sport sedans
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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...
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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...
John Voelcker -
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...
John Voelcker -
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...
David Noland -
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...
John Voelcker -
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...
John Voelcker -
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...
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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...
John Voelcker -
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...
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...
David Noland -
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...
John Voelcker -
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...
John Voelcker -
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...
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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...
John Voelcker -
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...
John Voelcker -
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...
David Noland -
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}...
John Voelcker -
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...
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...
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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...
John Voelcker -
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...
John Voelcker -
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...
David Noland -
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...
Antony Ingram -
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...
David Noland