Video: Tesla Model S and Roadster Silently Race Each Other on Desert Road

It’s not the first time we've shown you the Model S, Tesla’s 5-passenger-plus-2-children electric 5-Series rival on video, even though deliveries aren’t expected to begin before 2012. And the Roadster has gotten its fair share of coverage too.

But seeing the two Tesla models silently drive side by side down an empty desert road is a good enough excuse to show the two EV sports cars again – especially the gorgeous Model S.

You can watch the video after the jump, but please don’t complain about the music: in this case it’s entirely appropriate since you wouldn’t hear anything anyway.

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Toyota to Build RAV4 EV in Canada, Sales Start Next Year

Having cleared up the misunderstanding on whether or not the pure-electric RAV4 will be sold to the general public (it will), Toyota and partner Tesla Motors confirmed today that their jointly developed EV SUV will be built at the Japanese company’s Canadian manufacturing plant in Woodstock, Ontario starting from 2012. Read more »

California Drops $5,000 Rebate on Electric Cars

Electric car buyers in California will have to reach deeper in their pockets as the state has run out of the $5,000 rebates it was handing out to customers interested in vehicles like the Nissan LEAF and the Tesla Roadster. The generous rebate was given on top of the $7,500 tax credit offered by the government.

As for the 500 owners of electric cars that are currently on the waiting list to receive the rebate, California’s Air Resources Board said it will consider providing them with a $2,500 discount. Not what they signed up for, but still better than nothing.

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Tesla Current: Maxim Ostapenko Envisions an All Electric S-Class Competitor

With Tesla’s long anticipated Model S sedan still more than six months away, designers from all over the world have begun to speculate what will be next for the Silicon Valley-based automaker.

One such design study is the Current by Maxim Ostapenko, a graduate of Pasadena, California’s Art Center College of Design.

Essentially a four-door all-electric saloon car to compete with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7-Series and Jaguar XF, the Tesla Current shares its design heritage with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz F800 Style and the Citroen Survolt concepts.

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Tesla Roadster Owner Drives 100,000 Kilometers in less than two Years

Hansjörg von Gemmingen has gained the bragging rights to say he has covered more miles in a Tesla Roadster than anybody else has. The German racked up an impressive 100,000 kilometers (62,137 miles) since he first purchased the car less than two years ago. A stockbroker living in the southwest part of the country, von Gemmingen says he drives his Tesla on a daily basis regardless of purpose or distance, charging it every night through a standard household outlet. Read more »

Tesla Sues the BBC and Top Gear for Libel Against the Roadster

Tesla Motors announced yesterday that it has sued BBC's Top Gear TV show for “libel and malicious falsehood.” The American automaker’s action refers to a Top Gear episode aired on December 14 2008, when Jeremy Clarkson tested the Tesla Roadster.

According to Tesla, the show “contained lies and misinformation about the Roadster's performance, behavior and reliability.” Tesla Motors considers the breakdowns of the Roadster that allegedly occurred during the Top Gear episode were “staged” and that the statements made during the show are untrue.

More specifically, Tesla claims Top Gear misrepresented that:

1. The Roadster ran out of charge and had to be pushed into the Top Gear hangar by 4 men.
2. The Roadster’s true range is only 55 miles per charge (not 211).
3. One Roadster’s motor overheated and was completely immobilized as a result.
4. The other Roadster’s brakes were broken, rendering the car undriveable.
5. That neither of the two Roadsters provided to Top Gear was available for test driving due to these problems.

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Tesla to Extend its Lineup with an All-Electric SUV by 2014

*Opening Photo: Tesla Model S

Lately, the folks over at Tesla have been very busy developing the upcoming Model S sedan and, together with Toyota, the all-electric version of the RAV4 compact SUV. But there’s more, as according to an LA Times report, the California-based automaker is also working on a small SUV of its own, currently named Model X.

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Tesla to Extend its Lineup with an All-Electric SUV by 2014

*Opening Photo: Tesla Model S

Lately, the folks over at Tesla have been very busy developing the upcoming Model S sedan and, together with Toyota, the all-electric version of the RAV4 compact SUV. But there’s more, as according to an LA Times report, the California-based automaker is also working on a small SUV of its own, currently named Model X.

Read more »

Tesla Model S Road Testing Underway [with Video]

It has been a long journey, but it looks like the Tesla Model S all-electric sport sedan is one step closer to series production as the California-based automaker announced it is moving on to the final road tests. The first phase called Alpha, which began in 2010, includes both computer simulations and test-drives of prototype vehicles. There will be a Beta phase as well.

Read more »

Tesla Model S Road Testing Underway [with Video]

It has been a long journey, but it looks like the Tesla Model S all-electric sport sedan is one step closer to series production as the California-based automaker announced it is moving on to the final road tests. The first phase called Alpha, which began in 2010, includes both computer simulations and test-drives of prototype vehicles. There will be a Beta phase as well.

Read more »

Fulton Innovation Wirelessly Charges Tesla Roadster

A few days ago we brought you the news that GM will begin offering in-car wireless charging mats for mobile phones as an option from Q3 2012. These devices, that are making big waves at trade shows both in the U.S. and around the world, do away with the pesky cords and bulky adapters of old, replacing them with two conductive metal plates (i.e. one on the back of your phone and one in your car).

So imagine if you could charge your electric car this way. It should be simple, right? You’d just need to upscale it to suit charging a bigger battery. Well, at the 2011 CES technology trade show in Las Vegas, Fulton Innovation showed such a gadget by wirelessly charging the be-all and end-all of electric vehicles: the Tesla Roadster.

Read more »

Fulton Innovation Wirelessly Charges Tesla Roadster

A few days ago we brought you the news that GM will begin offering in-car wireless charging mats for mobile phones as an option from Q3 2012. These devices, that are making big waves at trade shows both in the U.S. and around the world, do away with the pesky cords and bulky adapters of old, replacing them with two conductive metal plates (i.e. one on the back of your phone and one in your car).

So imagine if you could charge your electric car this way. It should be simple, right? You’d just need to upscale it to suit charging a bigger battery. Well, at the 2011 CES technology trade show in Las Vegas, Fulton Innovation showed such a gadget by wirelessly charging the be-all and end-all of electric vehicles: the Tesla Roadster.

Read more »