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Michigan Gov. signs 'anti-Tesla' bill, but says rules could change *UPDATE

*UPDATE: GM has issued a statement in support of the governor's actions. We've added it below. Don't look for a Tesla store in Detroit anytime soon. Even though the company says a Motor City service center is "Coming Soon," another hurdle was placed in the company's way today when Governor Rick Snyder signed House Bill 5606 into law. The law was introduced by State Representative Aric Nesbitt, who said it is not "anti-Tesla at all." Still, 5606 does clarify and strengthen the state's laws against an automaker selling vehicles directly to consumers, which is why Tesla called on its supporters last week to ask Snyder not to sign the bill into law. That didn't work. The bill passed the Michigan legislative chambers with overwhelming support last week (106-1 in the House, 38-0 in the Senate) and Snyder said that his team's research found it "doesn't change current law at all." He nonetheless thought it was worth signing, and you can watch him explain why in the video below. He also mentions a letter he attached to the bill saying he's open to future discussions regarding direct vehicle sales. He does not mention his campaign support from numerous auto dealers. We have asked Tesla for a comment on this latest development and will let you know when we hear back. Last week, the California automaker called the legislation "harmful to consumers." This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Gov. Rick Snyder signs bipartisan bill clarifying existing direct auto sales law Calls for healthy, open discussion on potential changes to business model; also signs one other bill into law Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014 LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder today signed bipartisan legislation that clarifies and strengthens an existing law about direct auto sales in Michigan. House Bill 5606, sponsored by state Rep. Aric Nesbitt, also prohibits auto manufacturers from dictating fees franchised dealers can charge customers. The legislation allows individual auto dealers to make the business decision whether to charge the transaction fee. The bill was approved by 38-0 in the state Senate, and 106-1 in the state House of Representatives. Snyder said Tuesday there has been a misunderstanding about the legislation.

Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla is for Mistresses; Yo, free Smart ED rides!

Smart used the Yo app to give free test rides to San Franciscans last week. Yo is a free app wherein users tap a username to send a notification that simply says "Yo" to the recipient. Signs at locations in the Mission and SoMa neighborhoods gave instructions to send a Yo to SmartUSA for a free ride anywhere in the city. Three of the eight Smart vehicles used for the promotion were the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive. The event allowed people to see how well suited the cars are to the city, particularly when it comes to San Francisco's parking problems. It also saved users the fare of an Uber or Lyft hire. Read more at TechCrunch. Zipcar has added the 2014 Honda Fit EV to its UC Davis fleet near Sacramento, California. The cars will go to the school's West Village, a planned zero net energy community, which plans to generate as much energy as it uses within a year. "Innovations like solar power to help generate the electricity needed to charge the EV," says Dan Sperling, founding director of the school's Institute of Transportation Studies, "and fully zero emission car sharing moves us aggressively toward a sustainable future." The addition of the Fit EVs will also give cash-strapped students access to affordable emissions-free driving. Read more in the press release, below. California is one step closer to adding 15,000 new green HOV stickers after a bill was approved by the state Senate. Now the bill must go up before the California State Assembly for approval before it can be signed by Governor Jerry Brown. The bill will raise the total number of the green HOV stickers for plug-in hybrids to 70,000. Raising the cap on the green decals, which allow owners use of the carpool lanes, could encourage more California drivers to buy a PHEV. Read more at Inside EVs. The Tesla Model S made a star appearance on the ABC television show Mistresses. In the episode "Choices," the character Joss receives the car as a gift from her fiance, but is not all too happy about it, seeing it as putting her in a position of dependency. "I could never in a million years afford that Tesla," Joss complains to her friend. "How am I ever supposed to get mad at him when he can hold a Tesla over my head?" The luxury EV makes an on-screen appearance in the episode complete with an interior shot of the car's touchscreen display. See a clip from the episode below or read more at Green Car Reports. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences.

Silly dyno, that Tesla doesn't have 2,000 lb-ft of torque

Torque. Lots of torque, right off the line. That one benefit presented by an electric motor over its internal-combustion sibling, and the Tesla Model S delivers it in spades. 443 spades, to be precise, or about as much as a Bentley Continental GT or McLaren 12C. But when one Emmanuel Chang put his electric sedan on a dyno up (way up north) in Edmonton, Alberta, it registered a whopping 2,000 pound-feet!
Of course that number isn't correct, as no car on the road produces that much torque. Even a Bugatti Veyron produces "only" 1,000 lb-ft, give or take. Clearly something's amiss here, but the problem the dyno had in reading the Tesla's torque apparently doesn't come down to its electric powertrain. (Nor does it have anything to do with the northerly latitude or the interference of polar winds.) It comes down to the shiny, ten-spoke alloys.
Apparently this type of dyno measures torque by running horsepower and wheel revolutions through an algorithm. It measures horsepower at the wheel (which, at 436 hp, wasn't far off of Tesla's own rating of 416 hp) and uses a stationary optical sensor interfacing with a reflector on the wheel. Every time the reflector passes the sensor, it counts one revolution. But since the Model S has shiny ten-spoke wheels (and we presume because it was taken outdoors under bright sunlight), the sensor thought that each passing spoke was one revolution of the wheel... when it was, in fact, ten times too much.