Tag Archives: Tesla

Why States Are Lining Up To Block Tesla

By Micheline Maynard

Consumers and investors are fascinated by Tesla Motors. The Tesla Model S electric car has won rave reviews from publications such as Consumer Reports, while shareholders are making a killing on Tesla stock.

The Tesla Model S

The Tesla Model S

So, why would any state want to block Tesla from doing business?

Yesterday, New Jersey officials affirmed the state’s law that allows only franchised auto dealers to sell vehicles. That essentially blocks Tesla, which sells its vehicles directly to consumers. The carmaker is expected to close its operations in New Jersey by April 1.

New Jersey joins Texas and Arizona in specifically blocking companies that sell directly, and since there’s only one out that, that means Tesla isn’t welcome in those three places. Other states have rebuffed Tesla’s efforts to open showrooms and service cars.

The reason is that car dealers are one of the strongest lobbies in the country, and they’re determined to protect their turf. Continue reading

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Filed under cars, laws

Do We Really Have To Get Rid Of All The Cars?

photo(14)By Micheline Maynard

For the past few days, I’ve been thinking about something I spotted on The Atlantic Monthly’s website. It’s called, “The Case Against Cars In 1 Utterly Entrancing GIF.” You can take a look at it here.

Basically, the animation shows a street full of cars, flashing to their drivers seated on the road. Then those people are grouped, and loaded onto a streetcar. The point of the GIF is to show how public transit reduces congestion.

Since Curbing Cars launched this summer, I’ve been struck by the polarization in the discussion over transportation use. At one end are people who think cars are evil and to be avoided at all costs. At the other end are those who love automobiles and think the people who despise them are crazy.

There’s very little discussion about the middle ground, which is where I think many Americans are heading, and will be heading in the next few years. That is, cars as part of a mix of personal transportation, but not the only option. It’s what the Livable Streets Coalition calls “driving light,” and which others call “living car light.”

That seems to make perfect sense, and yet, as with many moderate points of view, that thought seems to be getting overlooked. Continue reading

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Filed under cars, Curbing Cars, Driving, public transportation, walking

Elon Musk Dreams Of Building Teslas Everywhere

By Micheline Maynard

The Tesla Model S, image via Motor Trend.

Tesla Motors has become the darling of investors, and the buzz of the technology world. Everyone seems fascinated by the Model S, the $70,000 electric sedan that recently got the highest ratings ever from the federal government.

Teslas are built in Fremont, Calif., at the same factory that General Motors and Toyota once used for a joint venture. Before that, Fremont was a GM plant.

Fremont is capable of producing 500,000 cars a year, and Elon Musk, the billionaire who started Tesla, has vowed he’s going to fill the place up with electric sedans and a crossover vehicle that’s due next year.

But he also has bigger plans.

As I outline in Forbes, Musk is starting to look at factory locations in Europe, Asia and elsewhere in the United States. He told Bloomberg TV that he’s going to need more capacity when Tesla introduces a small luxury car later this decade.

That brings up some questions: how big can Tesla become? And what will that mean to the rest of the auto industry?

Read the story and let us know what you think about Tesla. Has it caused you to rethink the way you get around? We’d love to hear from any Model S owners in our audience.

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Filed under cars, Driving