Car Throttle

Tesla is expanding! In more ways than one. The company has plans to open four new stores in the United States, as well as opening dealers internationally. Tesla has an unique way of selling it's vehicles that seems to be working out quite well for them. Each Tesla dealer is company owned and operated, which means they have the final say and control over everything. They set the prices, hire the salespeople, etc. There's nearly no downside to the "retail outlet" method for a high-end manufacturer like Tesla. The flagship store for Tesla's European foray is just being opened in London, a 5,000 sq. feet showroom in the high-end Knightsbridge district, not too far from the Heathrow Airport. Other planned European locations include stores in Monaco, Munich (home to

Oh dear, it looks like not even Ferrari is immune from the "green revolution". The company wisely didn't do anything to compromise it's heritage like build an SUV. I applaud them for that. Recent patents and public pronouncements from Ferrari have indicated the company is looking to make less of an environmental footprint. While it does seem anti-Ferrari (Just a tad....) that isn't neccessarily a bad thing. How they get there though definitely could be. I could see maybe greener plant that is more efficient or employing solar panels for instance. Or even in vehicles, things like lowering weight in the vehicles and attempting to make engines more efficient while not compromising power. But a hybrid? Regardless, Ferrari is forging ahead with one. Luca Cordero di Montezemolo confirmed at the Geneva Auto Show that they were working

You know it's the auto industry we're talking about when, after only a little time a market, a replacement for the Tesla Roadster is already being discussed. Like politics, it's never to early to start speculating, right?  Jonny Lieberman of the WebRidesTV blog gives us fodder to do just that, with his chance to sit down with Tesla's CEO Elon Musk for an interview. Surprisingly, he did not pick the company's all-important upcoming Model S as a topic of conversation. No, he asked about the next-generation Roadster. Some quite interesting information ensued that gives us a glimpse into Musk's thinking for the future. Tesla and Musk has always seemed to hold in high regard the German auto companies and German engineering, and that has proved true in reality with recent investment by

Who was expecting this? We already knew that Tesla and Daimler had collaborated on supplying an electric drivetrain for a run of electric Smarts. Beyond that, Daimler refused to offer any signs of a deeper collaboration. Tesla's CEO Elon Musk seemed particularly excited about the deal, but I just suspected that was due to the press factor of a major automaker coming to Tesla for powertrain technology. Now it appears something deeper was in the works all along. I think this deal is pretty amazing! Daimler and Tesla seem like a perfect fit. Daimler produced the first automobile and now it's being a part of it's electrification. In the press conference, the head of R&D at Mercedes, Dr. Thomas Weber, praised Tesla on it's know how and for it's success in

The ink is hardly dry on the announcement for Fisker's new range-extended electric vehicle, the Karma and yet the company head Henrik Fisker is already talking about a successor. The company has come such a long way since its original inception. Originally the company sold coach built vehicles like the Tramonto and Latigo CS. The Tramonto was based on the Mercedes-Benz SL and the Latigo CS on the BMW 6-Series. Smartly, the company used those models to produce a profit that would help investors kick down the cash to develop dedicated vehicles like the Karma.   Henry Fisker's dream is being realized! Like Tesla, the company has applied for Department of Energy loan guarantees. Fisker hopes to use that money to develop a new low cost model, using the same

The Prius price cut that Toyota recently announced is having a huge effect! That move was in response to Honda and it's "hybrid for the people" the Insight. Recently the Insight became Japan's top selling vehicle, the first ever hybrid to take that top stop.  No doubt that was a huge achievement!  Everyone speculated the Insight would leave the Prius in the dust with such low pricing. I guess that might not be the case! After the price cut, the Insight reign as number 1 may not last long, considering these numbers coming out of Toyota. I wrote an article recently stating that Toyota was expecting 40,000 preorders for the Prius when all was said and done. Well they blew past that estimate!  Japanese newspaper the Nikeii is reporting 75,000pre-orders for

All around the world, efforts are being made to move to a future of renewable fuels. That's most certainly a good development. Whatever the reasoning for your support, like independence from foreign fuels or helping the environment, progress is a good thing. But, there are times when things can be taken way too far. Case in point? Norway. That's Kristin Halvorsen, Norway's Finance Minister. I've talked about the Nordic model of social democracy in other posts about Saab and Sweden. Sweden has denied Saab government funding, in what is an unusual change from what considered normal in that country. Normally, government can't get big enough in Sweden, but apparently that desire is being reconsidered. Normally governments offer incentives to get consumers to move into greener vehicles. Under this proposal though,

It's already been well established that no one is immune to this economic crisis, but the fact is same are faring better then others. VW and Hyundai are two volume automakers still managing a profit. For Honda, things have turned sour just like they have at rival Toyota. What's surprising though is the similarity to Honda's numbers and Ford's. The Fourth Quarter is when everything turned really bad; Lehman Brothers, AIG. The whole September stock market crisis and the $700 billion bailout is when things took a dramatic turn for the worse. So naturally, that is when the companies would be posting their largest losses. Ford for instance wants you to compare it's latest results from the cash burn in Q4, saying that it shows a huge improvement

With it's competitors (primarily GM, right now) undergoing a lot of turmoil in the public eye, Ford is working to set itself apart. It's has introduced a new advertising campaign focusing on the product, aiming to attract buyers who are scared of  bankruptcy (The "B" word) over at General Motors. The Ford Fusion Hybrid has been on the receiving end of a lot of good press and heavy marketing by Ford. The public has been impressed with it's fuel economy numbers.  The Fusion Hybrid is rated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the most fuel-efficient mid-size sedan on the market today. That's impressive, so it's fitting Ford would want to highlight those numbers. So, Ford sent out a team of engineers and fuel economy experts to

Compatibility can be a huge headache. You know, power cords, headphone jacks, etc. Wouldn't it be nice if everything was just standardized? Certainly would. Automakers are trying to avoid that same headache on a much bigger and more important scale; the future of the automobile. Because of that, the companies are working on a standardized electric vehicle charging plug. I'm glad it's something that's being discussed ahead of time before tons of non-compatible vehicles are out there on the road. This is exactly what needs to be done in order to help open the doors to electric vehicle adoption. Eliminating confusion over things like this will reduce anxiety and help break down barriers in people's minds. It's just makes sense. Say you're an potential buyer of either a pure