Several thousand Tesla owners have now purchased their cars by ordering and paying for them online after visiting a Tesla Store showroom.

No franchised dealers are involved.

That’s a model that Tesla Motors feels is crucial to getting its electric cars into the mainstream.

State and national auto-dealer groups strongly disagree.

Very, very strongly.

Taking it federal

Now Tesla’s ambitious CEO Elon Musk suggests that perhaps the company will attempt to ensure its legal right to sell cars directly at a Federal level.

In an interview last week with trade journal Automotive News, he suggested that two routes might be Congressional legislation or a Federal lawsuit alleging restraint of interstate trade.

He suggested that the company would rather fight “one federal battle” than “20 different state battles.”

Musk has been in the forefront of the fight to protect Tesla’s store-and-online-ordering model.

Most recently, he testified last week in Texas on a bill that would explicitly permit customers to buy direct from carmakers who sell “only all electric-powered or all battery-powered motor vehicles.”

In other words, from Tesla Motors.

State laws protect dealers

Ever since Tesla announced its plans to sell cars directly, with factory-owned Tesla Stores and Tesla Galleries acting only as display showroms, car dealers and their associations have denounced the plan.

They’ve also sued Tesla for violating franchise laws in several states–Massachusetts, most notably–and gotten laws changed in others to make Tesla’s model flatly illegal.

Most states have some variation of a law that says automakers cannot open wholly-owned dealers that compete with franchises selling the same brand.

Dealers feared in the post-war period that automakers would set up their own dealerships and give them preferential financial terms over franchised dealers.

But Tesla Motors has no franchised dealers to protect.

Changing Colorado law

Nonetheless, the Colorado Auto Dealers Association got that state’s law changed in early 2010 to forbid direct sales of any car by any maker soon after Tesla opened its first store there.

State auto-dealer groups are viewing the Colorado legislation as a model, and such efforts may pop up in other states as well.

Meanwhile, William Underriner, last year’s chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, told a group of Detroit journalists in December that the association has “a whole mess of lawyers in Washington” who work on state franchise laws.

NADA could conceivably deploy those attorneys to support state dealer group efforts in every location Tesla seeks to open a store or service facility.

David Westcott, this year’s NADA chairman, called Musk’s suggestion a “mistake” and vowed that NADA will “vigorously defend the franchise system.”

Auto dealers say that Tesla should use existing dealers who are already operating and know their local markets.

Musk counters that those dealers make the bulk of their profits from selling gasoline cars, meaning that they have little or no incentive to support a disruptive product like the all-electric Tesla Model S luxury sport sedan.

Dealers protect buyers

In an interview last year, Tim Jackson, who heads the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, detailed three reasons that dealers feel Tesla’s online ordering and company store model does not protect the company’s buyers:

• If or when Tesla Motors fails, independent dealers can continue to provide parts and service for the cars;
• Opening stores is expensive and time-consuming; Tesla should spend its money and resources more wisely; and
• The reputation of all auto dealers will be hurt if Tesla fails and strands its owners.

Tesla, it’s safe to say, likely disagrees with Jackson’s arguments.

Petition to White House

The idea of helping Tesla Motors to make its non-dealer stores legal seems to have at least some support among the general public, too.

A petition on WhiteHouse.gov urges the Obama Administration to “overturn franchise laws that limit auto manufacturers from selling their vehicles directly to consumers.”

Posted on Tuesday, the petition must reach 100,000 signatures by May 16 to be considered by the White House.

Thus far, it has fewer than 2,000–though we suspect that number may rise as Tesla fans and supporters get wind of it.

This story originally appeared on GreenCarReports, one of VentureBeat’s editorial partners.

Subaru unveiled its first-ever hybrid at the New York Auto Show today.

“What?” you ask incredulously. “They’re just now doing a hybrid?”

Yeah, well, they were early to the game on supporting LGBT equality. Ya win some, ya lose some.

The automobile taking up the spotlight today is the XV Crosstrek Hybrid. It’s pretty much the regular XV Crosstrek but with a heavier engine that sometimes won’t use gas.

