The astounding Tesla Model S is the breakthrough product that the electric car industry has been waiting for.
When Motor Trend awarded the Tesla Model S with 2013 Car of The Year, the publication said, "By any measure, the Tesla Model S is a truly remarkable automobile."
Automobile Magazine shared a similar sentiment when it awarded the Tesla Model S 2013 Automobile of The Year: "It's the performance that won us over. The crazy speed builds silently and then pulls back the edges of your face. It had all of us endangering our licenses."
Despite the accolades, cynics would argue that the media outlets may be biased. Perhaps Tesla secretly bribed journalists with a complimentary long term test car. Perhaps the editors received an all-expenses paid trip to Southern California to visit the Tesla facility and to enjoy some fine wines and dining. For Tesla to earn any legitimate respect, the Model S must participate in a truly independent and impartial road test -- enter Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports published the road test results of the Tesla Model S at 8 a.m. Thursday morning. Boasting an unmatched score of 99 out of 100, Consumer Reports Senior Associate Autos Editor Eric Evarts wrote:
The Tesla Model S outscores every other car in our test Ratings. It does so even though it's an electric car. In fact, it does so because it is electric.
According to Consumer Reports Auto Testing Director Jake Fisher, the Tesla is flat-out the best car the establishment has ever tested.
The benefits of the electric motor are obvious -- the Tesla Model S was immediately praised for its superior energy efficiency, its deceptionally quiet acceleration from 0-to-60 mph in 5.6 seconds. Beyond the novelty of electric propulsion, Jake Fisher continued:
"Braking performance: excellent. Ride: excellent. It drives like a mixture of the best luxury car and the best sports car."
An interesting circumstance, the novelty that makes the electric car interesting is also the achilles heel that intimidates many prospective buyers. Heavy batteries, limited range, and long charging durations discourage the majority from addressing an electric vehicle as a true car.
Tesla made tremendous strides to improve the practicality of the Tesla Model S. Telsa offers enormous 60 or 85 kWh batteries to boost the range of the Model S. The 85kWh battery is capable of a range of up to 265 miles. Translated via a fuel-economy-equivalent rating by the EPA, the Tesla's energy efficiency is rated 95 miles per gallon.
An important milestone, the Tesla Model S is not only regarded as a high functional electric car, but as an exceptional conventional car as well. In the past, only one other vehicle has managed to equal the Tesla's score: the Lexus LS 460L in 2007.
Check out the review of the Tesla Model S by Consumer Reports auto testing director Jake Fisher in the video below:
