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New Jersey Becomes Third State To Ban Tesla Sales

State motor vehicle officials have approved a regulation that would require all new car dealers to obtain franchise agreements to receive state licenses, a move critics say will hurt the electric-car industry's attempts to expand. The regulation, adopted Tuesday by the state's Motor Vehicle Commission by a 6-0 vote, effectively prohibits companies from using a direct-sales model, which cuts out the middleman and takes vehicles directly to customers through smaller retail establishments. It will take effect April 1. The regulation was supported by the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, which has noted that state law has long required automakers to sell their vehicles through dealers. But Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla Motors, one of the electric-car companies that would be affected by it, called it "an affront to the very concept of a free market." Tesla said in a statement posted on its corporate website that it has been "working constructively" with the commission and Republican Gov. Chris Christie's administration since last year to delay the proposal so it could be handled through "a fair process" in the state Legislature. The company said the commission and the Christie administration went "beyond their authority to implement the state's laws at the behest of a special interest group looking to protect its monopoly at the expense of New Jersey consumers." Administration officials disputed Tesla's claims. "Since Tesla first began operating in New Jersey one year ago, it was made clear that the company would need to engage the Legislature on a bill to establish their new direct-sales operations under New Jersey law," spokesman Kevin Roberts said. "This administration does not find it appropriate to unilaterally change the way cars are sold in New Jersey without legislation, and Tesla has been aware of this position since the beginning." Tesla has two retail locations in New Jersey and has planned to expand in the state in an effort to sell its electric cars, which retail for around $60,000 before incentives. Related Gallery Electric Cars And Hybrids Don't Have To Be Frumpy By the Numbers Tesla Car Dealers

Watch a young Elon Musk take delivery of his McLaren F1

Years before Elon Musk was launching rockets into space or trying to revolutionize the auto business with Tesla, he was just another Silicon Valley geek, albeit already a very successful one. This vintage video catches Musk in 1999 celebrating some of that triumph, as he takes delivery of none other than a McLaren F1. As the million-dollar supercar is lowered from the transporter Musk intones, "It is the moment of my life." We also get a snapshot of an interesting time in Musk's life. According to the clip, he had already sold the company Zip2 for $400 million in cash and had started at the online banking business X. After a merger, it eventually became PayPal, and the entrepreneur later walked away from the website with another massive check. Watch this brief moment of happiness as Musk takes delivery of the McLaren, because by the end of the video, his focus already seemed to have turned to his next business venture. News Source: EveryElonMusk Video via YouTube, Car and Driver Auto News Green McLaren Tesla Car Buying Green Culture Coupe Performance Supercars Videos paypal

Tesla Model S drivers claim first cross-country trip on Supercharger power

It's not like most Tesla Model S owners are hard-pressed for cash, but it's still got to be nice to know they can get across the country in their all-electric luxury hatchbacks for free. Father-daughter team John and Jill (no last names given) just finished what's being called the first coast-to-coast Model S trip powered completely by the company's Supercharger network. Tesla just completed installing the Superchargers and CEO Elon Musk tweeted just yesterday that the network was energized. The company unveiled its first Supercharger in September 2012, and Musk says he will finally take his long-promised Model S family road trip this spring. But now someone's beat him to the headlines. The pioneering duo finished its New York-to-Los Angeles trip January 25, logging about 3,600 miles in the process. Additional miles were required since father John started his trip in Kentucky before picking up daughter Jill in New York. Tesla says it has 71 free North American Superchargers and that its network is reachable by about 80 percent of the continent's population. The important number that makes that possible is that the 85-kWh version of the Model S can go 265 miles on a single charge. WIRED says John and Jill hit up 28 Superchargers over the course of a week. Naturally, fellow Tesla owners who posted on a rather long forum thread describing the trip were enthused, effusively comparing the team to Lewis and Clark. The news could spur more sales to the California-based automaker, which finished last year with a flourish of sorts. Tesla sold about 6,900 units of the Model S in October, November and December, beating the company's own target and making the Model S the country's best-selling plug-in vehicle for the fourth quarter.