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Superchargers power Tesla Model S EVs for over 8M miles [UPDATE]

Ahead of the company's press conference at the Detroit Auto Show tomorrow, Tesla is talking up its Supercharger network with some impressive numbers. Tesla's Alexis Georgeson told AutoblogGreen that Tesla Model S EVs have driven more than eight million miles on Supercharger fill-ups. That's the equivalent of 33-and-a-half trips to the moon and back. We can see how quickly the free Superchargers are getting popular by comparing this milestone to where we were four short months ago. At the end of September, after the Superchargers had been installed for a year, Tesla drivers had hit 3.2 million miles. The rapid increase since then is due mostly to there simply being a lot more chargers being available now. Tesla representatives told us that there are over 70 Supercharger stations in the world today (58 in North America and 14 in Europe) and that six were installed in the past week. Georgeson didn't have numbers on hand to say which stations were the most popular or other details, but did say that it's safe to assume that the Supercharger in Lusk, WY (pictured), part of a sweeping 'S' shape from Los Angeles through the northern US and on to Chicago and the East Coast, is not the most frequently visited. The next target for expansion is finishing the Boston-to-Miami corridor, which means putting in more Superchargers in North Florida and South Carolina. At CES last week, the Supercharger network won our AOL Technology of the Year award. *UPDATE: Tesla just let us know that 8 million is a little premature. The current number is actually closer to 7.5 million, but the total should crest the 8-million mark soon.

US Senate authorizes DOE green car loan program [UPDATE]

Tesla Motors' crush of Model 3 reservations is fresh in everyone's minds, while Fisker Automotive (or at least its bankruptcy) is a distant memory. That's one explanation for a US Senate with a Republican leadership at one time bashed the Department of Energy's loan program for green-vehicle makers but now, under bipartisan support, the Senate has OK'd about $1.6 billion more to push forward green-vehicle technology, according to Hybrid Cars. The Senate voted to authorize a $1.6-billion federal program. The US Senate voted by about a seven-to-one margin to authorize a $1.6-billion federal program for the DOE's Vehicle Technologies Office program housed under the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). This is a different program from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program, which was last funded in 2007. The feds have been green-lit to spend $339 million per year through 2020 to speed up the development of advanced-technology vehicles. The mission: to get the US new light-duty fleet to meet the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) mandate of a 54.5 miles per gallon average (which is a real-world average of around 40 mpg) by 2025. Four automakers received funding from the ATVM program in the first go-round. The list was: Tesla, Fisker, Ford and Nissan. Specifically, Tesla was loaned $465 million in 2010, and paid that loan back in 2013 – about nine years ahead of time, with interest. On the flip side, the Department of Energy was slated to loan extended-range plug-in vehicle maker Fisker $528 million, but Fisker only received $192 million before the spigot got shut off because of missed deadlines. Fisker collected enough cash to pay down some of the debt, but the government still was stuck with $168 million unpaid. And that got washed out in Fisker's 2013 bankruptcy. Nissan was awarded $1.4 billion and Ford got $5.9 billion. Senator Gary Peters (D-Michigan), one of the authors of the new bill, issued a press release about the new funding, which you can read here. The new ATVM program will also target automotive suppliers. UPDATE: This post has been updated. We inaccurately said that the ATVM had been re-authorized. In fact, the ATVM loan program "has $16 billion in remaining loan authority for automotive or component manufacturers for reequipping, expanding, or establishing manufacturing facilities in the U.S.

Tesla lowers Model S lease price, adds 3-month 'happiness guarantee'

Tesla Motors is offering an enticing deal for potential buyers who might not be entirely sure whether they actually want to own a Model S for the long term. A deal through US Bank not only lowers the cost to lease the EV but also turns leasing the brand's electric sedan into a long-term rental.
Curious buyers who lease a Model S are now able to return it in the first three months with no penalties and with the remaining payments waived, something Tesla is calling the "happiness guarantee." CEO Elon Musk announced the deal on the company's blog, and he said the payments were also as much as 25 percent lower because US Bank "has a much lower cost of capital than us." Currently, a Tesla lease starts at around $800 and can be up to $1,300, with down payments around $6,500. Tesla leasing is available in 38 US states (full list below).
Of course, there is a catch for the offer. If people turn in their Model S within three months, they can't immediately lease another one. Musk doesn't say how long the wait is.