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Recharge Wrap-up: Honda releases "Green Dealer" Guide, Tesla's China president steps down

Honda has released its "Green Dealer" Guide to the public. The guide, which is used to outline ways for Honda and Acura dealerships to be more environmentally responsible can also help other businesses take the same steps to green up their practices, save energy and even save money in the process. The guide, which ranks dealers based on a points system, provides incentive to dealerships to implement the environmentally practices, but it also helps Honda assert itself as a leader for green business. Read more at Automotive News or in the press release below. Nissan Leaf owners in the UK love their car, and aren't looking back at their fossil-fueled past. According to a survey by Nissan, 93 percent use the EV as their main family vehicle. 89 percent report saving money driving, 64 percent prefer it to driving a conventionally powered car and 95 percent would recommend the car to a friend. Most said they wouldn't go back to a gas or diesel car. One owner even gave up his Aston Martin for a second Leaf so he and his wife wouldn't argue over who got to drive the EV to work each day. That's love. Read more at Next Green Car and at Hybrid Cars. Renault has outlined its future sustainable mobility plans, including two pieces of technology going into production cars soon. Renault will put a smaller, more efficient electric motor into production, as well as a three-cylinder dual-fuel gasoline/liquid petroleum gas engine. The HYDIVU prototype will help Renault research mild hybrid technology for light commercial vehicles. The VELUD project will look into making the last mile of urban deliveries more sustainable. Renault is also testing a two-cylinder, two-stroke diesel engine for small vehicle platforms. Read more in the press release below. Tesla's China president has resigned. Veronica Wu had been in charge of the company's operations in China for the past nine months, and with her leaving the company, Tom Zhu will step into the role. Jochen Siebert of Shanghai-based JSC Automotive Consulting says that, "Tesla counts on China as one of their main drivers of growth after California, and it might have been more difficult than they thought." Tesla states it is still "confident in the Chinese market," where it has sold the Model S since April. Read more at Bloomberg.

Why Tesla's $35,000 Model E is a pipe dream

A car that costs 80 percent as much to produce as another can't be half the price. That's the simplistic version why Stanphyl Capital Management says Tesla Motors will not be able to sell its "mass market" sedan for the low, low (by luxury electric-vehicle standards) Elon Musk-backed price of $35,000. In fact, the California-based automaker will take about a $13,000 bath for each unit it sells of the new vehicle, now referred to as the Model E. Stanphyl Capital Management breaks down the fourth-quarter costs and revenue associated Tesla's Model S, of which it sold about 6,900 units during the last three months of the year. In a nutshell, Tesla generated a whopping $106,000 per vehicle sold, with about two-thirds of the company's gross profit coming from battery and optional upgrades. And while Tesla may be able to get the Model E battery costs down to about $8,100 compared to the $15,600 cost of the Model S battery (the smaller car will use a smaller battery that will provide about a 200-mile single-charge range), all of the other stuff brings the Model E's unit cost up to about $48,000. That compares to the $59,600 average cost of a Model S. Fremont, we have a problem. Reports came out in December saying that the Model E may be unveiled at one of next year's auto shows and sales could start as early as 2016. The argument against the possibility of a $35,000 Model E may sound reasonable on paper, but more than a few people have lost money betting against Elon Musk. You can read more at ValueWalk.

Tesla Uber alles in Shanghai

Is anyone surprised that Tesla Motors is ready to disrupt the status quo even in little ways? If you are, then here's one more example: Tesla is partnering with Uber (which taxi drivers around the world are not happy with) in Shanghai to both give people free, 15-minute rides in the electric car. Think of it as the free Supercharger miles for the don't-own-a-Tesla set. It's a small, limited promotion defined by the fact that you can't actually order yourself a Tesla. Instead, if you're looking for a ride in Shanghai's inner ring on Wednesday, you can hope that one of the "few super-secret Teslas on the system" will come and pick you and up to three friends up. What's completely different about this Uber ride is that it's not a ride at all. Instead, if you have your drivers license, you can get behind the wheel and driver for up to 15 minutes. CNET says that this is only the first of more Tesla-Uber promotions. Tesla is supplying the vehicles and a spokesperson said it was, "only a pilot test at the moment."