Tag: TESLA

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Tesla Unveils Model S Plaid, the ‘quickest production car ever made’

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Paramus NJ, Tesla revealed a new high-performance Plaid version of the Model S on Thursday on a livestream. The event and delivery of the Model S were delayed as the vehicle needed more tweaking. It is expected to begin shipping to customers in March. The new Plaid has an estimated range of 390 miles, a top speed of 200mph, and can reach 0-60mph in 1.99 seconds. It features a simple interior, a landscape touchscreen, a stalkless U-shaped butterfly steering wheel, and an added screen for rear-seat passengers.

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The Evolution of Modern Car Technology

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Numerous vehicle purchasers settle on buying choices dependent on the innovation fitted to their new ride. Indeed, almost 60% of recent college grads and 40% of more established grown-ups would change brands if another vehicle producer offered the innovation they needed. Furthermore, a normal purchaser would pay over $2,200 more to have the innovation highlights they needed in their vehicle. The tech additionally must be anything but difficult to utilize. On the off chance that the innovation wasn’t natural, in excess of 30% of purchasers said they’d take a gander at a totally unique vehicle.

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Feds Examine How Tesla Autopilot Reacts to Crossing Traffic

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By TOM KRISHER, AP AUTO WRITER

DETROIT — Jul 12, 2016, 4:45 PM ET

Federal investigators looking into electric car maker Tesla Motors’ Autopilot system after a fatal crash in Florida are zeroing in on the limitations of the system and how it reacts when obstacles cross its path.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday posted a nine-page letter seeking information from Tesla about Autopilot and why it failed to detect a tractor-trailer that crossed in front of a Model S sedan May 7 in Williston, Florida.

Much of the letter seeks information on how the system works at intersections with crossing traffic, but it also asks Tesla to describe how the system detects “compromised or degraded” signals from cameras and other sensors and how such problems are communicated to drivers.

The crash in Williston killed former Navy Seal Joshua Brown, 40, of Canton, Ohio. Tesla, which collects data from its cars via the Internet, says the cameras on Brown’s Model S sedan failed to distinguish the white side of a turning tractor-trailer from a brightly lit sky and the car didn’t automatically brake.

The safety agency also asked Tesla for its reconstruction of the Brown crash, and for details of all known crashes, consumer complaints and lawsuits filed or settled because the Autopilot system didn’t brake as expected.

NHTSA said Tesla must comply with its request by Aug. 26 or face penalties of up to $21,000 per day, to a maximum of $105 million.

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/feds-seek-autopilot-data-tesla-crash-probe-40515954

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Who woulda thunk it: Tesla crash highlights real problem behind self-driving cars

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By Douglas Rushkoff

Updated 8:06 PM ET, Fri July 1, 2016

CNN)We think of automobiles as American as baseball, apple pie, and hotdogs – or at least that’s what the car advertisers have gotten us to believe.

But as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s investigation into a fatal self-driving car accident should remind us, the automobile’s centrality to the American way of life was an expensive and political battle with nearly uncountable human casualties.

https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/01/opinions/tesla-self-driving-car-fatality-rushkoff/

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Tesla boosts range, power and price of low-end Model S

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APRIL 9, 2015    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015, 1:21 AM

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS |
WIRE SERVICE

* Electric car maker’s CEO says new all-wheel drive model is aimed at luring BMW and Mercedes buyers

DETROIT — Electric car maker Tesla Motors is going after mainstream luxury car buyers by adding all-wheel drive and more range and power to the base version of its only model.

But the added features at the low end of the Model S lineup will come with about a 7 percent price increase, to $75,000 for those buying the cars. The base lease price will rise to $838 per month from $796 for 12,000 miles per year.

Tesla will stop selling the old base Model S called the 60. The $70,000 rear-drive car with a 380-horsepower motor could go 208 miles on a single charge and from zero to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds.

The new all-wheel drive model, called the 70D, can go a government-certified 240 miles per charge, has 514 horsepower and can go from zero to 60 in 5.2 seconds. Buyers also get free access to Tesla’s network of quick-charging stations and some other standard features.

CEO Elon Musk says with a $7,500 federal tax credit that takes the price to $67,500, plus tax credits in some states, the new version is price-competitive with BMW’s midsize 5-Series, or the Mercedes E-Class when you add in savings from not buying gasoline. BMW’s 5 Series starts around $50,000, while the E-Class starts at close to $52,000.

He said Tesla, which is based in Palo Alto, Calif., needed all-wheel drive to appeal to luxury buyers, especially in colder climates such as the Northeast, where most luxury cars are sold. About 58 percent of the luxury car market in the U.S. is all-wheel drive, according to Kelley Blue Book.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/tesla-boosts-range-power-and-price-1.1305411

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Tesla recharged: Assembly panel to take up bill to allow sales in NJ stores

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Tesla recharged: Assembly panel to take up bill to allow sales in NJ stores

TRENTON — A bill to allow Tesla to once again sell its electric cars from New Jersey stores is scheduled for a hearing today.

The Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee this morning plans to vote on the measure (A3216) that would allow manufacturers of zero-emission vehicles – like Tesla – to sell them at up to four stores in New Jersey.

Under the bill, Tesla – or any other company that goes into the business – would have to open up at least one service center in the state as well.

Tesla has two locations in New Jersey, in Paramus and Short Hills, but it was forced to stop selling cars directly from them in April when the Motor Vehicles Commission — made up of cabinet officials of Gov. Chris Christie’s administration and appointees — passed a rule requiring car companies sell cars through dealers, which is contrary to Tesla’s sales model.

Tesla appealed the rule change.

Christie defended the decision, saying the commission was merely following state law by requiring Tesla to go through dealers, and that it’s up to the Legislature to change it.

Jim Appleton, president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, said he plans to have a statement on the bill tomorrow but that his group has yet to take a stance on it.

New Jersey customers who want to buy a car from Tesla can still purchase it online on in other states’ showrooms.  (Friedman/Star-Ledger)

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/06/tesla_recharged_assembly_panel_to_take_up_bill_to_allow_sales_in_nj.html#incart_river

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Tesla Fights New Jersey Ban on Direct Car Sales in Court

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Tesla Fights New Jersey Ban on Direct Car Sales in Court

Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) appealed New Jersey’s ban on direct auto sales, arguing that the decision thwarts the carmaker’s mission of providing sustainable transportation and unfairly favors entrenched franchise dealers.

The action comes as Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive officer and co-founder, fights with car dealer groups across the U.S. to let the Palo Alto, California-based maker of electric Model S sedans sell directly to consumers from company stores.

Tesla challenged a direct-sales ban imposed by a New Jersey commission in state Superior Court, according to documents made available by the company. The filing couldn’t immediately be verified in court records.

Restrictions by U.S. states on how Tesla sells its battery-powered Model S, priced from $71,000, would slow Musk’s plan to shift his company from a niche maker of battery-powered luxury cars to an automotive powerhouse. Tesla’s fight with dealers has increased scrutiny of U.S. auto franchise rules that go back eight decades.

“Franchise dealers have an inherent conflict of interest in selling electric vehicles,” Tesla said in court papers. “In order to do so effectively, they would need to enthusiastically tout the reasons why electric vehicles are superior to gasoline vehicles. This is not something that they are going to do since gasoline vehicles represent virtually all of their revenue.”

Tesla rose 6.1 percent to $230.29 at the close in New York, the biggest one-day jump since Feb. 25. The shares have advanced 53 percent this year. (Pearson and Ohnsman/Bloomberg)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-02/tesla-…

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NJ CRONY CAPITALISTS PUT THE BRAKES ON TESLA

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NJ CRONY CAPITALISTS PUT THE BRAKES ON TESLA
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New Jersey: The Latest State to Quash Tesla Sales

March 12, 2014 at 11:20:00 AM by Andrew Moseman
https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/auto-blog/new-jersey-the-latest-state-to-try-to-stop-tesla-sales-16585709?click=pm_lates

Today, it’s New Jersey that wants to ban auto manufacturers from selling cars directly to consumers, a move that appears aimed at Tesla and its no-dealership model.

The last time we reported from the Tesla wars, it was Ohio that was considering the same type of ban, with the statehouse under pressure from influential local dealerships to quash Tesla’s way of doing business. This week, while Tesla reps are in the Buckeye State working out a compromise, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission is threatening to cut off the EV maker.

A spokesperson for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie told Bloomberg:

“Since Tesla first began operating in New Jersey one year ago, it was made clear that the company would need to engage the Legislature on a bill to establish their new direct-sales operations under New Jersey law. This administration does not find it appropriate to unilaterally change the way cars are sold in New Jersey without legislation and Tesla has been aware of this position since the beginning.”

Tesla’s response:

That’s exactly what we were doing, New Jersey. Elon Musk’s company responded with a blog post today saying that it was happy to work out a solution in the New Jersey legislature, but that Christie “has gone back on its word to delay a proposed anti-Tesla regulation so that the matter could be handled through a fair process in the Legislature.”

If you haven’t been following Tesla’s state-by-state legal maneuverings, the crux of the matter is that the company doesn’t want to sell its EVs through a locally owned dealership, the way you’d buy a Ford, Chevy, or just about any other new car. But those local dealerships have every incentive in the world to stop direct-to-consumer sales from spreading, which is why they’re flexing so much political muscle over a relatively tiny number of cars that Tesla sells. So far only Texas and Arizona have laws on the books to stop Tesla’s method, but several others have discussed it. New Jersey’s new rules would go into effect April 1.