Has tide turned on the media's negative coverage of EVs and other green cars?

A Tesla Model S tucked in and plugged in for the night. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Bill Vlasic's report on "as raft of electric and hybrid models" at the annual Detroit auto show stood out for a number of reasons.

Vlasic, who was writing for The New York Times, is one of the few reporters to focus on the showing of green cars instead of the latest, gas-guzzling performance model.

He also doesn't indulge in the usual negatives, such as higher prices for EVs, limited range and other perceived weaknesses.

"With increases in federal fuel-economy standards looming in 2017, car companies are hustling to bring out hybrid and electric models to help them meet the new rules -- even though electrified vehicles make up only 2 percent of overall sales," Vlasic wrote on Jan. 11 from the North American International Auto Show.

The 2017 standard is a corporate average fleet economy of 37 mpg and in 2025, that average will go up to 54.5 mpg.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles introduced "a plug-in hybrid-electric version" of its new minivan model with an old name, the Pacifica.

The Pacifica joined new electrified models introduced by Ford, General Motors and Toyota.

However, Vlasic, like many other reporters, doesn't discuss the environmental benefits of EVs, plug-in and other green cars, and their role in slowing climate change.

The all-electric 2017 Chevrolet Bolt was shown at the Detroit auto show.

Warning to Tesla owners: Don't follow N.Y. Times guide to autonomous driving

On Route 80 west in northern New Jersey on Saturday, I briefly engaged the autonomous-driving features of my Tesla Model S, allowing pedal-free and hands-free driving. But a recent New York Times article erred on how the system works.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

New York Times reporter Aaron M. Kessler made two big errors in reporting on high-speed autonomous driving in the Tesla Model S, and one of them could land owners off the road.

In an Oct. 15 article in the paper's Wheels newsletter, Kessler said a software update gave owners Autopilot, "a semi-autonomous feature that allows hands-free, pedal-free driving on the highway under certain conditions."

But the business-automotive writer made no mention of Autosteer, the other shoe that has to drop for the car to "drive us, rather than the other way around," as Kessler put it.

I had the same incomplete understanding on Oct. 16, when I first tried Autopilot on Route 80 west, near my home in northern New Jersey.

I blame some of that on an Oct. 15 email from Tesla -- "Your Autopilot has arrived" -- that didn't fully explain how to engage Autopilot and Autosteer.

After reading the email and Tesla's blog, I asked my wife to accompany me on our first attempt on Route 80, and figured pulling back on the cruise-control stalk would engage the self-driving functions.

I soon found out that wasn't enough, as my Model S didn't start turning as we entered a curve on the highway. I grabbed the wheel.

I turned around in Paterson, and headed for the Tesla dealer on Route 17 in Paramus, where one of the product specialists accompanied me on my second attempt.

I was told I had to pull back once on the cruise-control stalk to engage Autopilot and a second time to engage Autosteer, lighting up speedometer and steering-wheels symbols that flank the digital speed display.

Second error

Kessler's second major error was reporting "Autopilot is not free (the download costs $2,500)."

That's not the case. 

Tesla Version 7 software with self-driving functions is free, but only to owners who paid for an option called Autopilot Convenience Features when they ordered their car ($2,500 or $3,000 after delivery).

When I ordered my 2015 Tesla Model S 60 early this year, the option was called Tech Package with Autopilot and cost $4,250.

Kessler also didn't mention Tesla's Autopark, which scans for a parking space, alerts you when one is available and parallel parks on your command.

Audi TV ad lampoons Toyota Prius, urges A3 e-tron owners to speed, 'take names'

An Audi TV ad for the A3 e-tron mocks the Toyota Prius, the world's best-selling gas-electric hybrid; people who grow their own food and use solar panels on their homes, and anyone who enjoys peace and quiet over the sound of screeching tires. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Speeding, screeching tires and a lurid slide are a contradiction in a plug-in hybrid car that is supposed to save gas and be easy on the environment.

