TESLA MODEL S

The base Model S uses a liquid-cooled AC motor producing 362 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque, while the Perform­ance models have a 16,000-rpm motor juiced with additional windings to produce 416 horses and 443 pound-feet. Performance models also will have 21-inch wheels and summer tires instead of 19s and all-seasons.

Initially, only the top 85-kWh lithium-ion battery pack will be supplied for an advertised range of  300 miles, but lighter, less-expensive 40-kWh and 60-kWh packs will come later, offering claimed ranges of up to 160 miles and 240 miles, respectively. The Model S comes standard with an onboard 10-kW charger, while a 20-kW unit can be purchased initially or retrofitted for $1500. It will cut recharge time on the mega 85-kWh pack from eight hours to about four, depending on the amp and voltage ratings of the garage circuit.

The Model S concentrates much of its 4650-pound curb weight in the 7000-cell battery pack installed under the floor, so it doesn’t feel the pull of lateral g’s like conventional cars with higher centers of gravity. Thus, Tesla is able to get away with a relatively soft suspension while still keeping pitch and roll in check. The driver can choose from three distinct steering-boost levels, and the air-spring suspension offers four ride heights. The monolithic, half-ton battery case underfoot gives passengers the sense of sitting atop a granite slab. Road bumps are heard but barely felt through the dense structure. The Tesla is a double-bacon porker, but what it does with the pounds makes it magical. Somewhere, Colin Chapman is nodding.

By producing the aluminum-bodied Model S, Tesla has taken on challenges far exceeding those of building the roadster it has been selling since 2008. With five doors, the option of seven seats, an all-glass dashboard of multicolor display screens, and a battery pack that is promising up to 300 miles of driving, the Model S is co-founder Elon Musk’s moonshot.

Though it may seem expensive, the more-made-in-America-than-most-“American”-cars Model S can’t possibly turn a profit at its price, given all that is clean-sheet new and novel about it—at least, not until Tesla has closed out a few Decembers at or near its 20,000-per-year sales goal, which, given the cruel history of the auto industry, may be never.

Various investors, from Toyota to ­Daimler (which supplies a Benz steering column to the Model S) to Uncle Sam—with its $465 million in loans—to Tesla’s shareholders on Wall Street, have all bet money and material that Tesla won’t flame out like Solyndra. Without them, there would be no Model S. And unless the car succeeds, there may be no more investors.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: rear-motor, rear-wheel-drive, 7-passenger, 5-door hatchback

BASE PRICE: $58,570–$106,570

MOTOR TYPE: AC permanent-magnet synchronous electric motor, 362 or 416 hp, 325 or 443 lb-ft

TRANSMISSION: 1-speed direct drive

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 116.5 in
Length: 196.0 in
Width: 77.3 in Height: 56.5 in
Curb weight: 4650 lb

PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 4.4–6.5 sec
¼-mile: 12.6–13.7 sec
Top speed: 110–130 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 147 ft

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 88/90 MPGe