knows this better than most, after its Karma range-extended sedan was savaged by the magazine earlier this year. In contrast, the 2012 Tesla Model S looks to have gone down rather well, CR describing it as "a revelation". High praise...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    Tesla Model S Buyers Face Year-End Deadline: $7,500 At Stake

    More than 13,000 people have put down deposits to join the waiting list for the Tesla Model S electric sports sedan. Each of us eagerly awaits delivery of our much-decorated, cutting-edge car. But as 2012 winds down, several hundred of us at the front of the queue are especially antsy. It's not...

  • Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk at Motor Trend 'Car of the Year' ceremony in New York City, Nov 2012
    Elon Musk, CEO Of 'Loser' Tesla, Suggests Romney Got It Wrong

    One week ago today, Americans elected a president. During the hard-fought campaign that preceded the election, Republican candidate Mitt Romney called Tesla a "loser" company, along with Fisker Automotive. Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] and other companies named by Romney had received loans or grants...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S Signature

    Tesla being what it is--a venture-funded startup battery-electric automaker in Silicon Valley--every utterance from its CEO Elon Musk becomes newsworthy. So a generalized hint at future development of its main product, the 2012 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan, becomes fodder for news stories. In this case, the brief mention came during Monday's earning call covering the third-quarter financial results of Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA]. As noted by AutoblogGreen, CEO Musk said, "There are a few other variants of the Model S that we'll come out with next year that I think are going to be pretty...

  • 2012 Tesla Model S, brief test drive, New York City, July 2012
    Tesla Model S Production Ramps Up, Company Says In Earnings Call

    The biggest question facing tiny Tesla Motors right now is whether it can ramp up production of its Model S all-electric sport sedan and deliver enough of them to paying customers that it can generate the income it needs to keep going. On the quarterly Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] earnings call this...

  • Jay Leno drives Tesla's Model S sedan
    Jay Leno Drives 2012 Tesla Model S Electric Car (Video)

    Larger-than-life TV presenter Jay Leno is known for his love and obsession of cars--and not just those fueled by gasoline. To prove it, he tests one of the hottest electric cars around in his latest video--the 2012 Tesla Model S. The comedian even counts a 1909 Baker Electric among his personal...

  • 1,000th body for 2012 Tesla Model S on display at Tesla Motors factory, Fremont, CA, Oct 28, 2012
    Update On 2012 Tesla Model S Production: 1,000 Bodies

    Tesla Motors is often frustratingly opaque about the company's progress in getting its 2012 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan up to mass production. Hard numbers come only from quarterly reports filed with the SEC--and sporadic tweets from Elon Musk, its CEO. According to one of those tweets...

  • Tesla Motors gallery in Houston Galleria, opened October 2011, with Model S on display
    Auto Dealers' Fight Against Tesla Stores: Elon Musk Weighs In

    Tesla Motors is facing a formidable opponent it may not have sufficiently appreciated: the auto dealers of America, and their state associations. Tesla, you may remember, is selling its electric cars online, not through franchised, independently owned dealers, and delivering them directly to buyers...

  • Tesla Model S Alpha build
    2012 Tesla Model S: Most Important New Car Since Ford Model T?

    There's no denying that the Ford Model T is one of the most important cars of all time. It jump-started the auto industry as we now know it. But Tesla is looking to change the automotive industry, and the new 2012 Model S just might be the most important new car since the Model T. Let's start with...

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