SJC: Tesla can sell cars directly to Massachusetts buyers

The state's highest court yesterday handed Tesla Motors a victory, ruling that car dealers don't have standing to sue the electric-car manufacturer for selling directly to customers at its Natick store.

The ruling upheld a lower court's decision to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association and some individual dealers, who had argued that Tesla was trying to circumvent state law and operate an automobile dealership without the required license.

However, Justice Barbara Lenk, writing for the unanimous court, said the law "is aimed primarily at protecting motor vehicle dealers from injury caused by the unfair business practices of manufacturers and distributors with which they are associated, generally in a franchise relationship."

"Tesla has never had franchises and so is not governed by this law," said Diarmuid O'Connell, the California-based company's vice president for corporate and business development.

O'Connell said the SJC's decision "clarifies and brings to a close two years of legal challenge to our right to operate in Massachusetts."

Since the lawsuit was filed, Natick officials have granted Tesla a dealership license, the state's highest court noted.

Robert O'Koniewski, executive vice president of the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association, said he was disappointed by the SJC's decision.

"We really need to sit down and assess what the ruling means and what we want to do about it," O'Koniewski said.

That could include asking the Legislature "to address the language of the law as it relates to standing," he said.

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Bulfinch Triangle draws hotel plan

A Woburn firm plans a $30 million, 90-room boutique hotel in the Bulfinch Triangle area near North Station, adding to the boom of approved and proposed development there.

Somnath Hospitality wants to replace a vacant one-level former bank branch at 104 Canal St. with a new 15-story, luxury hotel with six two-story penthouse suites.

"We think that's a great location because it's near TD (Garden), it's near Faneuil Hall (Marketplace), it's near Mass. General Hospital," said Vincent Cortina, a Somnath representative. "It will not only get business travelers, it will get tourists. There's plenty of amenities in the neighborhood for guests."

The hotel would have a lobby and small cafe on the first floor, with a guest fitness center below, and valet service for off-site parking.

Bounded by Causeway, North Washington, Market and Merrimac streets, Bulfinch Triangle is a popular area for development now, with plans for other nearby hotels already approved. In December, the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved plans by Delaware North Cos. and Boston Properties for the $950 million redevelopment of the old Boston Garden site to include almost 500 housing units, a 25-story office tower, 306-room hotel, a Star Market and other retail. Boston Development Group's plans for The Merano project, across from TD Garden, include a 210-room Courtyard Marriott and housing. Nearby, the $2.2 billion, 2.9 million-square-foot Government Center garage redevelopment calls for housing, office and retail space, and 200 hotel rooms.

"It's a great time to be building hotels in Boston, and that area continues to be an up-and-coming part of the city," said Matt Arrants, executive vice president of Pinnacle Advisory Group, a Boston hospitality consulting firm. "Boston (hotels are) performing at record levels, so it can certainly use more rooms."

Somnath owns and manages a Hampton Inn in Cambridge and Comfort Inn in Woburn.

Somnath's new project has the blessing of the Downtown North Association, a neighborhood group. "This development involves a crucial and visible Canal Street site, located on the main Bulfinch Triangle thoroughfare that will soon link the major developments … approved for … the former Garden and … Government Center garage," it said in a letter to the BRA last week. "From both an urban design and a community perspective, it is important that this location be more fully redeveloped for a higher and better use, and the proposed hotel use clearly qualifies."

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Building a better lightbulb

Philips Hue Lux Lightbulb ($29.95 and up each or $100 for a two-bulb starter kit with the Philips Bridge, various retailers)

The rumors are true: Lightbulbs are now smart. And the Philips Hue Lux line of smart home lighting aims to be the smartest of them all, with an app that helps you control the brightness of your home from the comfort of your mobile device. Would Thomas Edison be proud? Let's see.

The good: These app-enabled LED bulbs connect with the Hue Bridge, a central hub that plugs into your wireless network. You can dim or brighten the lights or schedule them to automatically turn on or off at a certain time via an easy-to-use app for iOS and Android. Each Hue bulb uses 80 percent less power than a traditional bulb.

The bad: They could be brighter, and they don't emit any colors; only white light.

The bottom line: For the price and the convenience, the Philips Hue Lux line is certainly worth your consideration.

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Booting Up: GM rolling out Wi-Fi across product line

The nightmare of a long drive jammed in a car with all your nearest and dearest could soon be over. In just a few years, family road trips may seem vastly different: Passengers will be able to have their own devices to play a game, stream a movie, or get work done on a computer.

That's because General Motors is working to turn cars into roving Wi-Fi hotspots for up to seven devices, introducing high-speed connectivity into more than 30 of its 2015 models. I had a chance to drive a 2015 Buick Regal with 4G LTE from Boston to New York last week, and it was superconvenient to use my favorite navigation app, Waze, while hooked up to the in-car Wi-Fi. The in-car mobile plans also come with enhanced OnStar, a service that offers emergency response, connectivity to real people, diagnostics and turn-by-turn navigation.

