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The roomy Tesla Model S, above, would seem to have little in common with the low-slung BMW i8, below, except that both have four wheels. The Tesla is an all-electric luxury car with ample room for four, and the i8 is a plug-in hybrid sports car for two that is difficult to get into and out of. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR Although hybrid and all-electric cars have been sold in the United States for 15 years, many automobile writers still don't feel all warm and fuzzy about them. Can you blame them? For years, writers for car magazines and newspapers have been obsessing over tire-burning acceleration, 0-60 times and how fast the model they are evaluating can lap a racetrack. Impact on the environment? Who knew and who cared? Many in the automotive media have been skeptical of green cars -- from the Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrid of a decade ago to the revolutionary all-electric Tesla Model S of today. Times praises BMW i8 In October, The New York Times ran two stories evaluating the...

The 2014 BMW i3 is available as an all-electric vehicle or as a plug-in hybrid. The grille and hood badge are familiar, above, but the carbon-fiber passenger compartment over an all-aluminum platform and battery set it apart from the German automaker's other cars. The production car, new this year, looks much like the concept that was shown in 2011. The rear doors on the four-door hatchback can be opened and closed only when the front doors are open, below. The silver latch for the rear passenger-side door. This was the same system used in the Honda Element, a boxy SUV that went out of production in 2011. In fact, when you see an Element on the road, the styling will remind you of the sleeker BMW i3. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR You don't have to drive the new BMW i3 very far before you discover several remarkable features in this all-electric car, which is also available as a plug-in hybrid. The one I like best is the possibility of one-pedal operation:  When you lift off of the...

On the Tesla Model S, the charging port is cleverly hidden behind the lens of the driver-side tail light. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR The Huffington Post carries one of the most positive reports I've seen on the range of the all-electric Tesla Model S. Click on the link below: Forget the worry about recharging

The all-electric Tesla Model S is a large, heavy and luxurious four-door hatchback, as seen in this image from a company gallery in Westfield Garden State Plaza, a shopping center in Paramus. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR When automobile writers get together for lunch once a month in Manhattan, you never know what you might hear. I arrived on the ninth floor of the 3 West Club just before 12:30 on Tuesday to find the room full of members and guests of the International Motor Press Association. I saw Norman Mayersohn, deputy Automobiles editor at The New York Times, speaking to an older man I didn't know, and the latter wished Mayersohn all the best. When I asked what happened, I was told The Times is folding its 20-year-old Automobiles section, ostensibly for economic reasons. The older man claimed Elon Musk, CEO of California-based Tesla, reacted angrily when the Automobiles section published favorable articles in October about BMW's new iBrand, a plug-in hybrid sports car and an...

Trudy Hardy, BMW's marketing vice president, admits getting out of the low-slung i8 hybrid sports car "takes some grace and finesse." I describe it as an ergonomic nightmare that poses a challenge to the dignity of any woman who wears a skirt. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR BMW isn't the biggest automaker in the world, but this year, the company debuted its iBrand -- a plug-in hybrid sports car and a more practical sedan that is available in purely electric form. It's hard to believe the two cars came from the same engineering department. And the German automaker seems to have conceded the all-electric luxury market to the Tesla Model S, a big four-door hatchback with a range of 200 miles or more. The BMW i8 wows you with its performance and super-car sounds, but it's so difficult to get out of you have to conclude it was designed by men exclusively for men. Trudy Hardy on the iBrand This afternoon, BMW sent a woman, Marketing Vice President Trudy Hardy, to discus...

The Tesla Model S. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR A London-based automobile publication says Tesla Motors will start selling a smaller, all-electric sedan called the Model 3 at a starting price of $35,000. The car is set to debut in 2017. The larger Tesla Model S with a 60 kWh battery has an MSRP of $69,900. Tesla boss Elon Musk is quoted as saying the Model 3 will have a "realistic range of over 200 miles." Here is a link to the full article in Auto Express: Tesla Model 3 to challenge BMW 3 Series

Despite the strides made by hybrids and all-electric cars or EVs in the past 14 years, the American road is still dominated by SUVs, which waste gasoline and pollute the air. How many times have you seen only a driver in one of these monstrosities? By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR Call it the "game changer" or the "sweet spot." An affordable all-electric car could finally pose a challenge to the dominance of the infernal combustion engine, one of the chief causes of climate change. But two things would have to happen: The car would have to start at $40,000 and offer a minimum range of 200 miles. I'm flexible, though, after looking at the BMW i3, which the German automaker says has a real-world range of 80-100 miles or 160-180 miles with a "Range Extender," a 2-cylinder gasoline engine that recharges the battery. The base model of the BMW i3, called Mega World, has an MSRP of $42,500. Even without the Range Extender, the BMWi3 equals or exceeds the range of t...