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New York state legislature fails to address anti-Tesla EV bill

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors, Legislation and Policy

Tesla Motors service bay with Model S in red and white

A surprise pair of bills in the New York State Assembly that would have narrowly targeted Tesla Motors and its direct-to-customer sales model has been put in neutral. The State Assembly ended the 2013 legislative session Friday without taking action on the bill and, since the lawmakers will not reconvene until January, it is effectively dormant for now.

Tesla said that had the bill passed, it would have had to close its stores and stop operations in New York, which is why Tesla CEO Elon Musk took a personal interest in the situation when it hit the headlines late last week. Once the bill was stopped, Musk tweeted, “The kill Tesla bill in NY was stopped in the 11th hour due to public outcry. Am super grateful to everyone who helped.”

Behind the scenes, Automotive News reports that there were attempts at dealmaking that Tesla turned down. The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association said it would allow Tesla’s existing New York stores (all three of them) to keep operating but would not allow new stores to open. Tesla turned down the deal. A Republican sponsor of the bill also offered to put in a Tesla exception, so as not to “adversely impact any business operating in the state of New York,” Senator Lee Zeldin told AN.

The president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, Mark Schienberg, told AN that Tesla should just set up dealers like other automakers (something Musk has explained is a bad idea) and that Musk has “just chosen that he’d rather not follow any of the rules and regulations and standards that each state has, and that’s why there’s a pushback right now.”

The “pushback” here was started when the New York dealers association filed a suit against Tesla in late 2012. The NY State Supreme Court ruled this year that they did not have a claim to file suit. With this case and more pushback in Texas and Massachusetts and other states, we wouldn’t be at all surprised if this issue goes national at some point.

New York state legislature fails to address anti-Tesla EV bill originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 24 Jun 2013 14:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford Mustang Boss 302 fails Motor Trend brake test. Here’s why

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Safety, Ford

2012 ford mustang boss 302

2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 – Click above for high-res image gallery

Ford’s new M3-fightin’ Mustang, the 2012 Boss 302, is a 444-horsepower, rear-wheel-drive two-door designed to fight well above its weight class. Motor Trend decided to spend quality time with the coupe, and something scary happened. Not scary as in ‘whoa, this thing is scary fast’ but more along the lines of ‘call my tailor, I ruined my pants’ terrifying.

Part of M/T’s testing gauntlet includes a look at braking distance. Road Test Editor Scott Mortara ran the Ford up to 70 miles per hour. Now it was time to see how quickly he could bring it to zero. Typically, this is just a matter of mashing the brakes and holding on. The sound of straining tires is a sound that’s welcome, but a metallic snapping noise is not. Either way, the 2012 Boss 302 was a runaway pony.

Mortara used the six-speed manual transmission to reduce the coupe’s speed before exiting the track through a gap at its end. What went wrong? A pin that connects the brake pedal to the rod that actuates the master cylinder had failed and snapped off. Normally, the brake pedal connects to the rod in a manner that distributes the pressure evenly over a large surface area and would still actuate the brakes when one presses the pedal. The setup on this particular Mustang was faulty, and allowed for far more pressure on the individual piece that failed.

Ford has examined this car, as well as the brake installation process at its assembly plants. It seems this car is unique in its defect. Motor Trend contends that it’s possible the brake assembly was removed then reinstalled after the vehicle left the factory, which could explain why the part failed in such an abnormal manner. Check out the full story over at Motor Trend.

Gallery: 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302: First Drive

2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302

[Source: Motor Trend]

Ford Mustang Boss 302 fails Motor Trend brake test. Here’s why originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Aprilia RSV4 tries to paint, fails

Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Motorcycle

The canvas and the Aprilia RSV4 – Click above to watch video after the jump

The Aprilia RSV4 is taking the fight to all of its competition on in the World Superbike Championship, leading the manufacturer standings by a healthy sum. Off the track, Aprilia continues to take digs at the BMW S1000RR, first done with the tabelcloth video.

In light of BMW’s focus on art, Aprilia’s made another video proving that it can’t paint.. but it can win. Follow the jump to watch, and we’ve included another where Aprilia proves it can’t make deliveries either, unless you’re looking for a checkered flag…

[Source: Hell for Leather, Aprilia YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Aprilia RSV4 tries to paint, fails

Video: Aprilia RSV4 tries to paint, fails originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Rush Limbaugh tears into Chevy Volt, fails to understand how it works

Filed under: Hybrid, Etc., Chevrolet, GM, Celebrities, Electric

It has long been apparent that the more successful a talk radio host is, the less relevant the facts become. Case in point is this week’s apparent tirade by Rush Limbaugh against the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. No doubt the Volt’s sticker price came in higher than most of us had hoped at $41,000, and Limbaugh may have had a slight point there. However, suggesting that the federal $7,500 tax credit for plug-in vehicles like the Volt and the Nissan Leaf was there as an admission that no one wants these vehicles strikes us as disingenuous at best, especially when you recall the tax write-offs that were available to people buying Hummers and other large SUVs just a few years ago. As far as we know, Limbaugh also made no mention of the more palatable $350-per-month lease deal available for the Volt.

Limbaugh also ripped into the Volt’s 40 mile range, implying that the 40 miles of range from the battery is all that is available. He was either unaware of or chose to ignore the fact that in charge-sustaining mode, the car’s onboard engine-generator can keep the battery going for another 300 miles on a tank of gas. If you don’t have time to sit around while the battery charges, you can just take a couple of minutes to fill the tank and be on your way again, just as you would in a normal car.

Perhaps we should just give Limbaugh the benefit of the doubt and assume his cochlear implant was on the fritz.

Gallery: 2011 Chevrolet Volt

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

Report: Rush Limbaugh tears into Chevy Volt, fails to understand how it works originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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