With a wire transfer of $451.8 million, Elon Musk has finally made good on his promise to repay the hefty loan Tesla received from the Department of Energy well ahead of its 2022 due date, beating even Musk's own five-year estimate. This comes on the heels of a very profitable first quarter, and is yet another sign the electric car maker is doing quite well on the greener side of things, despite a touch of bad press earlier this year. For more on what Tesla has to say about this milestone, check the press release after the break.

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Porsche isn't about to let the LaFerrari steal the hybrid spotlight: it just unveiled the finished design of the 918 Spyder, which is expected to ship as a 2015 model. The look won't shock anyone keeping up with their spy videos, although Porsche's formal unveiling helps firm up the specifications that customers will get if they've dutifully shelled out $845,000. The performance is even more intimidating than it was in 2011, we know that much: there's 887HP of combined V8 and plug-in electric power, a 0-62MPH time of 2.8 seconds and up to 18 miles of gas-free driving. About the only disappointment (price notwithstanding) is the lack of options beyond a weight reduction package. We doubt many Spyder buyers will complain when they can even outrace a 911 GT3.

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Via: Autoblog

Source: Porsche

Anyone who's visited Hong Kong within the last few years has probably experienced the city's thick soupy smog. Sure, things aren't as bad as they are in Beijing, but pollution from the mainland often wraps the metropolis in a humid haze -- and we're not sure an all-electric taxi rollout is going to do anything to alleviate that. Just 45 of the BYD e6 cabs are now on the road, so the release is mainly symbolic -- only a few dozen lucky drivers will be cruising up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) of city streets between charge breaks at one of nine area stations. Private citizens, for their part, can take ownership of the e6 Premier sedan -- the civilian version just began shipping as well.

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Source: BYD (Business Wire)

Many automakers talk of building driver-focused machines; for its 50th birthday, Lamborghini is taking that idea to its logical extreme through the Egoista Concept. The commemorative supercar centers on a cabin that only allows room for the driver and a bare minimum of instruments, eliminating pesky distractions such as passengers and stereos. Lamborghini isn't exaggerating when it likens the interior to a jet fighter's cockpit -- the pilot gets a heads-up display as a matter of course, and has to climb over the car body just to crawl inside. We'd certainly like to give the narrow-purpose vehicle a spin when there's a 600HP, 5.2-liter V10 involved, although that's sadly unlikely. As hinted by the self-centered name, the Egoista Concept is built to let the company toot its own horn, and won't be sold -- anyone who gets a test drive will be part of a very exclusive (and likely ecstatic) club, as you might gather from the video after the break. We'll just have to make do with an Aventador, then.

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Via: Autoblog

Source: Lamborghini

While we largely enjoyed our time behind the wheel of the Tesla Model S, we clearly didn't have as much fun as Consumer Reports. The often stringent outlet just gave the EV sedan a 99 out of 100 rating, which makes it not just the publication's highest-ranked electric car, but its highest-ranked car... period. In particular, Tesla earned high marks for efficiency and quietness, as you'd expect, although CR is equally impressed with the Model S' performance and that inescapable 17-inch touchscreen. The review isn't uniformly positive, though: not surprisingly, the luxury pricing and inherent range limits prevent a flawless verdict. It's still a symbolic win for eco-friendly transport, however, and might help one Mr. Musk feel better about his pride and joy.

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Via: Motor Authority

Source: Consumer Reports

What's next for Tesla's Model S? Road safety and assistance tools may be on the docket, including self-driving technology that Elon Musk refers to as "autopilot," according to a Bloomberg report. The CEO has reportedly been in talks with Google about assistive tech -- the feature could be similar to what we've seen in Mountain View's recent self-driving demos, though a system developed in-house by Tesla is more likely. Bloomberg states that some automakers, such as Nissan, think autonomous vehicles could be a decade away, so don't expect a next-gen Model S to navigate roads on its own.

Meanwhile, a hidden configuration page in current vehicles reveals some additional features, including Blind Spot Detection, Adaptive Cruise and Lane Departure Warning. All three are currently disabled, but they could bring at least some additional automation to the all-electric car. It's unlikely that the required hardware is installed within sedans already on the road, but those features are clearly on the company's radar, giving us hope that some of the concerns we outlined during our review may soon be addressed.

Filed under: Transportation, Google

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Source: Bloomberg

Current or wannabe Tesla S owners can now opt for a Performance Plus option that adds a bit of range and a lot of extra handling -- and the whole idea came from none other than McLaren. After a journalist told Elon Musk that his nimble sedan was nonetheless outdone by a McLaren MP4-12C supercar (duh?), Tesla's engineers got to work tweaking the suspension and adding new Michelin tires. The latter boosts range by 6 to 12 miles over the stock rubber, while the whole package adds more cornering grip and acceleration "while maintaining ride quality," according to the company. Current owners can get the option retrofitted for $13,000, but if you're still kicking tires, it'll add $6,500 to your total Tesla S bill for the up-rated suspension bits, plus another $3,500 for the optional 21-inch wheels. Sounds tempting for a poor-man's McLaren, and given the new financing options, you might even be able to justify it.

Update: We've updated this post to clarify pricing. The 21-inch wheels are not included in the $6,500 Performance Plus package.

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Source: Autoblog Green

When Ford's hybrid lineup has been rapidly expanding over the past year, it stands to reason that the company's sales in the category would take off like an eco-friendly rocket. They have, and faster than you'd expect: the automaker now says it should break its yearly record for US hybrid sales sometime in May, with just under 6,000 cars standing between its current 2013 figures and an all-time high of 35,496 hybrids in 2010. The company has also more clearly established itself as number two, climbing from an estimated three percent of the US hybrid market share last April to 18 percent this year. While Toyota is still the clear frontrunner at 58 percent, Ford is ahead of its Detroit-based rivals -- and when Prius sales are soft, the Japanese firm just might be nervous.

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Source: Bloomberg

We all know by now that directly interacting with a phone while driving is a very bad idea. There are many more potential distractions at play in a car, however, and the US Department of Transportation has just published the first phase of guidelines to help infotainment device and vehicle makers keep drivers' eyes on the road. Many of them are logical recommendations for avoiding text, video and the web while on the move, although the federal agency suggests curbs that would surprise those with cutting-edge rides. While the DOT agrees that hands-free calls are safer, it still sees an added degree of risk from using them; it's not a big fan of GPS systems that introduce 3D or photorealism, either, as they potentially distract from the navigation at hand. The current guidelines aren't hard and fast rules, but it's clear the DOT will be watching companies closely -- and when the advice is just one part of a three-part series, we'd expect close scrutiny of phones and other mobile devices before too long.

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Transportation

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Via: Wired

Source: NHTSA

New York City's full-on EV taxi blitz may not come until late this year, but the metropolis is taking its first tentative steps into that electric world as of today: it's deploying the six Nissan Leaf cabs promised as part of a pilot program. The half-dozen sedans will spend a year on the road, with officials able to gauge the effectiveness of EVs as taxis when they have access to both regular chargers at their home bases as well as fast chargers in Manhattan's far West Side, Lower East Side and Union Square. Don't expect to hail an eco-friendly cab very often, though -- along with the daunting numerical odds, the Leaf drivers have more liberty than usual to turn down passengers and protect their remaining power supply. If you do happen to find yourself in the back seat, however, you'll likely get a glimpse at New York's cleaner and quieter future.

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Via: Autoblog (1), (2)

Source: New York City (PDF)