Tesla News
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Once more into the fray: Another state's car dealers are pushing for legislation to ban Tesla Motors from selling its electric cars directly to buyers. This time it's Ohio. And legislators have unexpectedly moved up a hearing on the new law to today, according to a letter from Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA]. [UPDATE: The amendment was defeated. Via Transport Evolved, we learn that Tesla Motors Club Forum member PokerBroker–who attended the hearing this afternoon—posted the following message: “Ohio strikes down the amendment to SB137 which would limit Tesla’s direct sales and...
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How Dangerous Is Road Debris? It's THIS Dangerous (Video)You might have noticed a few recent high-profile stories about road debris puncturing the battery packs of Tesla Model S electric cars, causing fires. CEO and founder of Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA], Elon Musk, has remarked that despite these incidents, a similar situation would be far worse for...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla's Elon Musk Expects NHTSA To Clear Model S In FiresIt's been a bumpy few months for electric car maker, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA]. While enjoying the highs of high customer satisfaction and continued praise for the Model S electric sedan, the company has also endured high scrutiny for a trio of accident-related fires in its vehicles. CEO Elon Musk...
Antony Ingram -
Life With Tesla Model S: Even After Update, Vampire Draw RemainsThe Tesla Model S, for all its technical and design artistry, has a dirty little secret: the car has a substantial appetite for kilowatt-hours even when turned off and parked. Since the Model S was introduced in 2012, this "vampire" power drain from the cars sold so far has consumed roughly 15...
David Noland -
Consumer Reports Says Tesla Model S Customer Satisfaction HighestTesla might have had a bad day this week, but every cloud has a silver lining. While the NHTSA rebukes it for reporting a five-plus star crash test rating and the company suffers the departure of sales supremo George Blankenship, Model S customers couldn't be happier. In fact, their customer...
Antony Ingram -
Bad Day For Tesla: Sales VP Blankenship Out, NHTSA ThreatThere must be days where Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk feels his multiple burdens more acutely than others. Today may be one, because yesterday was not a good day for Tesla. First, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a new set of publicity rules for its crash-testing...
John Voelcker -
It's been quite a month for Tesla Motors and its CEO, Elon Musk. In the wake of three fires in Model S electric luxury sedans, a tsunami of media coverage about those fires, and a falling stock price--which may or may not be directly related--the company went on the offensive yesterday. MORE: Tesla Fires: What We Know, And What We Need To Find Out Musk posted a long message on the company's website, saying that Tesla was taking three separate actions to address the fires and the public perceptions of Model S safety. First, he wrote, the company will update the software on Model S cars to...
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Does George Clooney Really Hate Tesla Electric Cars?There it was, on the always-factual pages of the New York Post: George Clooney hates Teslas. On Monday, the tabloid published an article focusing on Clooney's comment at the very end of a recent Esquire interview that he'd been "on the side of the road a while" in his Tesla Roadster. Clooney owned...
John Voelcker -
Workers Burned In Industrial Accident At Tesla Motors PlantThree workers have suffered burns in an accident at the Fremont, California assembly plant, where Tesla Motors builds its Model S electric car. According to the company, a low-pressure aluminum casting press failed on Wednesday afternoon, spilling hot metal onto the workers. All three employees...
Antony Ingram -
How Tesla May Beef Up Its Model S Battery Protection SystemUnless your name is Brinks, you rarely hear the words "armor" and "car" mentioned in the same sentence. But two recent widely-publicized fires in the Tesla Model S electric car have put the spotlight on how its battery pack is protected from severe impacts underneath the car. MORE: Tesla Fires...
David Noland -
Tesla's Elon Musk: Model S Fires Overhyped, Car Is SafeRecent fires of Tesla Model S electric cars aren't worrying the company's CEO, Elon Musk--at least publicly. In a recent CNBC interview (via Forbes), the Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] founder said reports of the fires were little more than an overreaction by the press--and that Tesla's cars are still...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Fires: What We Know, And What We Need To Find OutThere have now been three separate fires among roughly 20,000 Tesla Model S electric luxury sedans on the world's highways. The most recent one, two days ago, seems to have set off a fresh round of Internet fulmination--combined with much opining on what the news would do to the falling stock price...
John Voelcker -
Tesla held its third-quarter earnings call yesterday evening, and CEO Elon Musk stayed pretty much on message. He reiterated that Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] continues to produce its Model S electric luxury sedan, at a current rate of 550 cars per week, and that it is working steadily to reduce the labor and parts costs of doing so. Musk answered questions from auto-industry analysts for roughly an hour after the release of the company's Q3 earnings letter. We'll leave the dissection of Tesla's financial results to them, but here are a few points we took away from the call and the letter...
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Yes, A Tesla Model S Can Hit 132 MPH On The Autobahn (Video)A few weeks back at the opening of a Tesla Motors service center in Munich, Elon Musk told a room full of fans and journalists that Tesla would offer a special tuning package for high-speed Model S driving. It makes a lot of sense--sections of Germany's Autobahn network are among the few roads on...
Antony Ingram -
Mercedes-Benz To Do More Projects With Tesla, Countering BMW i3?Look closely enough at the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive, and there's probably a little 'Tesla Motors' sticker hiding within its drivetrain. Likewise, eagle-eyed car-buyers may spot the occasional Mercedes-Benz interior component in the Tesla Model S. This curious cross-pollination is a result of...
Antony Ingram -
Panasonic Will Expand Battery Cell Supply For Tesla's Rising ProductionTesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] and technology company Panasonic have been working together for several years now, and that relationship is set to expand as Tesla seeks to meet its future battery needs. The two companies have reached an agreement for future automotive-grade lithium-ion battery supply...
Antony Ingram -
NHTSA: No Further Probe Of Tesla Model S Electric-Car FireThe NHTSA said it will not formally investigate the fire that engulfed a Tesla Model S electric car in Washington state.
Stephen Edelstein -
Elon Musk Opens New Tesla Store In London Mall: Live PhotosLast Thursday evening, Tesla opened another retail location in its push to expand electric-car sales outside the U.S. This one was in London's Westfield Mall, built along the lines of high-end U.S. malls west of the Notting Hill neighborhood. According to our man on the scene, the lighting was...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Motors new high-profile hire is Doug Field, a former Apple vice president and Ford engineer.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk Calls Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Cars "Waste Of Time"Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk is not a man to mince his words. We already know he's not a fan of other electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf or Chevrolet Volt, he doesn't really like plug-in hybrids, and he's quick to step in and defend his company whenever there's a hint of negative publicity. So...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Model S To Offer 'Autobahn' Tuning For Top Speed Over 130 MPHMost countries have their own road rules and regulations and it's no surprise that driving conditions and car requirements vary greatly as a result. One such country is Germany, where some sections of freeway--or Autobahn--have long been de-restricted. In other words, they have no posted speed...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Underground: Texas Franchise Rules Make Model S Owners Skirt The LawOver the last couple of years, Tesla Motors has fought legal and legislative battles in a number of states over proposed or current state laws that try to stymie its unique factory-direct sales and service model. In most cases--Massachusetts, New York, and North Carolina, among others--Tesla has...
David Noland -
Audi Sees Tesla As Direct Competitor, But Likes Dealers Over Direct SalesIt's always interesting hearing one automaker's opinion of another, and even more so when a huge global company has to concede that a young upstart is worth keeping an eye on. The huge global automaker in question is Audi, part of the massive Volkswagen group. And the young upstart? Tesla Motors of...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Cars To Use AT&T Wireless Internet ServiceAT&T will support the many Model S functions that rely on wireless Internet connections.
Stephen Edelstein