The Tesla Model S is the first bespoke creation from the electric car stable of PayPal creator Elon Musk.
Its body structure is chiefly aluminium, with steel used only to add strength in key areas. Tesla says the resultant stiffness has allowed it to bestow the car with good dynamics despite its size and weight (more than two tonnes), even on 21-inch wheels. The Tesla Model S is a true five-seater, and can be extended to a seven-seater with the addition of rear jump seats
Had you asked us 10 years ago for our bet on which manufacturer would be the first to introduce a viable, fast, practical and competitively priced all-electric luxury saloon to the UK, we would have looked to Germany or Japan, or even South Korea, for a credible tip.
The fledgling upstart from Palo Alto in the US, only incorporated in 2003, would not even have been a blip on the radar. But within a decade, Tesla has gone from CEO Elon Musk’s brainchild to deadly serious player in the unpredictable business of building – and selling – zero-emission cars.
Following the now-defunct Roadster, the Model S is the first prong in a plug-in trident of a plan that includes a smaller saloon and a crossover SUV in the not too distant future. On paper, the Model S is ideally placed to take sizeable bites out of the market share of Audi, BMW, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz.
The Model S is unlike anything we’ve seen before wearing a tax disc, and it has the size, pace and, yes, range to compete with a conventionally powered rival. Does it have the finish, panache, quality and character, too?
Read on to see if Tesla’s Model S qualifies as current landmark or future landfill.
Design
The Model S may look like a conventional – albeit intensely stylish – executive car from the outside, but only because Tesla has opted to make it follow visual conventions, and in part only because that’s what buyers are used to.
The truth is, though, that beneath its skin lies a mix of technologies whose positioning doesn’t actually relate to the straightforward bonnet, underneath which is a generous amount of luggage volume rather than an engine or even motor and power converter.
The battery pack sits beneath the cabin floor and its subframe contributes to torsional rigidity, although the entire pack can be swapped out by a special automated jig within two minutes.
Buyers can pick from one of three battery options, which comprise a 60kWh pack (claimed 208-mile range, 5.9sec 0-60mph time), an 85kWh pack (265 miles, 5.4sec) and an 85kWh Performance pack with the same 265-mile range as the conventional 85kWh battery if driven in the same way but with a higher-capacity drive inverter that allows a claimed 4.2sec 0-60mph time. The drive motor in this spec gives a claimed 443lb ft of torque from rest and 416bhp.
To add further complication, there’s a Performance Plus pack, which doesn’t affect the battery but does alter the air suspension (which features double wishbones at the front and multi-link at the rear). Performance Plus brings uprated dampers, bushings, anti-roll bars and 20mm wider rear tyres and is said to improve both ride and handling.
If you’re wondering how the Model S can come with such a leggy claimed range, look no further than the battery. It uses conventional lithium ion battery cells, just like most electric cars, but here they have a capacity of 85kWh. Think of it as a big fuel tank; a Renault Zoe’s usable range is provided by 22kWh of battery technology.
As a result, the Tesla will take relatively longer to charge if you’re pushing the same level of current into it. And a Model S will accept charge from a regular household socket (at 11kW) if you want it to.
In the US, a basic 110V supply is capable of providing it with about 30 miles of range for each hour of charging, doubling that for 240V sockets that can be found in the US and which are standard on a high-ampere UK outlet.
However, the Model S is also capable of being charged by much higher inputs. A range of 80kW ‘Supercharger’ sockets is being rolled out in the US and something similar is available if you have a more industrial supply here, in which case half a charge can be delivered in just 20 minutes. Because of the way the batteries charge, a complete ‘fill up’ can take 70 minutes.