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Fisker to unveil its all-electric EMotion at CES in January

Back from the brink, electric carmaker Fisker says it will debut its EMotion sedan at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. The EMotion is notable for several reasons, including its promised 400-plus miles of range, the ability to charge to 125 miles of range in just 9 minutes and its lidar autonomous technology. The car will also feature four butterfly doors and will be built with carbon fiber rims and a mixture of carbon fiber and aluminum in the body to save on weight. It's also the second go at building an EV for Fisker, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2013 after the Fisker Karma luxury plug-in hybrid fell flat. Fisker was sold in 2014 to Chinese auto supplier Wanxiang Group for about $149 million. And the EMotion can be yours for a cool $129,000. In fact, the company started taking pre-orders in June with a $2,000 deposit, even though the car won't come out until 2019. The EMotion is seen as a rival to Tesla, but CEO Henrik Fisker tells The Street he sees room for competition in the EV segment. "I don't think anyone is out to kill anybody," Fisker said. "Tesla doesn't really have a competitor. It doesn't look like one is going to emerge. I think it's time to move to a next level of this technology and I believe that we have come up with some real breakthroughs." Fisker also told The Street the company is simultaneously developing an affordable version of the EMotion, aimed to be priced around $34,000, that's due out in 2020. That's just a hair under the $35,000 base price of the Tesla Model 3. The veteran car designer first revealed the EMotion via Twitter in June. He told Autoblog recently that he's looking to buy an existing factory to build the car but hadn't yet chosen one, saying "We don't have to make a decision until the end of the year." The EMotion will be powered by two electric motors giving it all-wheel drive, lithium-ion battery packs sourced from LG Chem with a cooling system designed by Fisker that increases energy density. Related Video: Featured Gallery Fisker EMotion View 14 Photos News Source: The Street Celebrities Green Plants/Manufacturing CES Fisker Tesla Green Automakers Technology Emerging Technologies Autonomous Vehicles Electric Sedan Henrik Fisker

Buick tops in Consumer Reports' annual brand rankings

Buick is the first US-based automotive brand to crack the top 10 in Consumer Reports magazine's annual brand report cards. US automakers also placed three vehicles on the magazine's list of "top picks" for vehicles, the first time that's happened in 17 years. The rankings were unveiled Tuesday in the magazine's annual auto issue. Buick placed seventh in the brand rankings. But the brand rankings and top picks still were dominated by Japanese and German manufacturers, with Lexus, Mazda, Toyota, Audi and Subaru taking the top five brand spots. The magazine calculates each brand's overall score with a composite of its vehicles' road-test scores and reliability scores for each model in its annual survey of subscribers. It's the third year for the brand rankings. Porsche placed just ahead of Buick at number six, while Honda, Kia and BMW rounded out the top 10 brands. Mercedes-Benz, Acura and Infiniti all suffered precipitous declines in their rankings due to unreliable new models or poor road test scores. Mercedes fell out of the top 10 to 21st, while Acura dropped from number two to 11 with an unimpressive test of the new RLX sedan, the magazine said. In the model rankings, the top overall finisher was California-based Tesla's Model S electric car, for the second year in a row. The Model S, which cost the magazine $89,650, finished first due to its performance and technical innovations, the magazine said. Buick's Regal midsize car beat the BMW 328i as the top sports sedan, and the Chevrolet Impala was named the top large car. The model rankings show Consumer Reports' favorite among the 270 vehicles its team has recently tested. The rankings are closely watched in the auto industry, since shoppers consistently cite Consumer Reports as a main source of car-buying advice. Other top picks included the Subaru Impreza in the compact car category, Subaru Legacy in midsize cars, Toyota Prius as the best green car, Audi A6 luxury car, Subaru Forester small SUV, Toyota Highlander midsize SUV and the Honda Odyssey minivan. Japanese vehicles won six of 10 top pick categories, but that was the smallest number in the 19-year history of Consumer Reports top picks. "For years domestic automakers built lower-priced and lower-quality alternatives to imports, but those days are behind us," said Jake Fisher, the magazine's director of automotive testing. But other U.S.-based automakers still had problems.

Tesla's new $408 per month business lease deal for Model S reminds us of last 'revolutionay' deal

Almost exactly a year ago, Tesla Motors announced what it called a "revolutionary" lease deal for the Model S. Since the electric automaker used some unusual assumptions in its calculations to get to a headline-worthy $500-a-month "true cost of ownership," the company had to quickly change its tune. Some of the same assumptions are back in a business lease deal from new subsidiary, Tesla Finance, for $408 a month (sort of) that was announced today. Tesla is touting the easy-to-understand lease agreement, which takes all of three pages and is "written in plain language." The agreement can also be signed digitally on the car's touchscreen when the car arrives. That, plus the low cost, is the good news. The business lease program is currently only available in ten states. The estimated effective cost of $408 a month sure sounds great but, just as with the first consumer lease plan for the Model S, there are a lot of caveats to be aware of. For one thing, the actual monthly payment is $1,012, well over twice the $408 number. Tesla estimates that you'll save $261 a month in gasoline costs and $343 a month in business tax benefits (with Tesla calculating a 40 percent effective tax rate and 70 percent business use). Those gas savings, "are calculated assuming $0.11 per kilowatt hour compared to paying $4.90 per gallon for premium gasoline with a fuel efficiency of 20 miles per gallon," so if your business already runs a fleet of Toyota Priuses, you can forget the $408 number. Oh, and the business lease program is currently only available in ten states - CA, CO, CT, FL, IL, MA, MD, NY, TX, and WA. Yes, that list includes Texas, where you can't officially buy a Model S. Tesla spokeswoman Shanna Hendriks told AutoblogGreen that the company has a lessor's license in the state of Texas, which allows it to offer the business leasing deal there. The dealership license, which the company can't get in Texas, is the thing that is preventing sales. No matter which of the ten business lease states you're in, the first vehicles under this program have an estimated delivery date of June 2014. Read more below. Tesla Business Leasing By The Tesla Motors Team April 8, 2014 A year ago, Tesla introduced a Resale Value Guarantee that gives customers the option to return their Model S after three years for a known value.