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NY dealers try to make it illegal to register a Tesla EV

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, Tesla Motors

Following his big battery swap reveal in California Thursday night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is turning his eye to New York. That’s where a new tactic by the local auto dealers could put a damper on Tesla’s electric-vehicle success story.

“Just heard that NY auto dealers are sneaking through a bill to shut down Tesla in NY” – Elon Musk

Specifically, Green Car Reports says, there are two nearly identical bills being stealthily moved through the New York state legislature (Assembly bill A07844 and State bill S05725) that would prohibit the state from registering any vehicles that had not been sold through an independent third party (i.e., a dealer). The move prompted Musk to Tweet, “Just heard that NY auto dealers are sneaking through a bill to shut down Tesla in NY. Please call your state senator!” He later sent out, “NY Assembly passing bill to shut down Tesla, but Senate holding the line. Appreciate senators resisting influence of auto dealer lobby.”

It’s the latest round in a fight that started when the state dealers filed a suit against Tesla’s dealer-free sales method in late 2012. The New York Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the dealers could not use the Franchised Dealer Act as a reason to sue competitors. The New York State Automobile Dealers Association has a letter (PDF) claiming the support of out-of-state groups like the Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers and the Global Alliance of Manufacturers. Tesla currently has two stores in New York, in Queens and White Plains, and one more planned (in Long Island).

That outside support makes sense, since Tesla is embroiled in a struggle with dealers in other states (Massachusetts and Texas come to mind). Nationwide, dealers are putting up quite a fight against Tesla, which makes sense when you realize the automaker is the first to give them this much of a challenge before, at least in recent memory. Since Musk has talked about taking the dealer fight national, we don’t think this is the last we’ll hear of this story.

NY dealers try to make it illegal to register a Tesla EV originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 22 Jun 2013 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Company car offers in decline, but not at The Cheesecake Factory [w/poll]

Filed under: Etc., BMW

As businesses look to keep high-level employees happy, it seems that use of company cars can still be an effective method, although fewer companies are employing it. According to Businessweek, only about 25 percent of companies offer company vehicles as a perk, while less than half give allowances for employees to use their personal vehicles for work purposes.

The report says that one business still in the practice of handing out company cars is The Cheesecake Factory, which offers the benefit to top managers. And we’re not talking about some econobox, either. The article indicates the restaurant chain hands out BMWs on a three-year basis – although the company’s own report says that the type of vehicle “varies with the executive’s level.”

Still, we mostly agree with the article’s conclusion that money is the best way to keep employees or attract new ones, even if a corporate car is a big perk. What do you think? Let us know, in the poll below, whether a company car could sway you to work for a certain company (not just the Cheesecake factory, where the “Glamburgers” portion of the menu alone is enough to keep a guy hanging around).

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Company car offers in decline, but not at The Cheesecake Factory [w/poll] originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Jun 2013 10:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: VW agrees to halt next-gen rally car development to help others stay in WRC

Filed under: Motorsports, Hatchback, Volkswagen, Racing

Volkswagen Polo R WRC - dead on front view

Volkswagen has petitioned the FIA to hold on to the current specifications for cars in the World Rally Championship, according to Autosport.com. The move is evidently an effort to keep as many competitors in the sport as possible, despite the fact that using the current spec racers may actually hurt Volkswagen’s chances at winning. The three factory teams currently competing in the WRC are at the end of a three-year homologation cycle at the end of 2013, and new cars are expected to bow next year. But developing new racers could cost as much as $4.7 million.

That price tag would put M-Sport (which fields Ford racers) out of the WRC game for 2014 and would put Citroën participation in question as well. VW has already begun work on the next iteration of its Polo R WRC, and the hatch has nabbed four wins in six rounds this season. Now it appears that car won’t bow until at least 2015. The FIA has officially agreed to freeze homologation of new WRC cars until the end of next season.

