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Unplugged Performance, BBS offering flashy 21-inch Model S wheel upgrade

Owners of the Tesla Model S love their cars. They love the emissions-free driving, the luxury and technology, range, looks and especially, it seems, the performance. The Model S isn't just clean, it's fast and fun. Now, Tesla owners looking to give their baby some hot shoes have an enticing new option, as Unplugged Performance has announced a set of 21-inch BBS wheels specific to the Model S. Unplugged Performance used its own experience with the Tesla Model S to identify its strengths and weaknesses to improve upon the factory wheels. The Unplugged Performance wheels use the same flow-formed manufacturing technology as the ones BBS supplies for the Ferrari F430 Challenge, providing plenty of strength. The Model S being a relatively heavy car, Unplugged Performance engineered the UP-01 to be able to support 2,145 pounds per wheel, nearly double the car's weight. Beside sheer strength, the BBS UP-01 wheels bring more to the table. Unplugged Performance designed the wheels to reduce the moment of inertia, offering better acceleration, deceleration and efficiency. The team also focused on wheel harmonics to provide a smoother ride with less vibration making its way into the cabin. The wheels are designed to work with all of the original Tesla components already on the car, such as lug nuts and tire pressure monitoring system, even the regular Model S 245/35ZR21 and P85+ 265/35ZR21 tires. Of course, the wheels need to look good, too. The UP-01 rims are coated in Asteroid Graphite that Unplugged Performance designed to go with any of the Tesla factory body colors. The wheels come with two sets of center caps: four branded with BBS and four Tesla factory center caps, to suit the driver's preferred look. The wheels also come with stainless steel wheel protectors made by BBS, which can be replaced in the case of any curb damage. The set comes with one spare wheel protector and additional ones can be purchased if needed. The wheel set is for sale at the Unplugged Performance website, priced at $3,995. Read on for more details in the press release from Unplugged Performance, below. BBS and Unplugged Performance Release Tesla Model S Upgraded Wheel Set Legendary F1 Wheel Maker BBS Partners with Unplugged Performance for Exclusive Tesla Wheel Hawthorne, CA – 10/06/2014 – Unplugged Performance, the leading Tesla-focused performance organization, announces the UP-01 wheel upgrade package co-developed and produced by world renowned wheel manufacturer BBS.

Toyota takes aim at Musk's criticism of hydrogen 'fool cells'

Tesla's Elon Musk has called hydrogen fuel cell cars "a load of rubbish" and "fool cells," and he's nowhere near alone in his disdain for the technology. Toyota has been fighting back waves of condescension for years now, and did so again when Senior VP Bob Carter took the stage at the recent J.D. Power Automotive Summit this month. His target was comments that Musk made at the Automotive News World Congress at the Detroit Auto Show, when Musk said an FCEV was an "extremely silly way" to store energy, that "the best-case hydrogen fuel cell doesn't win against the current-case battery" and that hydrogen's failings will become obvious in the next few years. Carter's response was that the fuel cell initiative isn't about the next few years. "This is not a 24-to-36-month play, but when you start looking into the 2020s," then you can see the necessity of hydrogen fuel cells, which Toyota considers an extension of EV technology, he said. The Toyota Mirai will begin its defense of the FCEV industry in the US later this year. The Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell is already available in California and Honda's hydrogen car will arrive in 2016. Until then, we can let some more of Carter's words ring in our ears: "If I was in a position where I had all my eggs in one basket," he said of Musk's BEV-only focus, "I would perhaps be making those same comments." News Source: Automotive News - sub. req. Green Tesla Toyota Electric Future Vehicles Hydrogen Cars toyota mirai fcev bob carter

Tesla strikes back against Lemon Law King over Model S dispute [UPDATE]

*UPDATE: We have now also received a statement from the Model S owner in question, which has been added below. When we asked Tesla Motors for a statement on the lawsuit filed by the "King of Lemon Laws" the other day, the company told us that it does not comment on pending litigation. Fair enough. That's a standard response. But the company has since felt the need to comment on the issue using its own company blog. In a post called "When Life Gives You Lemons...," the Tesla Motors Team called lawyer Vince Megna (indirectly) an "opportunistic lawyer" and basically called him a liar. To wit: "... there are factual inaccuracies in the lawyer's story." Tesla says that the three claimed incidents when the Model S owner in question asked the automaker to buy the car back did not happen (Tesla acknowledges it happening once). And then the company basically says the owner was breaking his car on purpose: ... the car's fuse blew on three occasions. Each time, our engineers explored all possible explanations and were never able to find anything wrong with the car. Still, just to be sure, we replaced several parts that could have been related to the alleged problem – all at no expense to the customer. When the fuse kept blowing despite the new parts, and faced with no diagnosis showing anything wrong with the car, the engineers were moved to consider the possibility that the fuse had been tampered with. After investigating, they determined that the car's front trunk had been opened immediately before the fuse failure on each of the three occasions. (The fuse is accessed through the front trunk.) Ultimately, Tesla service applied non-tamper tape to the fuse switch. From that point on, the fuse performed flawlessly. We've got the entire response below, along with Megna's response to Tesla's statement. The key line: "There are companies, great companies run by Billionaires, that force consumers to give up their Freedom of Speech and Right to Trial by Jury just for the opportunity to buy an electric car." You can watch Megna's original video introducing the world to this case here. When Life Gives You Lemons... By The Tesla Motors Team April 9, 2014 We were taken by surprise by a lemon law claim recently filed against Tesla by a Wisconsin lawyer, describing himself as the "Lemon Law King", who says that we ignored his client's three demands for a buy-back after alleged problems with a Model S.