Not that any of us are ever likely to own one, but this is really kinda cool and I’m thrilled that an American car is setting the standard on this. (But it’s the Brits who have designed roads that will charge your electric car as you drive!)
This score is kind of insane.
Tesla Motors Inc.’s all-wheel-drive version of the battery-powered Model S, the P85D, earned a 103 out of a possible 100 in an evaluation by Consumer Reports magazine.
The combination of power and efficiency was so off-the-chart that the group had to recalibrate its ratings methods “to account for the car’s exceptionally strong performance,” according to a statement. Ultimately, the car was given a score of 100 that set a new standard for perfection.
The Tesla sedan is the quickest Consumer Reports ever tested, accelerating to 60 miles (97 kilometers) per hour from a stop in 3.5 seconds using the car’s “insane mode.” (Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has since released an even-faster “ludicrous mode.”) The P85D is a high-performance, all-wheel-drive version of the all-electric Model S that achieved the equivalent of 87 miles per gallon of gasoline.
“This is a glimpse into what we can expect down the line, where we have cars with the performance of supercars and the comfort, convenience and safety features of a luxury car while still being extremely energy efficient,” Jake Fisher, the magazine’s head of automotive testing, said in an interview. “We haven’t seen all those things before.”
Based on the P85D’s scores, Consumer Reports had to reassess how much to weigh things like acceleration, where the Tesla is as much as twice as quick as other vehicles, Fisher said.
“Once you start getting so ridiculously fast, so ridiculously energy efficient, it didn’t make sense to go linear on those terms anymore,” he said.
“(But it’s the Brits who have designed roads that will charge your electric car as you drive.)”
Sorta like EZ-Pass, which charges your car for going over a bridge, right?