2023 Tesla Model Y on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Car and Driver 10Best list cracked by Tesla Model S, BMW 3 Series left off

Car and Driver is keeping new blood pumping into its annual 10Best cars list with three new entries making it on for 2015 and a perennial favorite falling off. Among the biggest shocks this year is that the BMW 3 Series and 4 Series are no longer named, despite years of some portion of that lineup earning a mention. In another surprise, the Tesla Model S (specifically in S 60 trim to fit under the $80,000 cost cap) makes it to the 2015 roster and is the only electrically motivated member of the group. Despite the loss of the 3 Series, BMW isn't entirely shut out this year, because the M235i gets its name on the list. Car and Driver argues that the little coupe feels like a welcome throwback to the E46 chassis M3 of the early 2000s. In addition to the Model S, the final newbie to the annual group is the 2015 Ford Mustang GT. The inclusion of these new members knocks the Audi A6/A7 family and Ford Fiesta ST out from the 2014 rundown. The other seven models carry over from last year, including the Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, Honda Accord, Mazda3, Mazda6, Porsche Boxster/Cayman and Volkswagen Golf/GTI. The 2015 10Best cars list certainly seems to have something for everyone from the hot hatch fan to the family man and even the green car driver, thanks to the addition of the Tesla. Head over to Car and Driver to read its detailed explanations for each vehicle's inclusion, but if you've got a difference of opinion or just really like the list, let us know in Comments. Featured Gallery Car and Driver 2015 10Best Cars List View 10 Photos News Source: Car and DriverImage Credit: Car and Driver, BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Porsche, Tesla, Volkswagen Auto News BMW Cadillac Chevrolet Ford Honda Mazda Porsche Tesla Volkswagen Convertible Coupe Hatchback Performance Sedan 10Best

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.

New Jersey votes to allow direct Tesla sales

It's not quite the law that Tesla Motors can sell its car directly to customers in New Jersey, but the state has taken one step closer to that reality. Yesterday, New Jersey's Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee voted 4-0 to approve bill A3216, which would "Permits certain zero emission vehicle manufacturers to directly sell motor vehicles to consumers and requires them to operate service facilities." The EV automaker's ongoing dealer fight took a turn for the worse in New Jersey a few months ago, when the state legislature voted in mid-March to prevent Tesla stores from conducting their business. Tesla had been selling cars in the sate, but Governor Chris Christie said the ban was just an enforcement of a law that had been on the books for years, something Tesla said was an "affront to the very concept of a free market." If A3216 becomes law, then electric vehicle makers would be able to operate "no more than four places of business in the State" as well as one service center. The bill will let Tesla "conduct the business of educating the public about electric vehicles" – Diarmuid O'Connell Speaking to the committee, Tesla's vice president of business development, Diarmuid O'Connell, said, "This is a super important issue for us in New Jersey, and as some of you would know, nationally as well. ... [The bill would] allow us to in a modest way and a reasonable way conduct the business of educating the public about electric vehicles and getting as many of those vehicles on the road as quickly as possible." Speaking for the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, president Jim Appleton said that this solution is fine for start-up EV automakers, but that the franchise model should still be the goal for anyone selling cars. This fight isn't nationwide yet, but the FTC has come out against what it called "protectionist" anti-direct sales mandates, so we expect to be hearing more as time goes by.