Times says if you want a fast, luxurious EV, just wait 5 years for Audi or Porsche

DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH: Audi and Porsche showed all-electric concept cars at the Frankfurt Auto Show in Germany, above and below, but production models wouldn't go on sale until 2020 -- that's five long years from now.

OH MY ACHING BACK: The low-slung Porsche concept looks like it is aimed at the young and limber. And the 300-mile range would be of limited value to older drivers, who need frequent bathroom breaks.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

We're all familiar with the phrase, "Start your engines."

But Tom Voelk, a contributor to The New York Times, really stretches the meaning of "start" in his story from the Frankfurt Auto Show in Germany on Monday.

After noting Tesla Motors has had the market for "high-end electric cars" to itself since the Model S went on sale in 2012, Voelk claims:

"But that is changing as other automakers start to introduce their own models [italics added]."

Really? 

The story is silent on new production models of all-electric cars from Audi and Porsche, both of which are owned by Volkswagen, but does describe two "concepts" that are at least five years away from production.

This is the same kind of hype and exaggeration you see in automakers' TV advertising, but Times readers deserve better.

New Teslas

If Audi and Porsche actually put their EVs on sale in 2020, they will be competing with a Tesla crossover, the Model X, as well as the smaller Model 3 with a range of 200 miles and a price of around $35,000.

A second-generation Tesla Roadster might also be available and could a second-generation Model S be far behind?

Model S still on top

Until then, the Tesla Model S remains the fastest, most luxurious all-electric car you can buy, one that has earned Consumer Reports' highest rating ever.

Unlike the Times and other publications, Consumer Reports' evaluations aren't influenced by advertising or the fleets of free Audis and Porsches available to automobile writers and VIPs. 

Porsche's low-slung Mission E Concept claims an 0-60 time that is already eclipsed by the fastest Tesla Model S.

The German automakers' response to Tesla's zero-emissions cars has been disappointing.

Still, the Mission E Concept shows Porsche learned a great deal from the two Tesla Model S four-door hatchbacks the automaker purchased and shipped to its engineers in Germany.

And given that country's dark past, any future all-electric models from Audi and Porsche likely will meet resistance from affluent Jewish buyers, who rewarded Lexus, Toyota's luxury division, with early and continuing success.

In July, Lexus outsold Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi in the U.S. for the first time.

Just when you thought TV ads couldn't get any more bizarre: The Chevro-Benz SUV

Does this look like the interior of a Mercedes-Benz?

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

When you own a Tesla Model S, the inane TV commercials other manufacturers run can drive you crazy.

Tesla Motors doesn't spend tens of millions of dollars to advertise on TV or in newspapers and magazines, which may be at the root of the media's hostility toward the all-electric luxury car and the genius behind it, Elon Musk.

But just about every other manufacturers does, and the cost of those ads boosts the MSRP of the vehicle you buy. 

And now ... the Chevro-Benz

In northern New Jersey, where I live, I've seen a TV commercial showing prospective SUV buyers sitting in a Chevrolet and enthusing over how the interior looks like one in a far more expensive vehicle.

In turn, different people say they think they are in a Lexus, Infiniti, Audi, BMW and even a Mercedes-Benz.

What were they smoking?

They are shown in several gas-guzzling Chevy SUVs, including the enormous Suburban.

When I was working for fleet management companies for a measly $12 an hour, I drove a lot of SUVs from Mercedes, other German manufacturers, Lexus and Infiniti, and I can tell you none of them look or feel like the far cheaper Chevy. 

LOL.

Random images from inside and around the New York International Auto Show

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 aggravate air pollution wherever they are sold.

Subaru showed an "STI Performance Concept." The media's reward was box lunches containing a vegetable or turkey wrap, bag of chips and a cookie, according to one server.

The Lexus Press Event, above and below, included loud music, strobe lights and the unveiling of two news models. What really surprised me was how many members of the world automotive media stood up and applauded when the wraps came off. What exactly were they applauding?

General Motors President Dan Amman gave the keynote address in his pronounced New Zealand accent. Here, he looks like he is praying no one in the audience asks him what he has to say to the families of drivers killed by Chevrolet's cheap ignition switches.

I heard this man say he is a member of the BMW board. Big deal.

This sleek machine reportedly has an MSRP of $2.3 million.

Only invitees holding a black card were admitted into Porsche's hospitality lounge.

Fancy tail lights aren't enough to elevate the body of the Toyota Mirai fuel-cell sedan above the ordinary.

In the United States, Toyota will sell only 3,000 Mirais from the fourth quarter of 2015 through 2017, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday, citing the limited places to refuel the car with hydrogen.

The Volkswagen e-Golf and other purely electric cars from Ford and Mitsubishi look like kitchen appliances when compared to Tesla Motors' luxurious Model S, which has more than twice to three times their range on a full charge.