Tesla News
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The 2020 Tesla Model Y borrows some of the same underpinnings of the Model 3 sedan, and marries it to what so many American families today want: a crossover utility vehicle shape. As such, the Model Y has the potential to amount to an even greater sales success than the Model 3. The California carmaker may have been prescient in seeing a sweet spot for electric vehicles, but the Model Y corrects what many see as a mistake made by Tesla (along with some full-line automakers) years ago in choosing to prioritize sedans. A meandering development trail The Model Y, which has been teased in various...
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Electric crossover charge: These are the rivals to the Tesla Model YAs Tesla finds its sea legs as a larger-scale global automaker, the launch of the Model Y small crossover is its most critical test since the California company started in 2003. No other Tesla has faced this much competition. No other Tesla has faced much of any. When Tesla first delivered the...
Green Car Reports -
2020 Tesla Model Y, Mazda rotary, wider VW electric plans: The Week in ReverseWhich two companies announced expanded lines of plug-in hybrids this week? What big decision did Tesla take back? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending March 15, 2019. The big news this week was Tesla's unveiling of its...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla Model Y: Comparing some of the details vs. Model 3Tesla CEO Elon Musk prefaced his introduction of the company’s more affordable upcoming electric SUV, the Model Y, Thursday night, by noting how hard achieving at-scale mass production of Model X has been—and what a difficult year 2018 had been for him and Tesla. “It was pretty...
Bengt Halvorson -
2020 Tesla Model Y first details: 300-mile electric SUV, starting around $48kTesla’s Thursday night reveal event for the 2020 Tesla Model Y electric crossover SUV, just as previous events from the automaker, was raucous and packed with enthusiastic fans, including many who appeared to relish everything uttered by CEO Elon Musk. What made this event a bit of a...
Bengt Halvorson -
Mazda rotary hybrids, plug-in hybrid Ford F-250, EPA ethanol push: Today's ReportThe EPA releases a proposal to increase ethanol blends, even in the summer when it can increase smog. Mazda may have more plans for its rotary engine technology than a single new hybrid. Conversion company XL Hybrids releases its new Heavy Duty Ford F-250 Hybrid pickup. And we run down the best...
Eric C. Evarts -
Last week, Tesla announced it would close all its stores. This week, it said it would keep most of them open. Lots of people have speculated about the causes and effects of both moves, from rent owed, to state statutes, to the logistics of test drives. Our question is, what do potential electric-car buyers think? DON'T MISS: Tesla will raise prices on all but $35k Model 3, keep more stores open That's what we decided to ask our Twitter followers this week: "Do Tesla stores still matter?" If Tesla is to sell the Model Y, much less move on to selling the upcoming pickup it has planned, as well...
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Tesla stores, plug-in Jeeps, EPA fuel-economy, Colorado charging: Today's Car NewsTesla reversed its decision to go online only, and is keeping many stores open. Fiat Chrysler announced two new plug-in Jeeps for Europe. An annual EPA report shows rising fuel-economy standards are working—just as the EPA plans to gut them. And a new program aims to get Colorado ready for...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla will raise prices on all but $35k Model 3, keep more stores openTesla's announcement late February that it will close stores and move entirely to online sales has already been cause for a minor uproar, as news emerged about mammoth lease obligations it may need to keep. Those lease obligations potentially add up to $1.6 billion currently and $1.1 billion until...
Eric C. Evarts -
Volvo taking on Tesla with Chinese-built Polestar 2 electric car: details and photosAhead of the Geneva auto show, Volvo’s Polestar electrified performance-car brand has revealed its first all-electric model and first volume-production model, the Polestar 2. The Polestar could prove to be the strongest alternative yet to the Tesla Model 3, with pricing, range, performance...
Bengt Halvorson -
Tesla sets Model Y reveal date, hints at priceIn a Tweet Sunday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company will host an event on Thursday March 14 to reveal its long-planned Model Y SUV. The company will host a reveal event at its Hawthorne, California, design studios, as it has done with all previous models. The company said it will...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla Model 3 Standard Range arrives soon at $35,000 and 220 miles. Really.In 2016, Tesla created a fever pitch over its Model 3 promise: $35,000 with a range of 220 miles. The company claimed more than 450,000 reservations were made for the Model 3, at $1,000 each, in part because of that low price and high range. On Thursday, Tesla announced that its entry-level Model 3...
