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In New Jersey, buyers of Tesla Motors' Model S can save about $5,000 or more, because they won't have to pay the 7% sales tax on their zero-emission vehicle. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR If you've bought a hybrid or fully electric car or are still kicking the tires, you've probably heard how a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 will "reduce" the price of the car. But buyers of many popular hybrids and EVs no longer qualify for the tax credit, which ends for each carmaker when they sell 200,000 cars. The full $7,500 tax credit is still available for Tesla's Model S, a four-door luxury hatchback with an MSRP of about $70,000 for the base model. Still, you can't claim the credit until you are filing your federal tax return, and then, you'll only be able to use it to reduce the federal taxes you owe. If you don't owe the government $7,500 in taxes, you can't use the full credit.

Volkswagen executive Marcel Zirwes addressing the monthly meeting of the International Motor Press Association in Manhattan. An executive from Bosch, which paid for lunch, was a no-show. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR Members of the International Motor Press Association heard thousands of words praising "clean diesel" at their monthly meeting today in Manhattan. But none of the executives who spoke claimed a new generation of diesel engines are cleaner than such gas-electric hybrids as the Toyota Prius. Bosch paid for cocktails and a lunch of farmed salmon, oysters on the half shell, salad and fruit, but a representative was said to be unable to attend because of illness. Executives of Diesel Technology Forum, Volkswagen and General Motors spoke to the automobile writers and public relations people. In answer to questions, executives indicated hybrids with diesel engines would cost too much to produce. And the appeal of diesel engines over hybrid technology is that the former is

Tesla Motors' Model S on display at the Time Warner Center in Manhattan. The Model S plugged in at the Tesla Showroom and Service Center on Route 17 north in Paramus, N.J. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR Consumer Reports has anointed the Toyota Prius as the magazine's top pick for Green Car nearly 15 years after the gas-electric hybrid was introduced in the United States. "The purity of the Prius' functional excellence dictates that -- although almost at the end of its model cycle -- it remains atop our list as the best green car," the editors wrote in the April 2015 Annual Auto Issue. And Tesla Motors' Model S was crowned Best Overall: "For all of the impressive new vehicles released in 2014, none was able to eclipse the innovation, magnificence, and sheer technological arrogance of the Tesla. "That's why it's our best overall pick for the second consecutive year.... The Model S is a ... high-performance electric vehicle with usable real-world ra