Tesla Model S P90D REVIEW | Tesla’s performance sedan puts the Germans on notice
MANY PEOPLE ARE ANGRY WITH THE 2016 TESLA MODEL S P90D.
Such folk are almost entirely working for premium car manufacturers, mind you, because while traditional companies have been working slowly and steadily towards an electric vehicle (EV) future, a canny Californian startup has beat them to it.
Tesla has in a few short years taken long strides to make EV mainstream. Although the Model S starts with six-figure pricing, it can be driven hundreds of kilometres without recharging, and when you need to the brand has even positioned ‘supercharger’ networks around the country free for customers to use and recharge.
Free upates mean Tesla further changes the game when it comes to customer service. Rather than a car company using new features to tempt buyers into its latest model, Model S (and soon Model X and Model 3) owners can snare free software updates by simply connecting their vehicle to Wi-Fi overnight.
It makes for enhanced loyalty through the ownership process with a view that, when it comes time for a new car, Model S owners will have loved the experience so much that there is only one brand they would turn back to: Tesla.
Vehicle Style: Prestige large sedan
Price: $242,561 (plus on-road costs)
Engine/trans: 568kW/967Nm electric motor | single-speed automatic
Fuel Economy Claimed: 198Wh/km | Tested: 265Wh/km
OVERVIEW
So, what is the Model S P90D? It is a five-metre-long sedan that weighs 2187kg, or about as much as a large SUV. It packs many batteries - 90 kiloWatt hours’ worth, as the name references - underfloor, which then feeds two electric motors each positioned to drive the front and rear wheels.
There is no petrol engine or fuel tank, so you get a liftback-practical rear boot as well as a front boot.
The Model S 60 starts from $128,009 plus on-road costs with a 400km range between charges and a 5.8-second 0-100km/h. It only gets one electric motor driving the rear wheels, but upgrading to the all-paw 60D requires $140,496 (plus orc) and buys the same range but a four-tenths-faster sprint time.