2018 Tesla Model S P100d Ludicrous+ Full Self Driving $98k Msrp on 2040-cars

Auto blog

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.

Recharge Wrap-up: Video shows Tesla robots at work, Ghosn disappointed by China's EV market

A video from The Wall Street Journal shows Tesla's new assembly robots at work. The hulking bots are each named after X-Men superhero characters to give them a sense of familiarity and make them less intimidating to the humans working alongside them. Their monikers also reflect their superhuman levels of strength. The naming of the robots appears to have had the intended effect, as human employees refer to the automated machines as colleagues, and are happy to have the help moving the heavy cars around the factory floor. The robots were added as part of an upgrade and expansion to Tesla's factory in Fremont, CA last year. See the video above, and read more at Teslarati. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says that China should offer more incentives to improve disappointing EV sales. Nissan sells its Leaf EV in China as the e30 under its Venucia brand. The company didn't disclose sales figures, but Ghosn is disappointed that EVs aren't "taking off" in China like they are in other markets. Until the market improves for the e30, Ghosn says Nissan probably won't introduce other EVs to China. "The main challenge today is really to encourage, put more incentives, in order for the consumer to buy in," says Ghosn. "Before adding more cars and bringing more technology, we just need to make sure we can sell the technology we already put into the ground." Read more at Automotive News. Total in France will convert its La Mede petroleum refinery to produce biodiesel. Total will stop producing petroleum at the refinery by the end of 2016, then spend $216 million to convert it into the country's first biorefinery. Improved fuel economy and energy efficiency have helped reduce demand for petroleum products in Europe by 15 percent since 2008. Total's response to "the crisis in the European refining industry" is "to innovate and adapt to meet shifting demand trends," according to Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne. "The central focus of Total's plan for our French refining business is to realign our operations and products to changing markets." Read more at Domestic Fuel, or in the press release below. Total's French Refining Roadmap: Upgrade Donges and Transform La Mede April 16, 2015 Paris – Total today presented its French refining roadmap to employee representatives. The plan is designed to give each Total's refining site in France the means to resist in a volatile environment and perform profitably.

Google CEO Larry Page says his billions should go to Elon Musk

When you have basically all the money in the world, it can be tough to spend it all. It will be even tougher to spend when you're dead. If you're Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page, though, you already know how you want your money to live on after you're gone: support innovators like Tesla CEO Elon Musk. That's what Page said at the TED conference in Vancouver, Canada this week, anyway, adding that the already-wealthy Musk is worthy of the Page billions because he's one of the people who can change the world. Page said: He wants to go to Mars. That's a worthy goal. We have a lot of employees at Google who've become pretty wealthy. You're working because you want to change the world and make it better; if the company you work for is worthy of your time, why not your money as well? We just don't think about that. I'd like for us to help out more than we are. On top of Tesla, Musk also runs SpaceX and Solar City. Tesla said in a statement to Automotive News that, "[Musk] is honored by Larry's comments and very much admires what he has accomplished with Google."