From its landing page:

Designed with the foundation of Subaru engineering, the all-new 2014 XV Crosstrek Hybrid offers the control and balance drivers expect from a Subaru vehicle. And as the most fuel-efficient AWD hybrid crossover in America, it also offers an earth-conscious attitude.

The SUBARU BOXER engine provides a low center of gravity for agile handling. Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive flows power to all wheels for a constant grip on the road while still giving you great fuel efficiency. Best of all, it’s an Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle making it the lowest-emissions AWD hybrid crossover in America.

The hybrid version of the Boxer engine weighs around 300 pounds more than the standard gas-only version. In low-speed situations, the car can run on electricity, and it can start on electricity. The gas engine is used for the extra get-up-and-go.

The company also showed off a new WRX concept car at the show:

Today, Cisco and NXP announced they are making a strategic investment in Cohda Wireless, which builds hardware to make cars smarter and more connected. The technology creates wireless communication systems between cars, as well as between cars and infrastructure, to create a safer driving environment. It allows vehicles to interact with each other so drivers receive notifications about cars traveling at high-speeds, out-of-control vehicles, or traffic congestion, and have a better chance of avoiding a collision.

“Driving is really one of the premier use cases where we will be able to experience the power of the Internet of everything,” said Andreas Mai, director of product management for Cisco’s smart connected vehicles unit. “This technology allows cars to communicate with each other and with infrastructure like traffic lights. Various test sets have proven that this could prevent 80% of crash scenarios.”

Cisco has been working on smart vehicles for a few years now and recently funded a separate business unit to work on creating more connected cars. Even though new cars often come tricked out with safety features, millions of people around the world are still injured or killed in traffic-related accidents every year. There is still a long way to go, and by creating a stronger link between vehicles and their drivers, Cohda’s technology seeks to reduce accidents by making safety systems more dynamic and responsive.

“If you are driving and another car is approaching on a side road driving too fast, the system in your vehicle is aware of the other vehicle and can generate a warning so you can take steps to avoid the accident,” said CEO of Cohda Wireless Paul Gray. “If the time is too short for the driver to react, the vehicle may preemptively break. What this means for the driving public is significant improvement in safety.”

As this is a two-way dialogue, the technology is only useful if a significant number of cars on the road have it. Cohda has partnered with 12 car manufacturers in Europe to install the technology in their vehicles in 2015 (model year 2016). The equipment is also being tested in the US, with eight car makers engaged in trials in Detroit. While it is important for multiple car makers to collaborate to make deployment a reality, each manufacturer has control over how they implement the technology.

“From a driver-experience perspective, they want additional security for their vehicle, but there are a range of industry implications as well,” Mai said. “On the business side, the connectivity of cars will transform the automotive industry. We are going to be able to connect vehicles to the Internet, which means applications in the entertainment space, location-based service space, and insurance space. The insurance industry is very keen to understand better what really happens in the event of an accident. Then there are the services you can provide. Remote diagnostics mean that abnormalities can be detected and customers told when a service is needed.”

Cisco’s expertise in software and networking and NXP’s experience with building semiconductors will help Cohda bring the technology to market. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Every industry needs some sort of enterprise Customer Relationship Management System (CRM), and Xtime provides it for the automotive repair industry. The cloud-based platform integrates with car dealers’ own systems to streamline business operations and drive sales. It acts as a digital interface between automakers, dealers, and consumers that can not only enhance customer experience, but also provide data-driven insights and increase profits.

“Xtime was founded to transform the auto service industry that has technologically not changed since 1980s,” said Xtime CEO Neal East. “Xtime’s cloud-based solution gives the auto services industry an overhaul where everyone wins. Car owners get a retail experience on par with leading online players, dealerships streamline core operational functions while capturing lost revenues, and auto makers generate incremental parts revenue while preserving brand loyalty.”

All customer information, repair orders, and appointment data from the dealers’ database can be accessed in real time. Dealers can then use the system to set appointments, check in with customers, display repair histories, and detect patterns. Xtime’s client base includes more than 4,700 dealers and works with major manufacturers in North America, such as Lexus, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes-Benz Nissan, Infiniti, VW, Audi, Chrysler and Hyundai.

