Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Tesla Motor Beating Out Preforming Conventional Automobiles

First Published at Rambling Web - Tesla Motors Outselling BMW and Mercedes - Big Step Forward for Electric and Hybrid Cars



A couple months ago Rambling Web noted that Porsche was breaking the mold for hybrid cars by developing a true hybrid super car - Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Blows Up Stereotypes. Yet the major question was whether the 918 Spyder would sell.

Well Tesla Motors, taking a different tact, is showing the an upscale electric car can sell quite well. According to 'Wall Streets Cheat Sheet,' Tesla's Model S is actually outselling BMW and Mercedes the competing cars in its class.

This is great news for the future of electric and hybrid cars.  It shows that as the quality of these cars increases that demand will likely increase too.  As 'Wall Streets Cheat Sheet' notes the success of the Model S opens the door for a more affordable model in the future.

Tesla’s Model S Is Shaming BMW and Mercedes
While Tesla faced huge criticisms about the Model S being too expensive, which would result in a stagnancy of demand, it appears the concerns were unfounded, and that the demand is leading the segment. Given the company’s limitations as a start-up with a product that has yet to become mainstream, these figures are especially impressive.

Moreover, the Model S was never meant to be an affordable, mass market car; the company was never aiming to build the next GM Chevy (NYSE:GM) Volt or Nissan Leaf. The Model S was designed from the ground up as a luxury car, meant to compete with the likes of the 7 Series and A8.

The company’s business model suggests that as electric cars become more accepted, and concerns over range anxiety and other problems subside, the high cost of electric car technology will slope downward. And when that happens, Tesla will be ready and waiting with an entry-level, ballpark $30,000 model to market to the masses.
Tesla Motors

Monday, May 6, 2013

Bald Eagle Living in Manchester, NH

From the Union Leader...

Bald eagle family takes up residence in Manchester

...Such is the home for two of the newest residents of the Queen City - a pair of baby American bald eagles that hatched early last month and are being raised in a nest along the Merrimack River.

The eaglets are the first to be born in Manchester in decades and represent the continuing success of the restoration of the bald eagle, said Christian Martin, a raptor biologist with the New Hampshire Audubon Society.

Martin brought a New Hampshire Union Leader reporter and photographer to a viewing area of the nest with the understanding it would not be pinpointed. Seclusion is needed to prevent distractions and human disturbances to the adults who are tending the eaglets, he said.

The nest is located about 90 feet up a white pine tree. During the visit Friday, one adult sat on the nest and glared at the human visitors, who spied the birds with binoculars and telephoto lenses about 500 feet from the nest.

Most of the time, the gray fuzz of the eaglets lay at the bottom of the nest, resembling little more than an accumulation of dust. But occasionally, a wing would poke out awkwardly. At other times, a long neck, more fitting for an ostrich, would stretch up, a beak at its crown.

"They look like fuzzy aliens," said Peter Gray, a Bedford resident and Audubon volunteer who first observed and photographed the eaglets on April 20.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Surprise in Massachusetts Special Election

An upcoming election to watch started with an upset in the Republican Primary last night. Massachusetts Senate seat special election Republican candidate is Gabriel Gomez. He will face off against long time Democrat Congressman Ed Markey.

From the National Review Gomez’s Upset Victory Shakes Up Mass. Senate Race
Massachusetts voters will fill Secretary of State John Kerry’s Senate seat on June 25. The choices couldn’t be more of a contrast. Democrat Ed Markey is a 66-year-old liberal who was first elected to Congress in 1976, when eight-track tapes were the rage. Republican Gabriel Gomez, is a 47-year-old with an MBA from Harvard, who is the son of Columbian immigrants and a former Navy SEAL. He raised $1.2 million in yesterday’s GOP primary, which enabled him to buy TV ads that led to an upset 51 percent to 36 percent victory over Michael Sullivan, a conservative former district attorney.

Massachusetts is a deeply blue state but surprises can happen in elections that don’t feature presidential levels of voter turnout. Four of the last six governors have been Republicans, and in 2010 Scott Brown shook the political world with his upset special-election victory. He went on to lose his reelection bid in 2012, as Barack Obama swept the state.