Tesla Model S P100D Is Quickest Production Car in the World, Longest-Range EV Yet

http://ift.tt/2bDWNUP

For Koenigsegg, Lamborghini, and Bugatti, the afterglow of Pebble Beach weekend may be fading a little faster than usual. That’s because each of those automakers have been shown up, just a little bit, by Tesla—which claims that the new Model S P100D can get to 60 mph in a mere 2.5 seconds.

In those few clicks, it’s claimed to be the quickest regular-production car on the planet, according to the California automaker. As Tesla concedes, the LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder were as quick or quicker, but they were limited-run vehicles, no longer made today and costing more than a million dollars.

The Model S P100D will also have a 100-kWh battery pack good for a driving range of 315 miles, which makes it the longest-range production electric vehicle so far—and the first one from the automaker to go more than 300 miles on a charge.

It will be joined by a new Model X P100D that uses the same battery pack and can get to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds, with an EPA-rated driving range of 289 miles.

Both models deliver those new performance pegs via a two-motor all-wheel-drive system—with exact powertrain specs and improvements not yet detailed at the time of writing. Ludicrous mode is, of course, also included in both models, and those performance numbers are with that mode’s performance-heightened settings.

The new 100-kWh battery pack is not an upgrade that can be unlocked in the 85-kWh and 90-kWh cars, CEO Elon Musk emphasized, but a completely new pack. The CEO was quoted by multiple sources in a call with select Silicon Valley reporters as saying production numbers will be “quite low, because of the challenge of making such a complex pack.”

“Tesla customers who have ordered a P90D Ludicrous, but not taken delivery, can upgrade to the 100 kWh pack for $10,000,” the company says. “Existing P90D Ludicrous owners can also upgrade to a 100 kWh pack, but for $20,000, as their used 90 kWh pack will have to be recycled.” For those ordering fresh, the Model S P100D starts at $134,500, while the Model X P100D starts at $135,500.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/2bDXPQM
via IFTTT