Pretty soon, every car buyer is going to demand this feature, and every manufacturer is going to supply it.

And that means wireless carriers are going to have yet another way to profit from our increased connectivity. Expect more carriers to get into the game, and hopefully pricing to go down as a result — because this could get expensive fast.

GM's plan offers customers either three months or 3 gigabytes of data in a free trial with the option to continue with plans that range between $5 and $50 per month. AT&T customers can add a car plan to their mobile share plan for as little as $10 per month for 200 MB of data.

That's enough to stream more than 6.5 hours of music, surf the Web for 13 hours, or send more than 10,000 emails, according to GM. But think about that for a second: If you have a car full of seven people plugging away on smartphones and tablets, that data gets eaten up pretty fast.

Securing this deal with GM was a major coup for AT&T as competition among potential in-car entertainment providers heats up. Apple and Google are already in the mix, with software that allows an increasing number of apps on your iPhone or Android to be accessed via your car computer. But with the merger of DirecTV and AT&T purportedly close to being finalized, it seems like that's the company with the clear mechanism and pipeline of multimedia content for vehicles.

Then again, there is another way to get Wi-Fi in your car: It's called a portable mobile hotspot, and the beauty of this is that you can take it in your car for family trips. The 4G LTE Verizon Jetpack is available for $129.98 with a two-year agreement on top of a monthly fee. You won't get the enhanced OnStar service, but you will be able to grab it from the car and bring it to your hotel to avoid those awful Wi-Fi fees everyone seems to be charging these days.

So the traditional American hell of forced family interaction, ad nauseam, in close quarters en route to a summer vacation destination is about to be replaced by the serenity of detachment, with each passenger happily distracted. Whether that's a good thing or not is for each family to decide.

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Sun-exposure tracking device to help users see the light

A MassChallenge finalist says it's developed the first solar-powered, wearable sun-exposure tracker to improve energy, mood and focus, regulate sleep cycle, and monitor ultraviolet light exposure.

Founded by two Harvard Medical School psychiatry professors, GoodLux Technology developed SunSprite, a thumb-sized device with 10 LEDs that light up, based on a person's percentage of light exposure.

On a sunny day, most people need about 30 minutes of bright light within two hours of waking up to improve energy, mood and focus, said CEO Edward Likovich.

On an overcast day, people may need 45 minutes to an hour. And at night, they should avoid the kind of bright light that comes from a computer to fall asleep because it interferes with their circadian rhythms, Likovich said.

"It's exactly the right time for this as the days are getting shorter," he said. "It really makes an impact on people's lives."

Research dating back to 1984 found that bright light could be helpful in treating people with seasonal affective disorder. But it wasn't until 2005 that the American Psychiatric Association recommended that bright light be used before medication to treat the disorder.

"We had written about social isolation and were interested in how you could gratify someone's natural needs before you started tweaking their brain chemistry," said Jacqueline Olds, who founded GoodLux in 2012 with her husband, Richard Schwartz. "Research also shows that bright light in the morning boosts cognitive functioning in older people."

The two teamed up with Harvard engineers Tom Hayes and Kasey Russell, who developed the first prototype for SunSprite in 2012 and the second early this year.

In March, they raised money for the project on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo, where 700 people signed up to buy the device for $99. After tomorrow, the price will be $149.

The device also syncs with your iPhone, allowing you to track your progress in real time and get personalized goals and tips. GoodLux plans to have an Android app available in the coming months.

"My husband and I sit at a computer during the day, so this is a good reminder to get outside," said Jana Eggers, 45, a customer who lived in Boston for 17 years before moving to Charleston, S.C. "They made the device very simple. You can just wear it and see whether you've gotten enough light for the day. And it's solar-powered, so I don't have to worry about batteries."

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Bottle bill foes pour cash into campaign

Well-funded opponents of a ballot question to expand Massachusetts' bottle bill to include 5-cent deposits on bottled water, juice and sports drinks will begin a TV advertising campaign tomorrow to push their cause before the November election.

But Janet Domenitz, executive director of MassPIRG — part of a coalition of environmental groups supporting the bottle bill expansion — hopes that after an unsuccessful 10-year legislative push, voters will see through the "misleading TV ads" and pass the binding measure.

"You can certainly buy a lot of television with that kind of money, but this is a law that's been widely and broadly supported for years, so we're hoping the corrupting influence of big special interest money doesn't change the support for this bill," Domenitz said. "If the vote was taken before a bunch of misleading TV ads, we would win hands-down."

