sport sedans

  • 2013 Tesla Model S

    Tomorrow at 5 pm Eastern, Tesla will hold what may be its most eagerly awaited conference call to date. The Silicon Valley startup automaker will discuss its first-quarter financial results--which will give the first clue to its financial viability as an operating automaker. But Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] will have raked in revenue not only from selling electric cars, but also by selling those cars' zero-emission vehicle credits to other automakers. Tesla sold "more than 4,750" Model S electric sport sedans last quarter, the company said on April 1 (no, it wasn't an April Fool's joke), and...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    2013 Tesla Model S 'Performance Plus' Package, Other Options, Added

    The 2013 Tesla Model S electric car wouldn't be defined as a supercar--which is, more or less by custom, a two-seat sports car, not a large sedan. But to take the luxury plug-in sedan "into supercar handling territory," Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] has announced a new "Performance Plus" suspension and...

  • Tesla owners & supporters gather in Statehouse in Austin to support company [photo: John Griswell]
    Tesla Hires New Engineering VP From Luxury Maker Aston Martin

    While CEO Elon Musk is doing another tweet-hyped conference call today, Tesla has a lot going on in the background. Not only is it building and selling Model S electric luxury sport sedans, but Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] has quietly hired a new vice president of vehicle engineering. That new VP is...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    How You Can Buy a 2013 Tesla Model S Now, With No Waiting

    Good news for rich, impatient, picky Tesla Model S electric-car wannabes! If you're looking to buy right now--but can't abide a car sullied by a few thousand miles of loaner-car duty under the recently announced buy-it-now program--Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] now offers a new but little-known option...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S before DC-to-Boston road trip, Feb 2013 [photo: Aaron Schildkraut]
    Tesla Tunes Up Model S Warranty, Loaner Cars, Service Plan

    On Friday, Tesla held a media call to reveal another in the series of announcements touted in tweets by CEO Elon Musk. This time, the news covered enhancements to the warranty and service experience on its Tesla Model S electric luxury sport sedan. Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] is now delivering several...

  • Tesla Model S
    AWD Tesla Model S Coming Soon? (Warning: Pure Speculation)

    With the delay of its Model X crossover until "late in 2014," it may look as if Tesla's product pipeline is running dry. But we suspect the Silicon Valley startup electric-car company will offer a few new variants on its sole product, the Model S luxury sport sedan. And an obvious next step for...

  • Elon Musk

    Several thousand Tesla owners have now purchased their cars by ordering and paying for them online after visiting a Tesla Store showroom. No franchised dealers are involved. That's a model that Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] feels is crucial to getting its electric cars into the mainstream. State and national auto-dealer groups strongly disagree. Very, very strongly. Taking it Federal Now Tesla's ambitious CEO Elon Musk suggests that perhaps the company will attempt to ensure its legal right to sell cars directly at a Federal level. In an interview last week with trade journal Automotive News, he...

  • Tesla Model S cars parked on Santana Row, San Jose, CA, April 2013 [photo: Anton Wahlman]
    Does Tesla Already Outsell Audi, BMW, Lexus & Mercedes-Benz?

    The established German luxury brands--Mercedes-Benz and BMW--have sold cars in the U.S. for decades. So how could Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] possibly be beating them at their own game? The answer lies in how you define sales: It appears that the Tesla Model S electric sport sedan is outselling both...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan on delivery day, with owner David Noland
    Life With 2013 Tesla Model S: Some Bikes Don't Fit

    I've now had my 2013 Tesla Model S for six weeks since it was delivered in late February, and I'm getting used to living with it. I've recharged at the Supercharger network, measured its vampire current usage at night, tested the impact of speed on range, and even experienced my first software...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan [photo by owner David Noland]
    Life With 2013 Tesla Model S: Range Penalty At Speed Is Lower Than Expected

    I've been surprised and delighted by how efficiently my new 2013 Tesla Model S has been running at higher speeds. Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] hammers home the message that high speeds can drastically reduce the range of any Model S. It cautions that its original range figure of 230 miles for my 60-kWh...

  • 'Revenge of the Electric Car' premiere: Elon Musk arrives in a Tesla Roadster
    Oh, Tesla: Your 'Lease' Is Smart, But That Calculator Wasn't

    Well, that didn't take long. Yesterday, just before 5 pm Eastern time, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] released details of its new "lease-like" financing product. The general consensus in the media (we read a lot of Tesla coverage here, folks) has been that it's smart for Tesla to offer financing for its...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    Tesla Model S Electric-Car Deliveries For Q1: 4,750-Plus, Says Company

    When the news is good, you want to get it out there. Last night, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] released a statement saying that it had delivered more than 4,750 Model S cars from January 1 through March 31 of this year. The statement came before the first quarter of 2013 had even technically ended...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S

    With a backlog of more than 10,000 depositors for the Tesla Model S, its maker is making and delivering electric luxury sedans as fast as it can. Among other benefits, that may allow Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] to achieve CEO Elon Musk's suggestion that the company could be profitable for the first quarter of this year. George Blankenship, Tesla's vice president of worldwide sales and ownership experience, said in December that the company had reached its target production rate of 400 cars a week. And that 400-cars-per-week production rate was backed up in January by Jerome Guillen, director of...

