Will GM or Tesla buyers lose electric-car tax credits first? (updated)

Tesla Model 3A major contributor to electric-car sales is the program under which buyers of new electric cars qualify for a federal income-tax credit of up to $7,500. But these tax credits are not unlimited. Once a manufacturer reaches sales of 200,000 plug-in electric cars (after December 31, 2009), the credits start to phase out for that company's cars...

Tesla wins another, licensed to sell electric cars in Rhode Island

Rhode Island license plate. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.Tesla can now add another notch to its sales board. Rhode Island will allow the direct sale of Teslas and has issued a state dealer license to the company to open a dealer in Warwick. Additionally, the city itself issued its own license to the electric-vehicle manufacturer, which plans to take over the former site of a Hyundai dealer in the city...

Tesla Model 3: what parts breakdown says about high-volume electric car

2017 Tesla Model 3, 2017 Los Angeles Auto ShowTesla CEO Elon Musk has aspirations of vertically integrating his companies as much as possible, trying to avoid traditional suppliers wherever he can. While Tesla has been successful in developing things like their electric motors in-house, the company still relies on others for many of the components that go into its cars. The Model 3 was...

Tesla Model 3 Long Range rating of 310 miles: Is it understated?

2017 Tesla Model 3, in photo tweeted by Elon Musk on July 9, 2017Amidst all the coverage on Wednesday of the Tesla Model 3 production numbers, we realized we'd forgotten one piece of the Model 3 saga. That would be the official EPA range and efficiency ratings for the 2017 Tesla Model 3 Long Range version. Those were issued at the end of November, and they seemed worth highlighting as a way to compare the Model...

Tesla delivers 1,550 Model 3s in Q4; Models S, X over 100,000 in 2017

2017 Tesla Model 3 and Model S in Tesla assembly plant parking lot, Fremont, CA, November 2017Tesla said it delivered 1,550 Model 3 electric cars between October 1 and December 31 last year, but built 2,425 over the same period. That compares to a total of 260 Model 3s delivered in the third quarter, after a splashy "handover event" in which the first 30 cars were delivered to buyers. The Model 3, the electric car starting at $35,000, is...

One Tesla Model S plus one 97-year-old grandfather: video magic

Zev Gitalis takes his 97-year-old grandfather for a ride in his Tesla Model S electric car [YouTube]"I hear you got an electric car," says a 97-year-old man, looking every bit like a 97-year-old man, suspenders and all. "Is it outside?" The man behind the camera is Zev Gitalis, and the man in front of the camera is his grandfather. DON'T MISS: South's good ol' boy drag racers whupped by Tesla, not happy about it Outside sits not a Nissan Leaf...

All-wheel drive now standard on all Tesla Model S, Model X cars

2017 Tesla Model STesla now offers roughly the same percentage of its model lineup with standard all-wheel-drive configuration as famed AWD proponent Subaru. The Silicon Valley electric-car maker has completely ditched rear-wheel drive in its Model S hatchback sedans and Model X crossover utility vehicles. Only its Model 3 smaller sedan remains available (at some...

Tesla Model 3: impressions of a BMW i3 driver (and reservation holder)

Tesla Model 3 with BMW i3 driver Tom Moloughney, Dec 2017  [photo: Tom Moloughney]Getting an opportunity to road test and review a Tesla Model 3 electric car has thus far proved a very difficult task. Since the Model 3 launched in July, Tesla has only been delivering them to employees, friends of the company, and a handful of prior Tesla owners—and most have been eerily silent about their cars. Though it’s been...

Electric car buyers’ struggle: practicality vs luxury, Chevy vs Tesla

Tesla Model 3 found on CraigslistCompetition for the title of most popular electric car has sparked a long and highly charged race between Tesla and Chevrolet. Though these brands offer vastly different versions of electric vehicles, they seem to be the two dominating electric vehicle sales in 2017. Reports show that top monthly electric car sales rotated between the Chevy Volt...

Judge sides with Tesla, slams dealer association in Missouri

Tesla Store Los Angeles [photo: Misha Bruk / MBH Architects]Since Tesla began selling electric cars directly to customers throughout the U.S., the electric-vehicle maker has had to play franchise-law whack-a-mole in multiple state courts. On Tuesday, Tesla scored a decisive victory when the Missouri Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's ruling that would have left Tesla without a state dealer license...

How many Model 3s will Tesla deliver by Dec 31? Twitter poll results, again

2017 Tesla Model 3, 2017 Los Angeles Auto ShowWhat a difference a few months makes. In June, one month before the delivery of the first 30 Tesla Model 3, we polled our Twitter followers on how many of the lower-priced electric cars Tesla would deliver by the end of this year. The view then was pretty rosy, with more than half the respondents saying the company would have sold more than 10,000...

Configuring a Tesla Model 3: buyer walks through the process with us

2017 Tesla Model 3 electric car online configuratorVery few of the 455,000 people who put down $1,000 to reserve a place in line for the Tesla Model 3 electric car have received the opportunity yet to configure their cars online and place a firm order. The volume of Model 3s is still apparently at low numbers—a few hundred last month, according to rumors and reports—as the company...

Life with Tesla Model S: musings on new Tesla Roadster

2020 Tesla RoadsterLike almost everyone else, I was blown away by Tesla’s surprise introduction of the second-generation Roadster at the recent semi-truck reveal event. Zero to sixty in 1.9 seconds, a 620-mile range, gorgeous sleek lines, and a price of $200,000. Mind-blowing indeed. But a few of the new Roadster’s numbers didn’t add up for me...

Tesla opens second huge China charging station for 50 electric cars

2014 Tesla Model S in ChinaIt's only fitting that the country making a monumental push for more electric vehicles is getting the world's biggest Tesla Supercharger stations. Tesla's website shows more than 150 Supercharger locations are now operating in China. But its two new locations in Shanghai and Beijing are the largest Supercharger sites in the world: Each is big...

Tesla Model 3 Long Range electric car tested by Motor Trend

2017 Tesla Model 3Within the last week, we wrote that not one major automotive media outlet had independently tested the less-expensive and higher-volume Tesla Model 3. That changed on Monday, when Motor Trend published the first instrumented test of Tesla's affordable electric car. This gives us the first independent look at the performance and specifications of...