A lot of people in advertising seem to think they can add instant credibility to their marketing message by adding a superlative or two to the copy.
Calling a product or service the “best” or the “biggest” or the “most” is pretty common practice, but this rarely means anything, since such labels are typically subjective marketing speak and used everywhere, all the time.
Tesla Motors posted a piece on its blog Friday announcing the “World’s Best Service and Warranty Program.” Well, that’s a mighty bold statement to make, but then again, Tesla is a pretty bold company and tends to back up what it says.
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Car Industry News, Car Shopping, Domestic Cars, Electric Vehicles, General Chat
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Disclaimer:
Reading about the car in this post will make you want it. The price is ridiculously low, and it uses no gas, creates zero emissions and has a decent range. It even comes with a program allowing buyers the use of larger, gas-powered cars when needed.
This car, the FIAT 500E, is about as perfect as electric cars get, at least so far. It even comes with dedicated support and customer service designed to mostly eliminate any worry about running out of juice somewhere away from home.
The one drawback? You probably can’t get one. The FIAT 500E is for residents of one state, and one state only.
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Car Industry News, Car Minded, Electric Vehicles, Foreign Cars, General Chat
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Tesla hasn’t done much that’s conventional in the car business. Just being successful as an independent U.S. automaker is unconventional enough, but the feisty maker of sexy electric cars has shunned the traditional dealer network and, now, debuted a whole new way to finance a Model S.
Well, mostly new. It’s essentially a lease. And a purchase, but with all kinds of asterisks and “true cost of ownership” numbers involved. But is the new financing program truly revolutionary, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has suggested?
Well, yeah, the idea actually is. Don’t expect to drive a new Tesla for dirt cheap (not even close), but Tesla’s new financing plan should pique the interest of more than a few potential buyers.
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Car Industry News, Car Minded, Domestic Cars, Electric Vehicles, General Chat
electric car, elon musk, model S lease, Tesla, Tesla Model S, true cost of ownership
With all the coverage of the New York Auto Show this week, one little car has been mostly ignored. In a sea of exciting new debuts, convincing Cadillacs and luscious Land Rovers, coverage of a small but exciting new electric has mostly fallen through the cracks.
People in the United States are not used to small cars from Mercedes-Benz. The smallest offering here has been the C-Class, but our roads are smothered in M-Class SUVs and large, powerful sedans. We have equated MB with big luxury, so smaller cars with a premium price here may be hard for buyers to accept. But with the new CLA-Class on the way, and the coming B-Class EV, things are about to get small.
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Buying a car that can go only about 50 miles from home is a scary thing. In typical day-to-day driving, the range of an electric car is more than adequate, but there is still the fear of running out of juice somewhere far from home.
Mobile charging trucks, public charging stations and other ideas can help ease some of that worry, but buyers of the coming BMW i3 will have another option:
Free access to a traditional gas-powered loaner vehicle.
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Car Industry News, Car Minded, Electric Vehicles, Foreign Cars, Gas for your car..., General Chat, Hybrid Cars
BMW EV loaner program, BMW i3, BMW loaner program, range anxiety
McLaren P1
One of the cars I’m going to mention here is real and could theoretically be purchased and stored in your garage, assuming you had enough cash and knew the right people.
The other car doesn’t even exist. All we have is the promise that it will, along with some seriously unbelievable claims and performance numbers.
These are supercars that reside at opposite ends of real and imagined, yet share the common goal of becoming one of the fastest automobiles in the world.
First, let’s start with the real car: the McLaren P1.
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Remember back in 2008, when General Motors said the coming Chevy Volt would be certified as a 100-mpg vehicle? It was big news back in the day. Now, though, we can all look back and laugh at the ridiculousness of such a claim. The EPA says the Volt gets a combined 37-mpg rating, though on all-electric power it’s rated at 94-mpge (miles per gallon equivalent).
So when an automaker makes grandiose claims that a new car can get unheard of gas mileage numbers, you’ll forgive the skepticism.
Volkswagen, though, has been working on such a vehicle for more than a decade. If the latest news is true, expect a 270-mpg V-Dub to debut very soon.
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Car Industry News, Car Minded, Electric Vehicles, Exotic Cars, Foreign Cars, Gas for your car..., General Chat, Hybrid Cars
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I don’t know why people continue to be surprised that electric cars have range limits. My 8-year-old daughter has an electric scooter and loves it, but knows it’ll die out somewhere around the 25th time down her long driveway and she’ll end up pushing it back to the garage. It doesn’t make her angry or surprise her, it’s just expected. Meanwhile, my son knows his gas-powered go-kart will run until the tank goes dry. Similar concept, different fuel. One can be refueled in about 30 seconds, while the other takes all night.
These are kids’ toys, and there’s no mystery involved.
Yet auto writers seem to love it when their test EV runs out of juice somewhere along a pre-determined test route designed to push the limits of range. Why? Because it gives them something to rant about. They can say things like, “Aha! This car left me stranded!”
That makes for a much more interesting story than reporting that a car finished a test loop without issue.
By now most people on Earth probably know about the New York Times writer and his adventures with a Tesla Model S, as well as Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s fiery reply. Come on guys, let’s just hug this thing out.
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Car Industry News, Car Minded, Domestic Cars, Electric Vehicles, General Chat
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I’m pretty much a fan of all things ’80s. The hair, the music, the movies, the cars… well, most of the cars. The Toyota trucks and Honda sedans were pretty great, but the rest were perfectly forgettable.
The DeLorean DMC-12, though, straddled the line between forgettable and iconic. Then, it was a watered-down attempt at a sports car. Now, it defines the entire decade thanks to its ability to accelerate to 88 mph and transcend time.
One look at a DeLorean and everything great about the 1980s jumps to mind, including life-preserver vests and Huey Lewis and the News music.
Within a year, new electric DeLoreans could be available for you and me to purchase. No more scouring the used listings for acceptable deals on old models with under-powered gas engines!
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Car Industry News, Car Minded, Classic & Vintage Cars, Domestic Cars, Electric Vehicles, General Chat
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Chevrolet Volt
Sometimes the universe chooses crazy ways to tell us things.
Whether in life, love, or work, sometimes things happen that are just too much to write off as coincidence and can only be described as the work of fate.
In addition to pulling the strings of how and when people meet or opening the door to new potential career paths, it seems the universe has taken an interest in the furtherance of electric cars.
Allow me to explain.
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Car Minded, Car Shopping, Domestic Cars, Electric Vehicles, Gas for your car..., General Chat, Hybrid Cars
Chevy Volt, EV car sales, EV sales numbers, Ford Focus EV, leaf, Nissan Leaf, volt
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