Tesla Model S P100D 2017 review | road test
- Price From $255,200
- ANCAP
- Seats5
What we like
- Rocketship speed
- Clean interior design
- Ever-improving proposition
What we don't
- Sadly, it's not a sports car
- It's a lot of money
- Lack of convenient charging
Key features
- 5 Star Safety
If you have even a passing interest in the Tesla Model S, you'll have seen the endless internet videos where someone has lined up a Ferrari, Lamborghini, or another fast exotic car you could name, to race against it.
There's a long build-up, usually involving men who can't operate a baseball cap, a drag strip and idiotic words in the headline like "destroys" or "rips", or whatever. There's usually a bunch of honking bros with bad haircuts watching on, already planning their next viral video where they set a perfectly good mobile phone on fire.
It's facile and idiotic and doesn't give you any real clue as to the depth of whatever supercar it has "humiliated" or, just as importantly, the depth of the Model S and its spectacular engineering.
So, I won't be spending the next thousand words building up to the conclusion that the Model S P100D with Ludicrous Mode is up there with the world's fastest production cars from 0-100km/h, because I'll tell you now that it is, and it does it in a claimed 2.7 seconds.
Now that's out of the way, there's quite a bit more to the Model S than a "broken"Nissan GT-R owner weeping into their bento box.
Verdict
I spoke to a friend who bought a Model S before one had even hit the ground here in Australia. He chuckled when I told him how much this car cost but then said something I'd already suspected. "My mates who own a P100D would never drop that kind of money on a normal car. Buying a Tesla is like buying shares in the company, you're buying into the future."
And that's kind of the point. A $300,000 Audi RS7 (fully-loaded, obviously) is a bit slower in a straight line, looks just as good, is extremely well-built and emits noises that make people like me go as weak at the knees (just as the Model S' acceleration does). And would probably win a 10 lap race with the Tesla around Mount Panorama.
The Tesla is the future of cars. It may still be decades before the internal combustion engine is gone, but Tesla buyers are getting the jump, and today the Model S is the best car in which to make that leap.
Does the Tesla have the spark you need or do old-fashioned hydrocarbons still light your fire?
Specifications
- PriceFrom $255,200
- Safety5-star ANCAP
- Seats5
- Warranty4 years/80,000km
- Engineelectric, 568kW/1000Nm
- TransmissionAutomatic, AWD
- Turning circle11.3m diameter
- Dimensions4970mm (L), 1984mm (W), 1445mm (H)
Tesla Model S P100D 2017 review | road test
What we like
- Rocketship speed
- Clean interior design
- Ever-improving proposition
What we don't
- Sadly, it's not a sports car
- It's a lot of money
- Lack of convenient charging
Key Features
- 5 Star Safety
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