Tesla "S" Garners Consumer Reports Best Car Rating...Ever

Tesla Model S

The Consumer Reports headline reads, "The Tesla Model S is our top-scoring car"

"There, we said it," CR goes on to say. "The Tesla Model S outscores every other car in our test Ratings. It does so even though it's an electric car. In fact, it does so because it is electric."

They were impressed with the car's "excellent handling, a comfortable ride, and lots of room inside. Plus, it has a front trunk where other cars' gasoline engines would be, in addition to its large rear cargo space."

The engine delivers "impressive power, right now, and it is impressively efficient. The Model S uses about half the energy of a Toyota Prius every mile, and it has more than twice the range—about 200 miles—of any other electric car we've driven."

"Inside," CR notes, the Tesla S, "looks like something Marty McFly might have brought 'back from the future' in place of his iconic fusion-powered DeLorean." They liked the giant iPad-like control panel in the center of the dashboard and how everything worked better than they expected.

"So is the Tesla Model S the best car ever?" CR says it comes close, especially if "your needs are confined to the Tesla's driving range" and ultimately determined "the Model S is truly a remarkable car."

An impressive review for an impressive vehicle. Check out CR's video: Tesla S video. Kudos to Elon Musk and Tesla Motors.


  

Robert Frost, Electric Cars, and Poetry

Poet Robert Frost died 50 years ago today, and Poets & Writers magazine offered the challenge of writing a poem using Frost's "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" as a model.

Robert Frost

Frost was born in 1874, some time after Robert Anderson (a suspected relation to this author) invented a crude electric carriage in Scotland, and some 39 years after Thomas Davenport of Brandon, Vermont, built his own small-scale electric car. Davenport also invented the first American-built DC electric motor.

Robert Anderson's Electric Carriage, circa 1832

Perhaps because I was working on some electric vehicle materials in my day-job today, I couldn't resist penning this over lunch, with apologies to the poet:

"Stopping by the Roadside on a Snowing Evening"

Whose car this is I think I know;

No keys I need to make it go.

You may not hear me driving by

'Cause electric cars are soft as snow.

My finger on the button here

Will make the engine start and gear

And waken not the woods and lake

--the quietest engine of the year.

I give the foot-pedal a tiny tap

And feel the seat belt on my lap.

The only other sound's the hush

Of lofty wind and goosewing flap.

The road is lively, quick, and steep.

But I have batteries to keep,

And miles to drive before I sleep,

And miles to drive before I sleep.

##

Davenport's Electric Car, 1835

Baby You Can Drive My (Electric) Car - EVS26

Electric vehicles have come a long way since the days for the botched EV-1 experiment of the 1990s. 

Fisker Karma

Formerly considered tin cans without much oomph or sex appeal, EVs took a back seat to the more trendy hybrids (Prius) and powerful SUVs.

Yet, if this year's EVS26 at the Los Angeles Convention Center proves one thing to me it's that electric vehicles range from the sexy sports cars (Fisker Karma and Tesla S) to a rather sedate sedan from Coda Automotive.

In between are new arrivals, such as Lexus and Lotus, and major players like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt.

Trucks and motorcycles, too, including the improbable, gorgeous Siemens Smart Chopper, were well represented, along with personal mobility devices such a GM's EN-V and a proliferation of electric bicycles.

There was not much in the way of fleet vehicles at this year's EVS, certainly not compared to when the show was in Shenzen, China, according to some. But we know from talking to several at the show that partnerships with FedEx, UPS, and companies like PepsiCo loom large in the sector.

Charging technologies were heavily represented, including a few wireless options.

The trouble with electric vehicles, however, is their reputation as de-featured, boring, and even unexciting. What gets lost, according to acolytes, is that these cars are fun to drive.

Drive a Nissan Leaf or a Chevy Volt, and I have to agree: they are boring. Why? Because they drive just like a regular car, a little quicker pick up at acceleration perhaps, but essentially you're driving a comparable internal combustion engine vehicle made by Nissan or Chevy.

Siemens Smart Chopper

Okay, there is an on/off button like the one on your computer, but it's not very different from their other offerings.

The Tesla and Fisker and Remy, as well as the Qualcomm-Halo-sponsored racing car, however; now, you're talking something that will give your heart a little race.

A few take-aways from the show:

1.) We've got a loooong way to go before mass adoption of these vehicles will happen.
2.) There are more entrepreneurial charging methods/technologies out there than will likely survive, and
3.) The "cool factor"/fun to drive conundrum must be addressed if we're ever going to get the public to switch to EVs.

Finally, things like range anxiety, cost, and perceived risk are still all very real obstacles to widespread public adoption.


But make them fun to drive and we will drive.

Nissan Leaf Tries to Jolt Sales vs. Chevy Volt with TV Ad

Nissan Leaf is losing ground to its hybrid competitor the Chevy Volt. In fact, some report that Volt has been kicking Leaf's butt -- or at least blowing Leafs off of the lawn?

So Nissan has decided to take on Volt the old-fashioned way: with a TV spot that CNET featured this morning and that will air on June 12 during the NBA Finals.

Imagine a world where all our appliances are gas-powered and you've got the world Nissan wants us to think we live in.

The ad is funny, inventive, even a little steampunk. 

While it's message is delivered in a tongue in cheek manner, it is also a little disingenuous.  Most of your all-electric Leaf mileage will be powered by dirty coal.

Nevertheless, its a spot that will no doubt have people talking, much like last year's Polar Bear ad.

Here is the 60-second version:

Nissan LEAF Polar Bear Commercial

How many of you caught this Nissan LEAF polar bear commercial during last night's Saints-Vikings game? I know some environmentalists will hate this, but I think it's very clever.

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Not Electrified by Volt: Green Skeptic on Fox Business

I appeared on FOX Business with Stuart Varney and Company this morning, talking about GM and the Chevy Volt.  Here is the video:



And here is a link, in case your browser doesn't support the format: Green Skeptic on Fox Business

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