It was INCREDIBLE. Seriously, if you haven't yet taken a test drive, I *highly* recommend it!! The sucker is a sports car that can seat 7 people!!
Ok, here's the scoop. An electric motor without any transmission will always produce more torque - especially low-end torque - than any other type of engine yet designed. And the current Tesla Model S has two. And they're insanely powerful motors.
The car's battery is like a bazillion pounds, and mounted directly on the bottom of the frame. This gives an incredibly low center of gravity - combined with its wide tires and stance, it grips the road like nothing else I've ever seen!
The weight isn't an issue, either. The battery - seriously the battery technology being developed by Tesla is something else - the battery dumps its power quickly. You step on the "gas" and the car blasts off. 0-60 mph in approx. 3 seconds!
For all you Spaceballs fans out there, there's even a Ludicrous Mode! The acceleration there is, well, ludicrous!
The inside of the car is like a cockpit, with a massive touch screen on the middle console. There are virtually no buttons in the car at all - virtually no moving parts whatsoever - just this console and a few other controls. The car is connected to the Internet - always. The GPS tells you when you're near a charging station, especially when you're running low on juice.
Which isn't often!
The range of the vehicle is 200+ miles, without any sacrifice in performance (the car will shoot off the line for the last mile as strongly as for the first), and the rapid charging stations take a relatively small amount of time to get a near-full charge. You can literally - right now, no additional infrastructure needed - drive across the country in a Tesla. AND!! The rapid charging stations currently FREE. Does it get better than that?
Ok ... I'm rambling here (thanks for bearing with me) ... just too much to get out, and I'm so, so damn excited about this car. Seriously - take your own test drive, you won't regret it!
I've gone over the acceleration, and hinted at the handling. The low center of gravity, wheelbase, tires and incredible motors make it handle like it's on rails. While on my test drive, the salesman encouraged me to take a very sharp turn (rated at 15 mph) at 55 mph.
Let me repeat that. He ENCOURAGED me to take the turn at nearly FOUR TIMES the recommended speed.
I balked, took the turn at about 40, and was blown away. It was literally as if the car was on rails. Coming out of the turn, I pressed on the accelerator and the car just flew.
The car can be customized on the fly, too. From the console panel, you can choose steering response and feel, suspension, even acceleration curves. You can make the car act better than any sports car, or as an easy driving caddy. It's all fly by wire, with an incredibly robust selection of options.
And all this was the base model.
I'll go into more details about my test drive in later posts. I haven't even touched the surface yet, really. But, hopefully my description of the performance of this vehicle will at least encourage you to TRY it for yourself!
Take a test drive. You'll thank me.
-TMD