Bengt Halvorson -
This article has been updated to include a response from Tesla. Consumer Reports pulled its recommendation for the Tesla Model 3 again, after new survey data from its subscribers showed the car has below-average reliability, the organization announced today. CR surveys its subscribers annually about problems and satisfaction with their cars. "I want to emphasize that when it comes to owner satisfaction, the Tesla Model 3 is still the best," said test director Jake Fisher. "However, in those same surveys, people tell us that it breaks." Those breakages are what the organization uses to...
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Rivian deal, Corolla Hybrid, Tesla dog mode, charging tech: The Week in ReverseWhich non-automotive company just made a big bet on electric vehicles? What car just got safer for dogs? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending Feb. 15, 2019. This week's headlines had a lot to say about new (and potential)...
Eric C. Evarts -
Best deals, Kia Soul EV, Toyota ad, Tesla dog mode: Today's Car NewsIt's official on Rivian and Amazon. Tesla introduces a new Dog Mode to keep dogs cool in parked cars. Final EPA range estimates are released for the 2020 Kia Soul EV. We run down the best deals on hybrid, plug-in, and electric cars for February. And Toyota falls back on an old advertising theme...
Eric C. Evarts -
Dogs are cool, especially in Teslas with new Dog ModeJudging from recent news reports, it's all too easy to focus on the limitations on electric cars—range, recharge speeds, and most recently, their cold weather performance. Some things, though, electric cars can do that others can't. Take Tesla's new Dog Mode, announced by CEO Elon Musk on...
Eric C. Evarts -
Toyota Corolla Hybrid, flow batteries, Greenlots, GM-Tesla pickup rumor: Today's Car NewsThe EPA released impressive fuel-economy estimates for the 2019 Toyota Corolla Hybrid. Indiana professors combine ethanol, and fuel-cell tech in affordable next-gen electric-car battery. One-step Plug&Charge comes to Greenlots chargers. And a report reveals that Tesla may be supplying batteries...
Eric C. Evarts -
Rumor: GM electric pickup could come from TeslaLast month, the president of General Motors' GMC truck division said the brand was considering building an electric pickup. Now, according to a CleanTechnica report, that pickup could come from Tesla. Even the CleanTechnica reporter says to file this in the category of an enticing rumor, rather...
Eric C. Evarts -
As the first Tesla Model 3s land in European consumers' hands, reports show they may charge faster than those in the U.S. Honda signed a rare contract to procure electric-car batteries from a Chinese supplier. California passes a law requiring all buses in the state to go electric. And our latest Twitter poll asks readers what effect they think a Green New Deal might have. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Data from a charging network in Europe shows the Continent's new Model 3s—with CCS Combo charge ports instead of Tesla's traditional proprietary port—charge at higher...
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Tesla Model 3 could charge faster in Europe, charging network results suggestDeliveries of the Tesla Model 3 in Europe have just started. So too have some accounts of the most significant difference included in European-market versions of the electric sedan: their CCS Combo DC fast charging port. One of those first accounts has come from the European charging network...
Bengt Halvorson -
BMW iNext, electric Lyft, Tesla Model 3 price cut, profitable GM EVs: Today's Car NewsTesla cut prices on the Model 3—again. BMW revealed the next version of its iNext SUV winter testing in Sweden. Lyft plans to give customers and drivers electric lifts. And GM CEO Mary Barra says the company's electric cars won't be profitable until the early 2020s. All this and more on Green...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla Model 3 price cut another $1,100, for base price of $44,100For the second time in barely more than a month, Tesla has cut the price of its entry level Model 3. On Jan. 1, the company cut prices $2,000 on all its models to partly compensate for a $3,750 reduction in the federal tax credit its buyers can receive. (Tesla's tax credits are phasing down as...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla batteries, EPA comments, Hyundai and Kia plug-in availability: Today's Car NewsActing EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said electric cars are "not grounds for concern" at the EPA—yet highway safety and car prices are. Tesla buys a company that builds ultracapacitors. Hyundai and Kia aim to avoid the dreaded "compliance car" label with their EV sales—barely. We...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla buys ultracapacitor company to boost energy densityMaxwell Technologies, a San Diego company that specializes in ultracapacitor energy storage, announced Monday that it is being bought by Tesla in a stock swap valued at $218 million. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said in the past that he expects ultracapacitors could provide a more likely bet for a...
Eric C. Evarts