If you want to get to the Umami Burger in Santa Monica from Bel Air, you?ll need to take the 405 to the 10, exit at 5th, and turn right on Broadway. Without traffic, the drive should take less than 20 minutes?but this is California, and there?s always traffic. So, unless you?re riding with a friend and are able to access the HOV lane, prepare for a much longer journey as you slog down the crowded 405.
There?s one other way you can access the HOV lane, though, and it doesn?t require bringing a friend or paid accomplice along for the ride. The California Air Resource Board (CARB) offers single-occupant carpool-lane stickers to certain clean and alternative-energy vehicles. Cars and trucks that are eligible for this perk are listed on CARB?s website, and in its latest update to its catalog of qualified vehicles, CARB accidentally let it slip that the Tesla Model S is set to receive a mid-level 75-kWh battery pack. Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson confirmed this with us by phone. She said the new battery pack will be available for customer order at the end of the week and that it will be paired with both single- and dual-motor Model S sedans.
Whereas the Model X 75 crossover effectively replaced the previous Model X 70, Georgeson said the Model S 75 sedan will be sold alongside the 70. She added that the larger battery pack will be a $3000 upgrade. Meanwhile, the 90-kWh pack will remain the biggest pack available on the Model S… for now.
In switching to the bigger 75-...