Tesla Model S 2013 Review - International

And you can count on one finger the carmaker totally devoted to the EV and doing things distinctly differently. Tesla Motors, with its HQ in the heart of high-tech Silicon Valley with neighbours such as Facebook, Apple Computers and Google has invested a billion dollars to prove the EV is much more than a California fad. The South African born Elon Musk, CEO and co-founder of Tesla Motors, is confident his company’s new Model S large sedan proves that an electric vehicle is more efficient, better dynamically, more reliable and overall superior to petrol powered cars.

“The world has been under this illusion that electric cars cannot be as good as gasoline cars. That if you have to go with an electric car you’re accepting a car that is a compromise,” he said “The Model S is about breaking that illusion. It’s about showing that an electric car can be the best car in the world.”

It’s really about much more. It is about believing that petrol will get more expensive year-on-year; that the electric motor is three times more efficient that a petrol engine; and that an electric vehicle offers far better occupant space, comfort and protection.

JB Straubel, Tesla’s Chief Technical Officer, adds: “We can also expect that our battery technology will improve by about 50 per cent in the next five years.” So EV technology will only improve at a far faster development pace than the century-old internal combustion engine.

As you reach for the front door handle, the Model S is obviously strange. It is a good strange. Touch a flush-set chrome bar and it extends to transform itself into a pull-release handle that opens the driver’s door. No key, no start button, no instruments. Once your butt hits the leather bucket seat, you’ll see the instrument cluster powers up and the 17-inch touchscreen comes alive to offer driver-select features such as steering feel, ride height and interior settings. At this point, the Model S interior is very cool and very iPhone, with bright, high-resolution graphics and so naturally intuitive to use.

Now how to put the Model S into play mode? You ‘start’ the car by pushing the brake petal and selecting Drive from the left-hand stalk. But there is no transmission. The electric motor sits behind the rear axle to drive the rear wheels through a transaxle. There’s no transmission and no gear changes. The motor produces peak torque from zero rpm and spins to 16,000rpm to accelerate the Model S very quickly, very quietly and amazingly smoothly to a claimed maximum speed beyond 200km/h, accelerating from 0-100km/h in 4.4 seconds.

Our first drive of the Tesla Model S is restricted to a few kilometers, so while the first impression is extremely impressive, there are issues. The few cars built show flaws and problems with panel fit, which are fixable as product volumes climb slowly from one per day to 80 per day by end of 2012. The company will assemble 5000 Model S sedans in 2012 and 20,000 in 2013.

Australia will see deliveries of Model S about mid-2013 with four specification variants (base, Performance, Signature and Performance Signature) and three lithium-Ion battery power outputs: 40kWh, 60kWh and 85kWh.

While competitor EVs tout 160km cruising range, the Tesla Model S goes way beyond the norm with a range of about 250km from the base Model S with 40kWh liquid-cooled battery. The flip side is 0-100km/h in 6.5 seconds (claimed). The range extends to 420km (5-cycle EPA test) with the largest 85kWh battery pack.

That battery pack consists of several thousand individual battery cells about the size and shape of a lipstick case. The lithium-ion batteries are basically the same as you’d find in an HP laptop. The pack sits very low between the axles giving the Model S an equally low centre of gravity and a near perfect 48/52 front to rear weight distribution.  

The basic physics translate to impressive on-road dynamics and the flat floor greatly influences a very low aero drag coefficient of 0.24. According to chief designer Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla used Ford’s wind tunnel in Dearborn to fine tune the aero efficiency of Model S with slight changes to the top silhouette and the rear diffuser. He describes the low-roof, long-nose styling as ‘tuned athlete’ and ‘expressed efficiency’, while also explaining the design doesn’t carry ‘green’ design gimmicks as you see on Toyota Prius and the GM Volt. The Model S looks like a performance sedan and drives like a performance sedan – petrol or electric or whatever.

You’re aware it is electric — or at least very different from other cars — because of what you don’t feel or hear. It sits dead calm – no idle vibration – and at full acceleration the Tesla S does not emit a noise as the scenery begins to blur.  All is quiet except for a whisper of wind and tyre noise accompanied by a slight whine from the transaxle.

In an opposite way to Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche or a sweetly tuned V8, the Tesla brand character is not defined by the song of an engine but by the defined sound of silence.

The driver sits low as you’d expect in a performance sedan and the bonnet line drops from view. The strong character line on the left and right of the bonnet tells you where the front corners are as you take feel of the steering wheel and direct the Model S into a flowing corner. Silence is again deceiving with no audible sense of speed and no gear changes to tell you that the Model S is indeed very quick.

Off the throttle and the car immediately slows as the regenerative braking system kicks in. No need to brush the brake pedal. The regen system has just wiped 30km/h from the speed as you enter the corner at 100km/h and the Model S turns toward the apex without a degree of body roll.

The regen system slows the car so rapidly that Tesla has an accelerometer which senses deceleration and automatically illuminates the brake lights even though the driver hasn’t footed the brake pedal.

Mounting the heavy battery pack very low and positioning the electric motor at the rear axle now pays dividends. Most of the mass of the Model S is no higher that your butt, and your backside is also aware that this Tesla wants to be driven.

The airbag suspension (optional) gives calm to the large 21-inch diameter wheel and Continental tyre package on the Model S Performance model. The base car runs on 19-inch wheels and less sophisticated damping control.

At this point of a very short drive the Model S seems to be a serious performance sedan with the traits you’d expect from a car regardless of it being electric or petrol. And for Australians that performance comes at a reasonable price. The base Model S with 40kWh battery pack and eight-year, 200,000km drivetrain warranty will be priced just below the luxury car threshold for electric vehicles at $75,375. In the US, the base Model S is priced from $57,400 or $49,900 after the U.S. federal tax credit.

Expect the Tesla Model S Performance to carry a price tag of around $130,000.

The Tesla Model S delivers promised performance equal to or better than petrol competitors and for that reason deserves consideration. Tesla’s unique corporate approach to the automobile is also refreshing and in many ways for many years will influence how we drive and the fuel we use. From our first drive of the Model S it is very clear that this sedan is not a compromise. And for that reason who cares if its ‘green’ when it is this good.

Photos: Don Feria & Todd Hallenbeck