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New Jersey votes against Tesla, stores may close April 1

Doesn't New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have enough people mad at him already? Apparently not, since more than a few folks who like Tesla Motors are ready to get riled up. The governor is already embattled via his office's alleged role in a scandal involving politically-motivated lane shut-downs to the George Washington Bridge. And with him now deciding to let the state's motor-vehicle commission rule on allowing for Tesla to own its dealers, Tesla has likely lost that battle and may have to shutter its two New Jersey factory-owned stores by April 1, Automotive News says. Earlier this week, Tesla accused the governor on going back on his word after the company said it believed that the ruling would go before state legislature. Of course, the governor's office disagreed with that characterization. Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for Gov. Christie, sent a statement to AutoblogGreen that said: 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. 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 strenuously disagrees with that characterization, and Diarmuid O'Connell, Tesla's vice president of business development, told Bloomberg that, "any suggestion that Tesla was told 'since the beginning' about any problem with its ability to be licensed there is false." Representatives for New Jersey auto dealers say the ruling merely upholds current regulations and forces everyone to operate under the same mandate. Tesla first received approval to operate in New Jersey in the fall of 2012. Tesla has won court decisions regarding dealer allowances in Massachusetts and New York, though most notably lost one in Texas (the company also can't sell cars direct to customers in Arizona). In the past, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said he'd take the matter to the federal government, and we wouldn't be surprised to hear that sort of rallying cry come up again soon.

Dealers in Georgia latest to oppose Tesla showrooms

Tesla has been fighting challenges from dealer groups in several states for years due to the company's decision to sell directly to customers at stores rather than through franchise dealers. The business has won some of these battles like its recent compromise in Pennsylvania, which allows the company to open five stores there. Now, Tesla has another legal struggle ahead of it because the Georgia Automobile Dealers Association is hoping to shut down the brand's boutiques.
The Georgia dealers recently filed a petition to revoke Tesla's dealer license in the state and prevent it from reapplying for another one, according to Automotive News. The company currently operates just one store in Marietta, GA, but it reportedly has two more locations planned around Atlanta in the future. The association claims that Tesla's license limits it to direct sales of a maximum of 150 vehicles a year. It's now selling more than that, but attempting to increase the restriction.
If Tesla wants to keep selling cars in the state, which boasts high incentives and strong popularity around Atlanta for EVs, it needs to switch to franchises, according to the dealers. "No one should be allowed to act as if they are above the law, especially when there is a simple path to compliance that everyone else has agreed to follow," said Bill Morie, president of the association, to Automotive News.

Tesla takes New York Times to task for damning Model S review

The social media tête-à-tête between the New York Times and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, stemming from a defamatory review by John Broder of the Model S and Tesla's new "Supercharger" network on the East Coast, is heating up in a major way. Just yesterday we summarized the Twitter spat, and now Musk has expanded upon the data recorded during Broder's test drive - adding major credence to the criticism of the NYT writer.
The smoking gun in this case is the information that was captured by the data recorder in Broder's loaned Model S. The data recording function is one that is only activated for consumers when permission has been expressly granted, says Musk, but is always turned on in the case of media vehicles. Thusly equipped, Broder's vehicle was keeping track of speed, charging data, map data and more, presumably without the writer's foreknowledge.
The evidence recorded by the in-car systems happens to contravene Broder's most damning claims of the Tesla, says Musk in his article titled A Most Peculiar Test Drive. First, and perhaps most shockingly, the Model S "State of Charge" log shows that Broder's test car "never ran out of energy at any time." Broder's reporting indicated that the car ran completely out of juice at one point and had to be evacuated on a flatbed truck. The data log also points out that the trip was made at speeds ranging from 65 to 81 miles per hour, where the writer claimed to have set the cruise control at 54 mph, with periods of driving as slowly as 45 mph.