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Tesla Investigating Fiery Model S Crash In Los Angeles

Automobiles can be dangerous objects, especially when moving at highway speeds. The July 4th holiday in the US, which took place this past weekend, is often an extra-dangerous time on America's roads, with an average of 127 deaths from car crashes in recent years. This year, there were at least two Tesla Model S crashes over the holiday, and despite a spectacular fire in one of the incidents, both of the drivers survived the incidents. "We absolutely want to have a look to understand what happened." – Tesla spokesman Simon Sproule The most dramatic crash happened when a Model S was apparently stolen and taken for a joy ride. Tesla told Bloomberg that the company is eager to take a closer look at what's left of the crashed vehicle, which snapped in half. "There aren't so many S's involved in major crashes, and certainly not quite like this one, so we absolutely want to have a look to understand what happened," said Tesla spokesman Simon Sproule. Tesla spokesperson Liz Jarvis-Shean told AutoblogGreen that, "We're working with relevant authorities and will be examining the car as we would with any accident." What isn't yet clear is how the reported thief was able to drive the stolen Model S (Tesla has not yet responded to our questions on this front). Media reports say it was someone at the Tesla store who reported the theft to police as it was happening, so it would seem that Tesla knew about the incident well before the crash. Whether there enough time to tell the police where the car was going or to deactivate the car is unknown. In another tragic crash that happened this weekend, a Model S rear ended a Toyota Corolla. Three of the occupants of the Toyota were killed but the Tesla driver only suffered "minor injuries," according to the Los Angeles Times. The Model S received five stars in the NHTSA's crash tests and has had safety improvements since those tests were conducted. Previous Tesla's have caught fire but no serious injuries have been reported.

Tesla's new $408 per month business lease deal for Model S reminds us of last 'revolutionay' deal

Almost exactly a year ago, Tesla Motors announced what it called a "revolutionary" lease deal for the Model S. Since the electric automaker used some unusual assumptions in its calculations to get to a headline-worthy $500-a-month "true cost of ownership," the company had to quickly change its tune. Some of the same assumptions are back in a business lease deal from new subsidiary, Tesla Finance, for $408 a month (sort of) that was announced today. Tesla is touting the easy-to-understand lease agreement, which takes all of three pages and is "written in plain language." The agreement can also be signed digitally on the car's touchscreen when the car arrives. That, plus the low cost, is the good news. The business lease program is currently only available in ten states. The estimated effective cost of $408 a month sure sounds great but, just as with the first consumer lease plan for the Model S, there are a lot of caveats to be aware of. For one thing, the actual monthly payment is $1,012, well over twice the $408 number. Tesla estimates that you'll save $261 a month in gasoline costs and $343 a month in business tax benefits (with Tesla calculating a 40 percent effective tax rate and 70 percent business use). Those gas savings, "are calculated assuming $0.11 per kilowatt hour compared to paying $4.90 per gallon for premium gasoline with a fuel efficiency of 20 miles per gallon," so if your business already runs a fleet of Toyota Priuses, you can forget the $408 number. Oh, and the business lease program is currently only available in ten states - CA, CO, CT, FL, IL, MA, MD, NY, TX, and WA. Yes, that list includes Texas, where you can't officially buy a Model S. Tesla spokeswoman Shanna Hendriks told AutoblogGreen that the company has a lessor's license in the state of Texas, which allows it to offer the business leasing deal there. The dealership license, which the company can't get in Texas, is the thing that is preventing sales. No matter which of the ten business lease states you're in, the first vehicles under this program have an estimated delivery date of June 2014. Read more below. Tesla Business Leasing By The Tesla Motors Team April 8, 2014 A year ago, Tesla introduced a Resale Value Guarantee that gives customers the option to return their Model S after three years for a known value.

Toyota Prius remains best-selling vehicle in California, wireless charging tests underway

About one in every nine new cars in the US are sold in the California. If we're just looking at the four Toyota Prius hybrid variants, then the number becomes closer to one in three. Tesla Model S battery-electric vehicle sales? Try one in 2.7. For the second straight year, the Prius was the best-selling car in the Golden State. Toyota sold 69,728 Priuses there, almost a third of the more than 234,000 sold in the US in 2013. Prius sales in California alone were up almost 13 percent. And Toyota's ready to build upon that momentum with a new version of the Prius Plug-in Hybrid, saying that it's testing a wireless recharging system in Japan's Aichi Prefecture and will start similar tirals stateside later this year. We'll make the wild prediction that some of those tests, which involves magnetic resonance, will be in California. Meanwhile, Tesla's numbers were, in their own way, were more impressive. The California-based automaker sold 8,347 of its Model S units in the Golden State out of about 22,300 nationwide in 2012, Bloomberg News reports. In all, advanced-powertrain vehicles accounted for 9.3 percent of California new-vehicle sales, compared to 3.8 percent for the country, Bloomberg says, citing Hybrid Cars and Baum & Associates. Check out Toyota's press release on its California sales below. Prius Medals In The Golden State Toyota Prius is best-selling vehicle line in California Wireless charging testing for Prius Plug-in TORRANCE, Calif., Feb. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Prius took home the gold in 2013 as the most popular vehicle-line in California for the second year in a row. The Prius Family (Prius Liftback, Prius v, Prius c and Prius Plug-in) took the podium in both 2012 and 2013 as the best-selling California vehicle name plate. 69,728 drivers hit the road in 2013, according to the California Auto Outlook Report, while 61,893 Californians joined the family in 2012. In the Golden State, the Prius Family outsells all other hybrid competitors combined. California drivers lead the country in adoption of vehicles powered, either wholly or partially, by electricity. 9.3% of vehicles sold in the state run on some form of electricity, according to the report. But despite the growing number of hybrid competitors, Toyota's hybrid leadership remains unmatched. In fact, one out of every two hybrids in California carries the Prius name plate.