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Iowa gives Tesla the red light on direct sales

The Iowa Department of Transportation was recently tipped off that Tesla Motors was offering test drives in the state. This led to the state DoT shutting down those test drives in West Des Moines earlier this month, according to USA Today. Tesla reps said that the company was just trying to offer test drives and wasn't actually trying to sell cars, but that argument didn't fly. The issue is that Tesla is neither licensed as an auto dealer nor is allowed to sell its vehicles directly to customers because of franchised dealership laws. Iowa stands among states like Texas, Arizona, New Jersey and Maryland in its position that a third-party franchised dealership is legally required for car sales. Recently, Georgia said it may revoke Tesla's dealer license because of opposition from the Georgia Automobile Dealers Association. On the flipside, Tesla won a recent legal victory in Massachusetts. Oh, and the tip to the Iowa Dot? It came from the Iowa Automobile Dealers Association.

Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla owner's garage makeover, Lucid signs deal with LG Chem

A Tesla owner has remodeled his garage to resemble a Tesla showroom. The Model S owner, who also runs Teslainventory.com, painted one wall a very specific shade of red, mounted a Tesla logo on it, and even bought the same table and stools used in some showrooms. He also documented the transformation, and gives tips on how other fans can give their own garage a makeover. Check it out in the video above, and read more at Electrek. Lucid Motors will source lithium-ion batteries from LG Chem. Lucid's batteries will use proprietary cell chemistry developed in partnership with LG. Lucid also has a battery supply deal with Samsung SDI for its first vehicle, but says it could use batteries for other companies through its own supply business, or for specific performance variants of its electric sedan. "The differing performance attributes available from the two cell suppliers provide Lucid with maximum flexibility to select the best cell for each application," Lucid says. Read more in the press release, or at Green Car Congress. Nissan, Renault, and Mitsubishi will share an electric vehicle platform. As other automakers are building their own mass market EVs, these three are teaming up in order to be able to offer their own models at prices competitive to their gasoline powered counterparts. According to the Nikkei, EVs from the three companies will all use the same platform as the upcoming 2018 Nissan Leaf, and will share motors, inverters, and batteries. Read more from Reuters, or at Green Car Reports. Related Gallery Lucid Motors EV Prototype News Source: Electrek, YouTube: DAErik, Lucid, Green Car Congress, Reuters, Green Car Reports Green Automakers Mitsubishi Nissan Tesla Renault Green Automakers Green Culture Electric Videos recharge wrapup

Tesla Trade-up now offering Pedego e-bike

Three years ago, an Ottawa resident embarked on an effort to turn a $30 camera into a Tesla Roadster electric vehicle purely through the magic of bartering. Today, he's halfway to his goal. Sort of. Martin Provost, known for his Tesla Trade Up blog, has traded his way up to a $2,000 Pedego Comfort Cruiser electric bike, and it came from the CEO of Pedego, no less. If you're keeping track, that's two wheels out of the four that he's taken down. See, half way. In mid-2011, Provost set out on what he calls his "quest to become an EV owner through the kindness of humanity." Starting with that camera, he's since engineered 10 trades. The process included bartering his way through items like a computer, an electric guitar, a VIP brewery tour and a software suite valued at $3,000. Of course, he now has a $2,000 e-bike, so we hope he doesn't go too far backwards. The gentleman also has taken his official leap into EV ownership, securing a Smart Electric Drive for a lease rate of $100 a month. He's big on the three-year lease contract because it'll expire around the same time Tesla may start putting out its $35,000 vehicle. Which is irrelevant if he actually scores that Roadster, but it's nice to know he has a backup plan, just in case.