The American Beverage Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group for the non-alcoholic beverage industry, already has contributed $5 million to the "No on Question 2: Stop Forced Deposits" campaign, which has raised $5.4 million in total, according to the most recent campaign finance reports. Supermarkets including Stop & Shop, Big Y and Donelan's also have made large contributions.

The proposed law, which would take effect in April, also would require the state to adjust the deposit every five years to reflect consumer price index changes. And it would increase minimum handling fees paid by beverage distributors and bottlers.

"Question 2 costs a lot and doesn't do much of anything for recycling," said Nicole Giambusso, spokeswoman for the No on Question 2 group.

Passage would increase costs to grocers required to redeem the containers in their stores, according to Giambusso. "Those costs will trickle down to consumers and add nearly $60 million in grocery costs," she said. "And ... we'd only be getting an eighth of a percent of a recycling increase. The other alternative would be to expand curbside recycling, which a lot of communities have. (It) is three times cheaper."

Supporters of the bottle bill expansion have raised just $292,988, according to campaign finance reports. But Domenitz said the grass-roots coalition — which includes the League of Women Voters, Sierra Club, Massachusetts Audubon Society and Emerald Necklace Conservancy — is setting up a "town captain" structure where volunteers will work locally to get out the message in their own communities.

There's one data point that voters need to understand, she said: Carbonated beverage containers with the 5-cent deposit get recycled 80 percent of the time, while only 23 percent of non-deposit beverages are recycled.

"Curbside (recycling) is great, but it's not capturing these beverages," she said.

And anybody who leaves the house "doesn't need a study to back that up," according to Domenitz. "If your kid plays ball at a park or you walk your dog, or you go to the beach, or you live in the city, or you hike a trail, you've had the experience of seeing littered bottle water containers, sports drinks — the things that don't have a deposit."

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Feds award $20M grant to upgrade Ruggles T station

Local and federal officials gathered in front of the Ruggles MBTA station yesterday to announce a $20 million federal grant that will help fund the construction of a new 800-foot commuter rail platform and a host of other improvements at the 27-year-old Roxbury transit facility.

"The vision set forth by President Obama for the TIGER grant program called for smart investment in transportation that will lead to expanded growth and opportunity," Gov. Deval Patrick said. "The improvements that will be made to Ruggles encapsulate that vision — shortening commutes, increasing transit access and catalyzing growth for this neighborhood and the city."

In addition to the new 9,600-square-foot rail platform, the project calls for replacing existing elevators, making the station fully accessible to riders with disabilities and restoring rail tracks at the station, which is served by 14 MBTA bus routes, seven private bus shuttles and Orange Line and commuter rail trains.

After completing the project's design work next spring, the MBTA will solicit bids from contractors and the two-year construction period is expected to begin in the fall of 2015, MBTA officials said.

"Transportation infrastructure is what gives us the opportunity for people to get to their jobs, for people to get to an education, for people to live in one place and get to another and keep a strong, vital city operating," U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said.

After the construction of the new platform more commuter rail trains will be able to stop at Ruggles, making the station a more convenient alternative for thousands of people traveling to and from the Columbus Avenue/Lower Roxbury corridor, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx said.

Patrick said the project is a critical element in MassDOT's statewide goal of tripling the share of non-auto-based travel in Massachusetts by 2030.

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Pike traffic woes to grow

Mass Pike commuters, already tested by construction that's reduced lanes and clogged traffic, have another, larger project to look forward to when the current one is finished.

The state Department of Transportation's launch of its estimated $260 million Allston interchange realignment likely will start in early 2017 — on the heels of the current Commonwealth Avenue bridge and median barrier project — and continue through 2020.

MassDOT wants to address significant structural deficiencies in the I-90 Allston viaduct and shift the Pike's alignment in that area so the curve is not as sharp — changes made possible when CSX Corp. discontinued its rail container operation in the Beacon Park Yard, MassDOT spokesman Michael Verseckes said.

It's too early in the design process to determine associated traffic restrictions, according to Verseckes. "Ultimately, the new segment of highway will have to be tied in to the ends on either side," he said.

Another public meeting on the interchange project's preliminary design and work schedule is set for Thursday.

Current work on the Pike — rehabbing of the Commonwealth Avenue bridge foundation and median barrier upgrades — has prompted the shutdown of a portion of the Pike's left lanes in both directions and snarled traffic. An on-ramp lane from Cambridge Street in Allston, for Pike eastbound travel, also has been closed. That $22.2 million project is expected to be finished in spring 2016.

"We understand that this project has created some traffic congestion ... particularly in the morning commute," Verseckes said. "Due to the various constraints with the physical, available right-of-way and the very close proximity to the commuter rail lines, we feel that this design is the only means to get the project done on a timely basis and still maintain safe operation."

