Tesla to earn $250 million from sales of California environmental credits

Tesla Motors is expected to release quarterly earnings figures within the next few days, and the Silicon Valley automaker is thought to have attained profitability for the first time ever. As it turns out, a good bit of that profit will reportedly come from the State of California.

According to an article from the LA Times, Tesla, which is reportedly on pace to sell 20,000 vehicles in 2013, receives as much as $35,000 in environmental credits from California for each Model S it sells. These credits can then be sold to other automakers that do business in the state but don't sell zero-emission vehicles of their own. Some experts believe Tesla could earn up to $250 million from such ZEV credits.

While profits from ZEV credits equals good news for Tesla, some experts and rival automakers aren't very pleased with California's strong-arm tactics when it comes to the sales of electric vehicles. "At the end of the day, other carmakers are subsidizing Tesla," said Thilo Koslowski, an analyst at Gartner Inc.

Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, counters by saying, "We are in the air pollution business, not the car business... There is some jealously of Tesla going on here." Check out the entire article from the LA Times here, it's an interesting look into the inner-workings of the business side of the eco-friendly automotive marketplace.

Source : 

Detroit Electric unveils $135,000 battery-powered sports car

The Detroit Electric SP:01, with a projected top speed of 155 mph, is "the world's fastest pure-electric sports car," the company says. The two-seater has a range of "just under 190 miles" between charges, Detroit Electric says.

DETROIT (Reuters) -- Detroit Electric, a startup electric-car maker reviving a brand that dates back more than a century, unveiled its first model on Wednesday: a $135,000, battery-powered sports car that is to go into limited production in August.

Founded more than five years ago, Detroit Electric is entering a still-nascent market that is struggling to find buyers. One of its would-be rivals, Fisker Automotive, a hybrid-electric sports-car company that hasn't built a car since last summer, has hired a law firm to advise on a possible bankruptcy filing.

With a projected top speed of 155 mph, the Detroit Electric SP:01 is "the world's fastest pure-electric sports car," the company says, adding the two-seater has a range of "just under 190 miles" between charges.

The car will be built in the Detroit area at a dedicated plant with an annual capacity of 2,500, the company said Wednesday at a reception at its new headquarters in Detroit's historic Fisher Building.

Detroit Electric plans to build only 999 SP:01's, which it says will be followed by "a new family of all-electric production cars, including two other high-performance models that will enter production by the end of 2014."

The SP:01 appears to borrow heavily from the British-built Lotus Elise -- no surprise considering a number of Detroit Electric executives previously worked for various affiliates of Lotus Cars.

Versions of the Elise have been used by other low-volume carmakers, notably Tesla Motors, which based its $100,000-plus Roadster electric car on the Lotus chassis.

The SP:01 borrows heavily from the British-built Lotus Elise.

The brand was revived in 2007 as a joint venture between China's Youngman Automotive Group -- which tried unsuccessfully to acquire bankrupt Swedish automaker Saab in 2012 -- and a small California-based electric-car company called Zap.The Detroit Electric brand had been dormant since 1939. Previously, it was used on a series of electric cars built in Detroit from 1907.

The venture hired Lotus Engineering in 2007 to provide contract design and technical services. In late 2007, Albert Lam, the chief executive of Lotus Engineering, joined the venture as chairman and was named CEO of Detroit Electric in 2008.


Source :

2013 Mahindra e2o in India

The e2o is an electric car developed by the Mahindra Reva Electric Car Company. It's the successor to the Reva India's first electric car. The big question is if India is prepared for a car of its kind. Nearly a decade ago it wasn't but how far have things progressed with the E2O.

STYLING
The e2o looks a bit out of the ordinary, the design is unconventional since its been drawn up by DC Design known for their quirky body shapes and lines. Does it look good? I will let you draw your own conclusions though it is not a design that appeals to me. The front end is striking and draws attention to it thanks to the large grill and bumpers complemented by a slim projector headlamp assembly. This car continues its two door philosophy but viewed from the side the
profile does look odd and ill proportioned. The oddly shaped rear window which does not roll down provides a large glass area that allows enough light to enter the cabin and give it a sense of room.
At the rear the body looks its narrowest. The rear hatch to access the boot is small and looks and feels flimsy. The hatch also covers the charging point which is the only smartest and practical design feature I have seen on the entire car. This was done in the interest of preventing anyone from tampering with the conventional external charge point when the car is left to charge.

Dimensions of this car aren't very generous on paper, its 3.5 meters long and 1.5 meters tall and wide. The front and rear track is narrow just around 1.2 meters wide but it provides a super 3.9 metre turning radius diameter.

Inside the cabin the width isn't an issue if you need to seat just four passengers and that's the best you should attempt. The narrow track also means the wheel well protrudes into the cabin and this can be an issue for front passengers as it forces the driver's pedals to be positioned too close to each other.

Interior design was drawn up internally by Mahindra Reva and I must say its a fair sight better to look at than the exteriors. The design is simple yet very functional in addition to being neat and clean. A non fussy dashboard is dominated by the audio system which also doubles up as a sat nav system and systems information display. It indicates the state of charger of the battery, predicts the range and also combines with the navigation system to help you choose the best
route given the state of charge of the battery.