VW agrees to halt next-gen rally car development to help others stay in WRC originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Jun 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Jaguar F-Type squares off against Porsche 911, Aston V8 Vantage with Chris Harris

Filed under: Convertible, Videos, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Porsche

Chris Harris is back on the job, taking on really really difficult car questions like: Which enormously sexy and good-to-drive, high-performance convertible is the top of the heap? As one of the hottest cars in the luxury space right now, the Jaguar F-Type S is, of course, in on the action. Competition comes in the form of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster and the Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet. Sun-loving CEOs who despise test-driving need look no further.

Scroll on below for a fully featured (with a running time of more than 20 minutes) comparison video. Harris does his best to entertain – in a typically nitpicky and made-up-British-words fashion – and the moving pictures are lovely to look at. Kick back, pour a pint and get your weekend started off right.

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Jaguar F-Type squares off against Porsche 911, Aston V8 Vantage with Chris Harris originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Jun 2013 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Monkey bites rookie cop issuing a speeding ticket

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Police/Emergency, Humor

Police officers are trained to be very careful when approaching vehicles they have pulled over, but we’re sure at least one rookie cop in Texas will be extra vigilant in the future. Aransas Pass (just east of Corpus Christi) rookie officer Keith Moore was issuing a speeding ticket to a driver of a pickup truck, and when he went to have the driver sign his citation, a monkey lunged from the back seat and bit Moore on his hand.

Even though the whole ordeal was captured on Moore’s sunglass-mounted camera, his sergeant still had a hard time believing what had happened, and both seemed to handle the situation quite well – apparently neither have seen the movie Outbreak. As it turns out, Corpus Christi’s KRIS TV says that the ill-tempered – and non-seatbelt-wearing – monkey travels with his owner to carnivals and festivals to pose with visitors. The first-person video of the monkey’s surprise traffic stop attack is posted below.

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Monkey bites rookie cop issuing a speeding ticket originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Jun 2013 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official: Lotus getting into the motorcycle business

Filed under: Lotus, Motorcycle, Racing

Lotus founder Colin Chapman is famously quoted as saying something to the effect of “Simplify, then add lightness.” We’re a bit amazed that it took this long, but someone appears to be taking that message to heart at the British marque, losing a couple of wheels, a clutter of bodywork and a whole mess of weight. No, Lotus isn’t planning another spindly Seven-style trackday racer, it’s getting into motorcycles.

Well, sort of. As an automaker, Lotus apparently isn’t directly behind this two-wheeled effort, but it does appear to have officially lent its brand and logo to a new company, Lotus Motorcycles, which counts former Volkswagen Group designer Daniel Simon, Germany’s Holzer Group and auto racing team Kodewa among its partners. The latter builds and races Lotus’ T128 Le Mans Prototype in the World Endurance Championship series.

The new company is touting an as-yet unseen motorcycle, a racing-inspired “hyper bike” called C-01, releasing only the image above – a carbon fiber fuel tank trimmed in Lotus’ trademark black and gold livery. Details are tough to come by, but the project is said to include a powertrain good for around 200 horsepower and construction involving titanium, carbon fiber and aerospace-grade steel.

The C-01’s shape will come from Simon, a designer who has not only worked at Bugatti, he’s also credited with a few Hollywood fantasymobiles, including the Lightcycle from Tron: Legacy and more recently the “Bubbleship” spacecraft used by Tom Cruise in Oblivion. The company promises that the legendary Lotus 49 racecar was a “main inspiration” in its conception, and “all color schemes pay homage to iconic Lotus racing liveries.” We can’t wait to see more, but we’ll have to – at least a little while. The company says we can expect further images and information in “the next few weeks.” For more, check out the company’s statement released via Facebook by scrolling below.

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Lotus getting into the motorcycle business originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Jun 2013 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spy Shots: Lexus NX small CUV caught

Filed under: Spy Photos, Hybrid, Crossover, Lexus, Luxury

Lexus NX spy shots

To the untrained eye, these photos might not look like anything more than a Lexus CT 200h undergoing testing, but what we really have here is something pretty significant. According to our spies, this is actually a mule that gives us our first glimpse at the upcoming Lexus NX crossover, a smaller vehicle that will slot below the RX in the automaker’s CUV portfolio – presently only one vehicle.