Work in the Prudential tunnel portion of the Pike that has prompted night and early morning lane shutdowns, meanwhile, is expected to wrap up Oct. 15, according to the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority. The MCCA project, which entailed removing the tunnel ceiling beneath the Hynes Convention Center, is now in cleanup phase, executive director Jim Rooney said.

"We've got to do some fireproofing to the underside of the Hynes, install some heat tracing on some exposed water pipes and drain pipes, and we've got some uneven walls that need to be repaired," he said. "It's kind of the finish work of the job."

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Bruins inking rink space along Pike

The Boston Bruins' new Hub practice rink stands to get a prime location along the Mass Pike in New Balance's $500 million Boston Landing project.

"Over time, it's bounced around on their site, but ultimately where it ended up is our preferred location," Bruins president Cam Neely said. "It's right off the Pike. It's nice exposure for the organization, and I think the building is going to be a beautiful arena aesthetically as well."

The Bruins disclosed in July that they would be a long-term tenant in the facility, to be located next to New Balance's new headquarters. Renderings are still preliminary, according to a New Balance spokeswoman, but, Neely said, "It's not going to look like your typical arena based on the drawings that I've seen."

Pending permitting approvals, New Balance hopes to start construction on the 75,000-square-foot rink complex — and an adjacent nine-story office building with a ground-floor Bruins pro-shop and other retail — no later than November, much earlier than the original planned spring start date.

The Bruins' practice facility will have seating for about 650 spectators, a VIP area, function room and concessions. It also will include locker rooms, a lounge, a strength and conditioning/rapid shot area, training rooms, video and conference areas and offices for the Bruins.

It will be the first non-institutional hockey rink built in Boston since the 1970s, according to New Balance's permitting documents. As such, the rink will have a youth hockey locker room, a separate college hockey area, and a public skate/locker room area.

"There is a need in the city for ice time, so they'll be able to fill it," Neely said.

New Balance still expects a 2016 completion date for the facility. And that still leaves the Bruins — whose lease at Ristuccia Memorial Arena, its Wilmington practice facility since 1987, ends next year — without a training location for the 2015-2016 season.

"As of right now, I don't have an extended agreement with Ristuccia," Neely said. "I can't disclose it, but we're able to secure something close enough for it to be convenient. We're in discussions, but we've verbally agreed."

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Hot Property: Designers uproot tradition

Everything you grow in your yard can be eaten.

Edible landscaping — not to be confused with traditional vegetable or herb gardens — is one of the growing trends in residential yard design according to local landscape designers. Edible plants, bushes and trees can be picked for food or be added to drinks.

"Plantings have to be aesthetic and gorgeous, but they can also be productive, " said landscape architect Kate Kennen, owner of Charlestown-based Offshoots. "You could be growing something that you could use."

Kennen says she is creating a lot of edible landscapes with plantings such as juneberry trees that provide sweet berries, an attractive option to traditional fruit trees that attract a lot of bugs. Another favorite are basswood trees, also known as salad trees, whose leaves, buds and flowers can be eaten.

"We did a 'mint and mojito' garden for a Jamaica Plain apartment project to appeal to younger people who love craft cocktails," said Kennen, who says cocktail gardens include mints, oregano, lavender, chives and sage.

She's created tea plant gardens as well as an edible garden geared to children with tags on a ring binder to help them identify when edible plants can be eaten.

Another growing residential landscaping trend is low-mow or no-mow lawns, said Andrea Nilsen of Boston's Nilsen Landscape Design.

"Traditional lawns are intensely needy — water, fertilizing, chemicals, mowing," Nilsen said.

Nilsen uses clumping grasses that look like lawn but don't grow and ground­cover plantings in lieu of grass. In one Belmont project, Nilsen used huge beds of creeping thyme and barren strawberry as a lawn substitute.

Kennen added that custom-blended seed can provide an attractive lawn that only has to be mowed every 4 to 6 weeks.

Homeowners are also looking to cut down on irrigation costs by using plants that require less watering as well as harvesting storm water for irrigation.

"A third of potable water is poured on landscape, it's a waste," said Kennen. "People want to do less watering."

Low-water plants are also being increasing used on urban rooftop gardens, Nilsen said.

Kennen has done several water-cleansing gardens, where the roots of plants are used to clean toxins in groundwater. She also has expertise in a growing trend called phytoremediation that uses plants to remove contaminants from soil.

"I did a garden in Weston with plants that absorb arsenic left there when it was an orchard," said Kennen, who is writing a book on the subject.

Even the traditional vegetable garden is getting a new twist.

"Usually vegetable gardens are relegated to the backyard, but I did a project where I put the vegetable beds in the front yard because it worked better there" said Nilsen, who is also designing more habitat gardens, with plants that attract honeybees or butter­flies. "People want their landscaping to have more of a purpose."

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