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Tesla's Model S blends the styling of a race car with the luxury and utility of a four-door hatchback. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR "Quiet" doesn't begin to describe the experience of owning and driving an all-electric car, especially one with the heft of a Tesla Model S. Wind noise, tire noise and the sound of hitting irregularities in the road are just about all you'll hear -- unless you're listening to your favorite jazz or public radio station. The Model S has a one-speed transmission, so gathering speed is seamless and effortless. The absence of mechanical noises is truly remarkable -- and just about everything else on the road seems so old fashioned. Model S drivers are making a splash, not making noise. Their cars don't smell like all those other vehicles that depend on the antiquated internal combustion engine for locomotion. The store at Garden State Plaza, a shopping center in Paramus, N.J., can once again sell the Model S directly to the public. L...

Tesla Motors' Model S 60 looks great in red. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR Did you hear about the cramped C-Class sedan from Mercedes-Benz you can get packed with a 503-horsepower, twin-turbo V-8? Who needs 503 horsepower in the congested New Jersey-New York metropolitan area? The AMG C63 S has an MSRP of $71,900, and you'll probably have to visit a gas station every week to satisfy this monster with premium fuel for its 18-gallon tank. The mileage ratings aren't listed on the company's Web site. That's $2,000 more than the base price of my roomier, more luxurious Tesla Model S 60, which I brought home last week. Climate change Mercedes-Benz isn't the only carmaker engaged in a mindless horsepower race, which aggravates climate change and deadly air pollution. Today, with a range of all-electric vehicles that can fit any budget, buying a car that still uses gasoline is irresponsible. Supporting the oil industry has become political now that the Koch brothers are us...

With dramatically flared front fenders and oval grille, my new Tesla Model S looks like a crouching tiger in the garage. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR Boy, I really saved a lot of money when I picked up my new Tesla Model S 60 on Tuesday, but won't realize much of that for a year or more. Immediately, I saved more than $5,678 in sales tax, which New Jersey forgives on purchases of the all-electric luxury hatchback. I also received a $7,500 federal tax credit to use next year and next year only.  If I don't have to pay $7,500 in federal taxes next April 15, I can only use part of it and will lose the rest. The sticker on the car says "you save $7,750 in fuel costs over 5 years compared to the average new vehicle," according to the EPA and DOT. My Model S 60 is classified as a large car that is rated at 95 MPGe. With more than 60 solar panels on the roof of my home, I will spend much less to charge my Model S than other owners. I usually pay nothing for electricity five or...

An all-electric Tesla Model S on display at the Time Warner Center in Manhattan. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR Does any American really need a 155-mph luxury car? More than 15 years after the introduction of gas-electric hybrids to the U.S., German car makers offer only a handful of green cars. Their luxury car lines still are filled with gas-guzzling sedans and SUVs that merely aggravate air pollution and hasten climate change.  Some, like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, score low on reliability surveys. Mindless media  The automotive media are responsible for portraying German cars with hundreds of horsepower from dirty internal combustion engines as viable alternatives to Tesla Motors' revolutionary Model S and other all-electric vehicles. For example, Car and Driver's blog interviewed Diamler Chairman Dieter Zetsche, who sports a walrus mustache (Diamler A.G. is the parent company of Mercedes-Benz). One of the loaded questions was posed this way: "And electric vehicles? Buyers...

On Wednesday, I saw this rambunctious pair in the cab of one of the many car carriers lining 12th Avenue behind the Javits Center in Manhattan, below, where the New York International Auto Show press preview was underway. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR Racing from one tightly scheduled press conference to another proved exhausting on Wednesday, when the 2015 New York International Auto Show opened to the media. After a press breakfast from 7:15 a.m. to 9 a.m., 14 manufacturers unveiled new vehicles and concepts, but none was revolutionary.  Lexus kicked things off at 9:10 and a Rolls-Royce reception was scheduled to cap off the day at 4:20 p.m.  Food service was disappointing, compared to last year. See: Automakers woo media with free food and drink On Wednesday, I left before 1 to catch the ferry back to New Jersey. No mystery here. On Wednesday, Jaguar, above, and Subaru, below, readied media introductions of cars with powerful internal-combustion engines that are sure to aggra...

Instead of showing a production model of the next-generation Prius hybrid, Toyota unveiled the Mirai fuel-cell sedan at the New York International Auto Show press preview  today. Only 3,000 will be available in the U.S. from the last quarter of this year through 2017, a spokeswoman said. The interior and exterior of the Mirai are underwhelming -- too reminiscent of the Camry. The electric-drive sedan will have a range of 300 miles on a fill-up of hydrogen. By VICTOR E. SASSON EDITOR Only a small fraction of the hundreds of vehicles on display at the New York International Auto Show in Manhattan can be considered environmentally friendly. At today's press preview in the Javits Center, I saw a handful of purely electric cars, maybe a dozen gas-electric hybrids and Toyota's hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, which is going on sale later this year in very limited numbers. After all, the show is produced by the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, not the Environmental Protecti...