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

After months of speculation and waiting, the day has finally come. The U.S Department of Energy has announced it's approval of loans from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program (ATVMP). The ATVMP is a bill passed by Congress that awards $25 billion in loan guarantees to auto manufacturers. It is intended to spur alternative fuel development. Originally, it was expected that the Big Three automakers would benefit biggest from the program. Given their state of bankruptcy, overall financial condition and the fact that  they received bailout loans, both were made ineligible to receive ATVMP funding. Out of the three automakers announced today, Ford will be getting the most. $5.9 billion has been approved out of the - whoa- $11 billion it applied for. Nissan got it's entire $1.6 billion request granted, and will use the funds to modify it's Smyrna, Tennessee, manufacturing plant to produce 150,000 electric vehicles and 200,000

Tesla's recent sale of an 10% stake to Daimler wasn't valued at an exact amount in the joint press release by the two companies. That is an interesting fact, because in doing so they are hiding the valuation of the company. You'd think it's something they'd want to trumpet. The only official information about the investment was that it was in the "double digit millions". That would be a number between $10 and $99 million, and sources have it pegged at $50 million. At that price, Tesla's value would be $550 million.However a new report has that valuation working out to be nearly double that amount, to the tune of $1 billion! Of course we don't know whether this report is accurate or not but it does take into account a

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

A little over a month after unveiling the Model S sedan, Tesla Motors has announced today that the company has received over 1,000 orders. That is no doubt an impressive figure! Consider this; the company has no factory yet to produce the model and the purchase price is at around $50,000, in luxury territory. 1,000 orders is a number to be excited about. I can see why the car reached so many orders too. The car offers an incredible value proposition and Elon Musk has guaranteed to personally refund deposits should an "Armageddon scenario" happen to the company. This is the guy that founded PayPal and SpaceX; I think people have a lot of confidence that he will be able to deliver on the Model S's promises. Like

Like Autoblog pointed out, GM's Bob Lutz was often the most quotable auto executive out there, proving over and over again his propensity to say - interesting - things and get headlines because of it. Apparently Elon Musk thinks so as well. Free publicity! It all started with an original editorial in the New York Times, back in November of 2008. In the article columnist Randle Stross ripped Tesla. Witness: “It's all-electric technology remains woefully immature and don’t-even-ask expensive....The Roadster is not much more than a functioning concept car that sells for $109,000.” Needless to say, it was scathing. After a dustup with Tesla buyer and Silicon Valley tech guy John Calcanis, apparently NYT did a retraction and the article was rewritten. Why this is still relevant right now, I

There have been some Tesla Model S Videos that have come out since the car's introduction on March 26th. Driving videos, inside rides, etc. Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave some early customers test drives in the Model S and one of them remembered to bring along a video camera to capture the experience. Judging by the videos, the ride is surreal and quiet inside and the car seems to exhibit excellent handling characteristics. From the outside bystanders can hear the subtle whine of the electric engine as it the car accelerates. Very cool. Elon Musk also explains and shows you how the car's unique door handles work. They retract inside the bodywork to increase aerodynamics at speed. Here are all the most relevant videos that have come out about the car at this point. Enjoy! httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agSUjWsffew httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqL9RNSd5SY&feature=related httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfttXdRvIbk&feature=related httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ1uT3FRZQ8&feature=related httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8YN3MAHmhY

Model S envy? Maybe. Don't worry, I'd be jealous too Fisker. Tesla has been capturing all the headlines as of late with the Model S while Fisker, who is farther along on the journey to production, has been avoiding the limelight. Fisker has made it clear, espessially recently, that a lower-cost model was always in the future plan. A higher-end vehicle was needed to help subsidize some of the cost at the beginning. Even given the high cost of earlier entry that usually impairs new technologies, I'm impressed with the price that Fisker is able to offer the Karma. It certainly seems like something that will catch on with enough well-heeled customers. $87,900 for a beautiful, 4-door sedan with a 50-mile electric only range, available very soon? Sounds

It's no secret the two heavyweights in the alternative fuel realm are Chevrolet's Volt and Tesla's Model S. They're both practical vehicles with a (relatively) attainable price, seeking to be the car of the future. I love both of them and think each has merit for different demographics. Big surprise: Elon Musk doesn't. There was some talk last year of a Tesla range-extended electric vehicle but then the company quickly abandoned any thought of the idea and committed itself to all-electric vehicles. I think it was an important help in determining who the company is; they have the goal of being the first independent, full-line volume electric manufacturer. The site GM-Volt.com had a chance to ask Tesla's CEO Elon Musk about the whole situation. Here is their