This is the company’s second round of funding, led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from Lumia Capital and existing investors RPM Ventures and Saints Capital. This brings the total investment to $34 million. Xtime was founded in 2004 and has 225 employees. It is based in Redwood Shores, Calif. and has eight offices around the world.

A day after Apple’s new iPad mini tablets hit retail shelves, people are already starting to do creative things with it.

For example, the guys over at Soundman (who also do the Amplified web show on Revision3) have already installed the smaller tablet into the dashboard of a 2010 Volkswagen CC.

The iPad mini connects using Bluetooth wireless, and is held in place within the dashboard by using magnets. Yes, that means you don’t have to leave your new $330 toy within your vehicle for eager thieves to steal. That’s pretty useful unless you just enjoy paying for new side windows and cleaning up shards of glass.

The smaller size of the iPad mini make it a far more practical option than the regular 10-inch iPad, and certainly easier to use while driving than an iPhone/iPod Touch.

The down side to having this installed into your car is that you risk some really boring drives if you ever lose your iPad mini. Still, it is pretty cool. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

As the rise in texting-related car accidents has shown, there’s a big demand for technology that allows drivers to be connected without distracting them from the road.

Nuance, makers of Dragon Naturally Speaking, may just have that solution. Its new Dragon Drive automotive platform offers drivers the ability to do anything from send text messages and get directions, to search for music and read newspaper articles — all while keeping their eyes on the road. Think of it as Siri on wheels.

The key component is Dragon Drive’s reliance on natural language technology, which allows users to interact with it in a simple, natural way. Say “I’m looking for a chop shop” or ask “What’s the quickest way to the the border” and Dragon Drive will respond naturally with directions.

“Dragon Drive understands what you mean,” Nuance said in a release.

Not new to the car or voice technology in general, Nuance’s products have had applications in fields as varied as construction and health care.

Last June, the company announced that it had acquired SVOX, an in-car voice solutions provider. A clear precursor to today’s news, the acquisition gave Nuance access to SVOX’s stable of  tech, much of which is behind Dragon Drive.

Watch the video below for a better idea of how Dragon Drive works.

Terrafugia, a Massachusetts company that’s making our dreams of flying cars a reality, has already taken 100 pre-orders for its second-generation flagship model The Transition.

We’ll take two.

The cars successfully completed their first test flights March 23, and are set to make their public debut later this week at the New York Auto Show. The cars will sell for nearly $300,000 and are slated to be on the roads and in the skies within the year.

Only yesterday, Terrafugia officially took the wraps off the Transition, saying, “From home, to the airport, to where you really want to be. All in the Transition Street-Legal Airplane, all on super unleaded autogas, all on your schedule.”

The Transition is a two-seater that runs on normal gasoline and can be parked in a normal garage. Essentially, it’s a street-legal airplane classified as a light sport aircraft. The pricetag for prospective buyers will be $279,000. That’s a bit more than your average small aircraft, but without the hangar and jet fuel costs to worry about.

“The successful first flight of this production prototype Transition marks a critical move toward initial production and first delivery,” said COO Anna Mracek Dietrich in a release. She added that the prototyping program has included two Transition aircraft and that it’s “being used to develop and inform the manufacturing tool-up and compliance program necessary to begin commercial deliveries.”

Terrafugia, which was founded by pilots and MIT engineers, has taken funding from multiple private investors. The company’s goal is to meet customers’ needs for world-changing but still practical air and land vehicles.

There are 41,000 road traffic fatalities a year in the U.S. according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. An estimated 25 percent of all fatal accidents are caused by driver fatigue and, if you add in distracted drivers, that figure is probably even higher.

“The eyes tell it all,”  says Tobii’s OEM manager Jan-Erik Lundkvist. ”You can see this by observing a sleepy person. It is not difficult to see when he is falling asleep. You can also very accurately see what a person is paying attention to. Our platform is just a technological means to do the same thing.”

The Tobii platform consists of two camera sensors, placed at different angles, and operating at near-infrared frequencies to eliminate interference from external light. The system can distinguish whether the driver’s eyes are open or closed or if the driver has turned his head. The sensors work even when the driver is wearing glasses or sunglasses.