But that's the theme of a new TV ad for the Audi A3 e-tron, the first plug-in hybrid from the luxury performance subsidiary of Volkswagen, the giant German automaker.

Especially puzzling is how the commercial ends:

"Plug in and take names."

The owner had just thrown the speeding red hybrid into a slide so he could back into his driveway -- the only way Audi's irresponsible advertising agency could show him plugging in the car (the socket is in the grille).

The man then looks at one of his shocked neighbors and nods his head as if to say, Take that.

Slave labor

Given Audi's dark past and the growing scandal over Volkswagen and Audi turbo-diesel engines that pollute far more than allowed, the "take names" admonition sounds ominous.

Just last year, Audi tried to come to terms with its dark dealings with the Nazis during World War II.

A report commissioned by the company found that its predecessor Auto Union is morally responsible for the deaths of 4,500 slaves who were forced to work in its factories.

And last week, the Obama administration ordered parent company Volkswagen to recall nearly 500,000 VWs and Audis with illegal diesel engines that allow the cars to pollute far more than allowed by the Clean Air Act.

On Tuesday, Volkswagen admitted 11 million diesel cars worldwide were equipped with software designed to cheat on emissions tests, and today, the company CEO resigned.

You might recall that Audi's aerodynamic 5000 sedan also was embroiled in a mid-1980s controversy over sudden unintended acceleration that depressed sales for many years.

'Sportback e-tron'

The 2016 Audi A3 Sportback e-tron, which looks like a station wagon, has an MSRP of $37,900, but other trim levels start at $42,000 and $46,800.

For another $30,000, you can get the environmentally friendly Tesla Model S, which combines blinding speed with zero emissions.

The A3 e-tron can travel about 30 miles in electric mode, but after that you'll have to rely on the dirtiest fuel around, gasoline.

And if you drive the e-tron like the moron in the TV ad, you'll waste a lot of gas and pollute far more than drivers who obey the law. See the ad:

TV commercial for Audi A3 Sportback e-tron

Diesel scandal

On Monday, The New York Times reported Volkswagen diesel owners feel betrayed by the company's deception.

"I feel totally ripped off," said John Decker, 55, a photographer who once worked for The Record when it was headquartered in Hackensack, N.J.

"It just reeks of fraud and that they intentionally misled the buyers of their vehicles into thinking they were clean diesels, environmentally good cars, that were fun to drive."

Decker, who owns a 2013 Volkswagen Jetta SportsWagen with a diesel engine, now lives in Sacramento, Calif.

Five U.S. diesel models are affected by the recall, according to the Los Angeles Times:

Jetta (2009-15), Beetle (2009-15), Audi A3 (2009-15), Golf (2009-15) and Passat (2012-15).

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.

Did Tesla's Elon Musk pull strings to get The Times to fold Automobiles section?

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 all-electric sedan.

Musk went to the higher ups and had something to do with The Times decision to fold the Sunday section, the man said.

The Times' evaluation of the i8 compared the cramped sports car favorably to the Tesla Model S, a luxurious four-door hatchback, and completely ignored the BMW's shockingly impractical ergonomics.

Musk blasted Times

In 2013, Musk claimed Times reporter John Broder falsified information about the performance and range of the all-electric Model S.

On Feb. 13, 2013, in a follow-up entry in the Tesla Blog, Musk wrote:

"Yesterday, The New York Times reversed its opinion on the review of our Model S and no longer believes that it was an accurate account of what happened. After investigating the facts surrounding the test drive, the Public Editor agreed that John Broder had 'problems with precision and judgment,' 'took casual and imprecise notes' and made 'few conclusions that are unassailable.'”

Mayersohn, who didn't hear the other man's comments about Musk, said later the section is expected to fold at the end of the year.

During lunch, he noted The Times is the only newspaper that pays for the so-called press cars it evaluates and forbids staffers from going on junkets that are paid for by the manufacturers of cars, tires and other products.