  • Tesla Model S parked in Menlo Park, California, March 2013 [photo: Eugene Lee]
    Tesla Model S Update: 3,000th Electric Sedan Delivered In CA

    In the last few weeks, it's almost become a cliche: drivers in Silicon Valley say they see as many Tesla Model S electric luxury sedans on the roads as they do Nissan Leafs or Chevrolet Volts. With a likely total production of perhaps 6,000 cars thus far, the Model S is outnumbered on U.S. roads by...

  • Tesla Model S with DISRUPT license plate, March 2013 [photo: Sam Villella]
    Had To Happen: Tesla Model S Spawns 'Teslacessories' Startup

    Accessories are a huge part of the auto business, and for every car, somewhere there's a business (or a few dozen) offering aftermarket items the manufacturer hasn't, can't, or won't provide. And so it turns out to be for the Tesla Model S, the all-electric sport sedan from Silicon Valley startup...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan [photo by owner David Noland]
    Life With 2013 Tesla Model S: 'Vampire' Thirst For Electricity At Night?

    A couple of weeks ago, shortly after I took delivery of my 2013 Tesla Model S, I noticed that my home electric meter seemed to be running a bit faster than normal. I keep a close eye on my meter, but that seemed odd. After all, the long-awaited new luxury sport sedan delivered to my house in...

  • Elon Musk signs new 2013 Tesla Model S at Tesla Store opening, Austin, Texas [photo: John Griswell]
    How To Get A Tesla Model S 'Elon Musk Signature Edition'

    Why would Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk take a Sharpie to the sun visor of an all-but-new Tesla Model S electric sport sedan? It wasn't a question we'd considered until a reader tipped us off to a photo on Flickr that showed just that. And we were intrigued enough to contact Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA}...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan on delivery day, with owner David Noland
    Life With 2013 Tesla Model S: The Good & The Bad At 600 Miles

    Two weeks and 600 miles ago, I took delivery of a 60-kWh 2013 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan. I won't dwell on the ear-flattening acceleration, nor the magic-carpet ride and handling, nor the mesmerizing 17-inch touch screen controls. Those features have been exhaustively analyzed and reported...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan on delivery day, with owner David Noland

    After 1,386 days of waiting, I first glimpsed my new 2013 Tesla Model S electric sport sedan at a local discount tire store. The Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] delivery rep who was bringing the car up from the New Jersey distribution center to my house in New York's Hudson Valley had called me from the road, to say he was going to be late. The car hadn't yet gotten its New York state inspection, so he was stopping by the tire store, about three miles away from my home, to get the inspection and sticker for the Model S--sitting on a trailer behind his truck. I sat in my kitchen twiddling my thumbs...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S before DC-to-Boston road trip, Feb 2013 [photo: Aaron Schildkraut]
    Tesla Model S Owners Crowdsource Trip To Counter NY Times Report

    It's been a week of Tesla Model S hullabaloo, centered around last Sunday's critical New York Times road test, Stalled Out on Tesla's Electric Highway. Now a set of defiant Tesla Model S owners are setting out to prove Times reporter John Broder wrong. They will replicate his trip from Maryland to...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    Ignore The NY Times; Does Tesla Model S Own Silicon Valley Already?

    Yes, there's a big imbroglio going on right now over an article in The New York Times, followed by some tweets (1, 2, and 3) from Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk contradicting it. We're ignoring that, for the moment. Instead, we're bringing you an idea that made us chuckle. That idea is that the Tesla...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S in Queens, NY, service center, awaiting delivery to buyer David Noland, Feb 2013
    2013 Tesla Model S Ready For Delivery: So Close & Yet So Far

    After just about four years of waiting, my 2013 Tesla Model S has arrived. Almost. The call from the Tesla delivery rep came on February 4, the last day of the two-week delivery window promised back in December. My car, with metallic green paint, 60-kilowatt-hour battery pack, black leather...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    Tesla Model S Performance: Fastest Electric Car (Video)

    The Tesla Model S Performance looks great on paper. Not only does the 85 kWh Model S have an impressive 265-mile EPA-rated range, but it'll do the benchmark 0-60 mph sprint in only 4.4 seconds. That means the all-electric luxury sport sedan from Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] is at least as fast as V-8...

  • 2013 Tesla Model S
    Tesla Model S: Glitches, Quirks, and Peccadilloes Roundup

    To put it mildly, the Tesla Model S has been a resounding success. The New York Times has called the all-electric luxury sport sedan a game-changer, comparable to the Model T Ford. It's won virtually every 2012 "Car of the Year" honor, including the only unanimous Motor Trend award in the...

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