Distraction is detected by registering the direction of the driver’s attention using head pose algorithms and eye tracking. Eye openness and blink characteristics such as blink speed and blink duration, and the ratio between them, indicate whether the driver is sleepy.  Tobii claims that its current system can detect distraction in 95 percent of cases and that it expects to achieve 99 percent accuracy by the time the system is on the market. Rival driver assistance technologies use steering wheel input, lane departure sensors or brake assist control based on an individual’s driving pattern to draw conclusions about distraction and sleepiness.

Tobii’s platform covers detection only. It does not inform drivers about their level of sleepiness or distraction. It would be up to car manufacturers to integrate Tobii into an existing safety system or provide a sound or a visual alert on the dashboard of the vehicle. We previously reported on a Danish startup, whose Anti Sleep Pilot iPhone and iPad application calculates the driver’s fatigue level in real-time, maintains alertness via reaction tests and alerts the driver when it is time to take a rest break.

“We are confident that this type of system will be integrated in high volume vehicles within 5 years,” said Lundkvist. “Many Tier 1 suppliers to the automotive industry, and car brands themselves, have shown significant interest in Tobii’s technology. The technology will not affect the price of the vehicle significantly. However, the price and package is a question for the manufacturers.”

Currently, eye tracking is mainly used in research, including market, usability and scientific research, where eye trackers collect and analyze gaze data, and assisted communication, where eye tracking is used to control and interact with a computer. “In the next year or two this will change greatly,” insists Lundkvist. ”Eye tracking will add gaze interaction to mainstream computers to give the user an interface that can be directly eye-controlled but that is also adaptive to your gaze, preferences and attention.”  Earlier this year, Tobii introduced a prototype of the world’s first eye-controlled laptop in partnership with Lenovo.

Tobii is located in Stockholm, Sweden, has 330 employees and was founded in 2001. The company has raised $30 million in funding from Investor Growth Capital, NorthZone Ventures and others.

The company also tempered the good news, noting it has lost its contract to supply batteries to electric Fiat/Chrysler vehicles to a lower bidder. This is a big hit for the company, which is trying to compete in a big pond with few high-level deals of its own. While it has plans to deliver batteries for Fisker Automotive’s plug-in luxury Karma (it took a stake in the company), it lost its bid to build battery packs for General Motors’ Chevrolet Volt, which would have established it as a formidable presence in the industry.

That said, the dissolution of the deal seems to say more about Chrysler than A123. The automaker has been struggling with its green agenda for a while now, scrapping its line of ENVI plug-in vehicles in favor of an all-electric version of its Fiat 500 minicar. But little progress has been made, and few cars are slated to be produced.

A123 is famous for breaking the seal on cleantech IPOs last September, when it saw its share price skyrocket nearly 50 percent on its first day. Since then, public sales in the sector have been middling at best — with the exception of Tesla Motors’ $226 million IPO at the end of June. Since its debut at $13.50, A123’s stock has been on the decline, closing 18.3 percent down today at $8.53.

It’s facing some tough competition from giants like LG Chem, which scored deals to supply batteries to both General Motors and Ford, and Panasonic, which is serving up batteries to Tesla and its partnering manufacturer Toyota. The big guys have the advantage of achieving scale for cheap — something A123 will need to do in order to survive.

The decision to spin off 24M Technologies suggests that the company will also be exploring new battery structures in order to give it an edge. In particular, the new entity will be working on lower-cost flow batteries, large cells that circulate electrolytes through various tanks to store power. So far, they are best suited to grid-scale storage, and could potentially help store energy generated by solar and wind installations, making them more reliable for everyday use.

A123 says it decided to create 24M as its own company so that it could get the attention and funding it needs to accelerate flow battery development. A123 will hold stock in the company and control one board member, hoping to see it through to commercialization. As a result, A123 says it will focus less on the grid, and anticipates that transportation batteries will make up as much at 70 percent of its business.

In addition to Fisker, the battery maker — which also competes with Johnson Controls and venture-backed Valence Technology — has a contract to supply batteries for hybrid-electric trucks made by the Eaton Corporation.