2021 Tesla Model Y Long Range on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Tesla now has 200 Superchargers open around the world

Oxnard, California. That's where electric-vehicle enthusiasts can find Tesla Motors' 200th Supercharger station. And they should be able to find some pretty good surf nearby, too. Number 200 is located in a shopping mall near Highway 101 about 60 miles northwest of central Los Angeles and includes 10 stalls, according to Green Car Reports. Given the recent pace of European deployments, having No. 200 in the US is a slight surprise, since more than half of the 100 stations installed since April are in Europe (a lot of them are being deployed in Germany and Norway). Technically, Tesla is now up to 207 chargers, with a little over half of those in the US and the remainder in Europe and Asia. Tesla recently started providing a slightly less powerful but still valuable charging option in the form of wall chargers that can give 60 miles of charging range in about an hour. While no match for a Supercharger, that's about double the charging speed of a 240-volt charging station. As of early September, Tesla had partnered with about 110 North American hotels, restaurants and beach parking lots at deploying what it calls the Tesla Destination Charging Program. For a complete list of Tesla's Supercharger stations, go here.

Tesla autopilot could offer 90 percent autonomous driving next year

Those Tesla Model S electric vehicles look good, but anyone worried about computers taking over our roads may want to steer clear of them starting next year. That's because 2015 may be when such vehicles will have autonomous-driving capabilities, according to an interview Tesla Chief Elon Musk conducted with CNN Money. Never one to shy away from bold statements, Musk says his vehicles will be "90-percent capable of autopilot" by next year. The combination of the cars' cameras, sensors and other tools that have made Silicon Valley the tech capital of the US will allow the vehicles to fully function most of the time without the aid of us silly humans. Tesla may also announce a feature that will keep the vehicle in its proper lane later this week, Bloomberg News says, citing a person familiar with the process. Whether most of us would rather actually refrain from driving a Model S than being fully engaged is another question altogether. The company's declining to comment beyond what was said in the CNN Money interview. Of course, automakers have been talking about autonomous driving for years, though the prevailing wisdom is that the technology won't be readily available until at least the end of the decade. Still, companies are making strides. Last month, Germany's Audi became the first automaker to receive one of California's autonomous-driving permits. Meanwhile, not too far from Tesla's headquarters, Google has been testing out its own autonomous-driving vehicle, though that one's of the hands-free, no-steering wheel, no-pedals variety.

White House responds to Tesla petition, declines to act

If you've been holding your breath whilst waiting for the White House to respond to the We The People petition asking that Tesla be allowed to sell direct to consumers in all 50 states, you can finally exhale and simultaneously sigh – it has, at last, issued a statement about its intention to not get directly involved in the issue. Penned by the President's energy and climate change adviser Dan Utech, the official response makes it clear that the administration is in favor of leaving the regulation of vehicle sales in the same capable state-level hands it has traditionally been in. This means Tesla, and any other automaker that wishes to avoid selling vehicles through third-party dealerships, will have to continue to fight for that privilege on a state-by-state basis. The California electric vehicle company has recently had some success in its battle to continue selling through its own "dealerships." The Pennsylvania five-store compromise has just been signed into law and it recently reached a similar agreement with New York, while New Jersey legislation is also moving along. For those disappointed by the refusal of the White House to act specifically on this matter, Utech points out that the government is making progress in areas related to decreasing CO2 and increasing fuel mileage. He points out that "new vehicle fuel economy has increased by 12 percent since 2008" and a number of other steps and initiatives. While nice, it's still cold comfort to those who would just like to see an end to the virtual monopoly independent auto dealers have on vehicle sales. News Source: The White HouseImage Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Government/Legal Green Tesla Tesla store