Tesla
Tesla Roadster Gets 400-Mile Range Upgrade
On Christmas day, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to announce a little gift to fans of the company’s Lotus-based all-electric sports car: a substantial boost in the Roadster’s driving range. Taking lessons learned while fine-tuning the Model S sedan, Tesla has now applied that development experience to the diminutive two seater, which Musk asserts will now “enable non-stop travel from LA to SF”.
WR TV: 2014 Tesla Model S P85 – POV Test Drive
During the first day of the MPG Track Days event, Tesla took the opportunity to introduce journalists who hadn’t had any previous seat time in the Model S a chance to give it a brief spin around Pasadena. Of course we jumped at the chance to hop into the driver’s seat of the sport sedan, here outfitted with the P85 high performance package.
The Most Significant Car Launch Of The Century: The Tesla Model S Autopilot
Like it or not, the automobile is about to change permanently and dramatically. That change will be built upon the transition from driver-operated to driverless cars.
Update: Newest Tesla Model S Is Semi-Autonomous, P85D is World’s Fastest Accelerating Sedan
With every lofty claim made and delivered upon, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk inches closer to becoming a modern day Howard Hughes (sans the socially crippling OCD). Back in September, Musk proclaimed that Tesla would be producing fully autonomous vehicles by the close of the decade, an assertion that seemed lofty at best. But at last night’s unveiling of the newest product from Tesla Motors, the all-wheel-drive Model S “D”, not only did Musk unveil the quickest production sedan from 0-60 mph that money can currently buy (in the form of the top-spec P85D), he also debuted the semi-driverless operation features of the new car – features installed in every new car rolling out of the factory as of two weeks ago – by letting each P85D at the event drive itself around a road course set up at Hawthrone Municipal Airport.
Rumor: Tesla Cars to Go Fully Autonomous in Five to Six Years
While recent reports indicate that while Google’s car is still far from being ready for primetime, Elon Musk is confident that his company’s car will be fully autonomous by the close of this decade. Speaking with Nikkei, Tesla CEO also asserted that company’s cars will be partially self-driving in just three years. Musk went on to elaborate about the plan to get their technology from where it is today to those fairly lofty goal in such a seemingly short amount of time.
Tesla and Panasonic Officially Tie the Knot for Gigafactory Battery Facility
While the two companies have had a working relationship for many years now, this most recent development sees that partnership expand to an entirely new level, one which could yield “perhaps hundreds” of factories world wide designed to produce the cylindrical lithium-ion cells used in Tesla automobiles.
Base Versus Loaded: 2013 Tesla Model S
The Model S is also one of those rare cases where the Winding Road model is remarkably simple to configure. Take a fully loaded Model S Performance, which retails for $111,670 after a $7500 Federal tax credit, and swap out the done-to-death Multi-Coat pearlescent paint (we prefer a simple black, which also saves $1500). Next, select one of the beautiful, no-cost wood trims and the no-cost tan leather. Total price for the Winding Road Model S would be $110,170 after the Federal tax credit.
Review: Detroit Electric SP:01
This is an electric sports car with the body of a Lotus Elise. Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. Yes, this is the Detroit Electric SP:01, and on paper, it looks very similar to a certain EV named after a famous Serbian-American electrical engineer.
Driven: 2012 Toyota Rav4 EV
Range is where the Rav4 EV clearly has an advantage—thanks to that same set of batteries that take so long to juice up. The EPA rates it at 92 miles of combined highway and city driving when charged in Standard mode and 113 miles on Extended. In testing, Toyota engineers saw range go as high as 145 miles. Comparatively, the Fit EV has a combined range of 82 miles, the Focus EV gets 76 miles, and the Leaf 73 miles.
Driven: 2012 Tesla Model S
The basic question with a new car like this really is something along the lines of “what is it?” Because the brand is new and the technology is new and the platform is new, consumers don’t have a basis for setting their expectations. You might not think that is a problem, but in our observation almost everyone imagines something about every new car regardless of his or her fact base. Get those expectations wrong, and you can be disappointed by a gem, simply because it didn’t fit with the concept in your imagination. To align expectations with reality, we think an understanding of the Model S is helped greatly by looking at the goals and decisions that the Tesla team had to make.
2011 Winding Road Involvement Index Awards
Involvement matters. That’s the heart of the sermon we’ve been preaching for the last six years now. To drive fast is fun, to go around a corner neatly is admirable, to be luxurious is lovely; but to do all of those things and more in a way that enhances the driver/machine relationship is special indeed. When we first started Winding Road, we made it clear that we wanted to have a conversation with readers about the vehicles that we found to be exciting, not because they measured well, but because they inveigled many of our senses most of the time we were driving.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX To Launch World’s Most Powerful Rocket
Elon Musk isn’t just about building sporty electric cars; his company SpaceX, of which Musk is CEO and chief rocket designer, has announced a launch date (more of a range of dates, from what we gather from the press release) for the world’s most powerful rocket, called Falcon Heavy.
Elon Musk’s Other Car Really Flies: SpaceX Launch Successful
This week, Elon Musk’s SpaceX company became the very first commercial company to send a spacecraft into low-Earth orbit, and have it successfully re-enter the atmosphere. After NASA’s Space Shuttle retires from service in 2011, SpaceX hopes to have a launch program in place with which to service the international space station.
List: Ten Cars We Are Looking Forward To In Los Angeles
With the LA Auto Show rapidly approaching, a few manufacturers have dropped us some tantalizing crumbs in the past couple weeks about what we can expect. From hybrids and well kept secrets to a few caged beasts, here is a glimpse into what we are looking forward to when the show kicks off on November 17.
Tesla And Toyota Announce Deal To Make Electric Rav4
Tesla and Toyota have announced that the two automakers will team up to create an electric version of the Toyota Rav4.
Blog: Three Stories With The Chevy Volt
Chevrolet is touring the country with the Volt, inviting journalists to drive the car in an autocross environment (something about it “not being good for prototypes to be seen on real roads”). Naturally, when the tour came to Austin, I went over to a local mall to pilot the Volt and ponder its future.
Tesla Raises $226 Million Dollars In IPO, First By Auto Company In 54 Years
Led by its charismatic CEO, Elon Musk, Tesla marched on Wall Street, and became the first automaker to make an initial public offering (IPO) in 54 years. The last IPO by an automaker was by Ford in 1956. Shares started off on Monday between $14 and $16, and have climbed to $27.50 as of this posting.
Tesla, Toyota Join Forces For EV Tech, Tesla Purchases NUMMI Plant
Tesla and Toyota have just made an agreement that will see the electric vehicle manufacturer and the world’s largest hybrid producer join forces on everything from EV parts and manufacture, to production systems and engineering support. The agreement will involve Toyota purchasing $50 million worth of Tesla’s common stock when an initial public offer is made.
Three Telsa Employees Dead In Small Plane Crash
We at Winding Road would like to extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those onboard, as well as to Tesla employees.
Driven: 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport
How many Elons do you have on your Rolodex or Blackberry, hmm? Elon Musk, chairman, product architect, and CEO of Tesla Motors is the only Elon we know. His name just gets cooler and rarer by adding the Musk.
Want To Drive A 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport? The Car Connection Has A Contest For You!
In the realm of Greenformance vehicles, the all-electric Tesla Roadster might be our first place choice. It’s a Lotus-chasing, battery-powererd beast, and only a small handful of the world’s population will ever have the chance to drive one. But if you have a knack for writing and are willing to test your skills for a chance to drive a Tesla (the new Roadster Sport), our friends at The Car Connection have quite an offer for you.
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