Look closely, and you’ll note that this mule has a much higher ride height than the normal CT hybrid hatchback. The upgraded wheels with crossover-spec tires are another dead giveaway that something more robust is being tested in this CT’s shell.

Late last year, we learned that Lexus had reportedly trademarked the names “NX 200t” and “NX 300h,” which provided a glimpse into the powertrain offerings for the new CUV. Lexus will finally make use of turbocharged power with this new NX – a 2.0-liter turbo-four fitting of the 200t nomenclature. A hybrid variant will almost certainly be available – the 300h – probably using the same 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and electric motor combination found in the ES 300h. Our spies report that a naturally aspirated, four-cylider version should also be available.

Our earlier reports have suggested that we could see the production NX as early as the 2014 Geneva Motor Show. A concept previewing this CUV may appear at the Tokyo Motor Show, as well.

Lexus NX small CUV caught originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Jun 2013 17:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2014 Honda Accord Hybrid will get 49 mpg city in US, starts at $37,260 in Japan

Filed under: Hybrid, Honda

2014 Honda Accord Hybrid - black - front three-quarter view

2014 Honda Accord Hybrid JDM - front three-quarter view Two bits of news about the upcoming 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid have been released, but still not enough to have a complete picture of the revamped gas-electric that will come to the US this October.

First, and this applies to the US model, the Accord Hybrid has been given an estimated 49-miles-per-gallon EPA city fuel economy rating along with 45 mpg highway and 47 mpg combined thanks to some high-tech wizardry – a.k.a. two-motor hybrid powertrain – that is similar to what’s already available in the 115 MPGe Accord Plug-In. The Accord will be Honda’s first hybrid to be assembled in Marysville, OH. You’ll find many more details in the press release below.

Over in Japan, where we already knew fuel economy estimates, the story is a little more complete. Namely, that pricing for the new Accord Hybrid will start at 3,650,000 yen (US $37,260). That’s a whopping 610,000 yen ($6,227) more than the competition is charging for the Toyota Camry Hybrid and also a lot more than the standard Accord in Japan, which starts at around $25,500. Analysts say this price premium is “a good strategy” for the extra fuel economy and should keep the Accord nipping at the Camry’s heels, saleswise.

The big question is: does this help us guess how much the Accord Hybrid will cost stateside? Not really. Honda’s Jessica Fini told AutoblogGreen, “We don’t have pricing on the US version yet. That information will be available closer to the on-sale in October. It would be challenging to compare the Japan pricing strategy to what will happen with the US model since the markets are pretty different.” For example, she added, “The Accord in Japan is a premium model – in the article they compare it to a Lexus in the US – so that should also provide some perspective on how they are pricing it here. Certainly the US Accord has a different position here in the market.”

In the US, the standard Accord starts at $21,680 while the 2014 Plug-In begins at $39,780, and we’re pretty certain the hybrid will slot between the two. Bold prediction, right?

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2014 Honda Accord Hybrid will get 49 mpg city in US, starts at $37,260 in Japan originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 21 Jun 2013 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spy Shots: Mercedes releases spy shots of its sub-SLS AMG sports car

Filed under: Spy Photos, Coupe, Performance, Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes has handed out “spy shots” of its sub-SLS AMG sports car prototype, which tells us that this on-again/off-again product is most definitely on again. Looking smaller than the company’s SLS AMG in these first shots of a running prototype, it nevertheless appears to retain the same basic shape as the larger halo car with a long hood and the cabin located far back on the chassis. Despite the similarities in shape, it does not have gullwing doors and appears to have barely enough room for 2+2 seating like the Porsche 911.

Moving into the realm of speculation and hearsay, the sub-SLS should have a good fighting weight thanks to a new all-aluminum spaceframe, and be powered by a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 producing in the neighborhood of 485 horsepower. Of course, being a Merc, we can expect a 500+hp S variant and a bonkers Black Series model with something approaching 600 hp, the latter of which would be spoiling for a fight with the 911 Turbo. As for the car’s name, we’re told internally its codename is C190, but the production model could go by GT, SLC or even revive the SLR moniker.

Mercedes releases spy shots of its sub-SLS AMG sports car originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Jun 2013 15:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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