TESLA MODEL S REVIEW

List price from £49,380 Lease price from £1,079 The verdict 8 

The Tesla Model S is a luxurious electric car with a 250-mile range. It could be a taste of the future

Can you have all the benefits of electric motoring without any of the compromises? That’s what American car-maker Tesla set out to achieve with the Model S. Unlike other electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe, which are pitched firmly into the mainstream, the Tesla is very much a premium product, with a price and size to match.

The advantage of this is that it can carry an enormous battery pack, giving it a potential range of more than 250 miles from a full charge, plus the kind of performance you’d expect of a sports car.

Has Tesla done enough to worry the mainstream car manufacturers? Let’s have a look.

Space

Hard to fault

The Tesla’s spacious interior is partly due to the fact that it is a big car, similar in size to a JaguarXJ or PorschePanamera. However, even compared with such competition, it takes the initiative when it comes to packaging. That’s because there's no engine to worry about. Instead, the vast battery pack is mounted in the floor and the small electric motor sits behind the rear seats. 

As a result, you get two boots - one in the front capable of carrying your weekly shop or a couple of cases, plus the main one at the back, which is simply vast (and can be made even bigger if you fold the rear seats). You can even specify your Model S with a pair of rear-facing seats that fold out of the boot floor, although the limited headroom caused by the sloping rear screen means these are suitable only for small children.

The main rear seats will easily accommodate three adults, although headroom is restricted if you opt for the panoramic glass roof. No such problems for those in the front, where the Model S feels light and airy, while a large tray between driver and passenger is perfect for storage.

One gripe, however, is the central armrest, which is set too high and can get in the way of your left elbow when turning the steering wheel.

Comfort

Quiet, but big wheels can give a bumpy ride

Look at the optional 21-inch wheels and low-profile tyres on the Model S, and you wonder how it could possibly deliver a comfortable ride. Sure enough, it doesn’t glide over lumps and bumps at low speed quite as well as rivals from BMW and Mercedes, although it does settle at higher velocities to be a fine motorway cruiser. 

Those big tyres also generate quite a lot of noise once you’re up to speed, a point emphasised by the way the electric motor delivers its performance. That’s because, whether you’re setting off gently from low speed or have your foot flat to the floor, the Model S accelerates in almost total silence, which makes it incredibly relaxing to drive.

Dashboard layout

Impressive tablet-like display

For the Model S, Tesla has created a truly different style of dash, with the standout feature a 17-inch touchscreen that has the appearance of a giant iPad. It’s also as perfectly responsive to the touch as Apple’s tablet, and works using either a 3G signal or, if available, a WiFi connection. Through it you control most of the car’s functions, such as opening the sunroof, tuning the internet radio, checking the battery charge and using the satnav and web browser.

The speedometer itself is clearly displayed on another screen, which also shows battery charge and satnav directions.

Switches for the windows, indicators and wipers, not to mention the column-mounted gear-lever, are sourced from Mercedes, and feel suitably premium, but there are other parts of the Tesla’s dash, in particular some of the materials, which lack the polish of those usually found on a top-of-the-range car.

Easy to drive

Just point and go

Walk towards the Tesla Model S and, so long as you have the key in your pocket, the door handles glide out to meet you. Climb in and you’ll find there’s no hole for the key, or even a starter button. Instead, you place your foot on the brake and the car comes to life. Select drive and you’re away. With no gears to worry about, driving the Tesla is simplicity itself. A word of warning, however: this is a big, wide car, and visibility is slightly restricted by the large pillars either side of the windscreen.

The instant response of the electric motor combined with huge reserves of power in the high-performance 85kW model (we are yet to try the 60kW alternative), make overtaking easier than in any other car we’ve ever tested. And when slowing down the strong regenerative braking means that you only need to lift off the accelerator to shed meaningful speed - an odd sensation at first, but one you might well miss if you go back to conventional cars.

Parking, however, is a challenge, due to the car’s size. Front and rear proximity sensors, as well as a wide-angle rear-view camera all help, but the fact of the matter is the Tesla is simply too big for some spaces.

Fun to drive

Steering could be better

The weight of the Tesla’s steering can be varied via settings within the central control panel, although none of the three options is particularly authentic. Nor do they improve the lack of feel for what the front wheels are doing, meaning you have to instead trust the car’s - admittedly high - levels of grip.

The real fun comes from the way the Model S accelerates, which from any speed is powerful enough to put a smile on your face. In fact, from low speeds the flood of torque is vicious enough to give the electronic stability control systems a serious workout, and in the wet it's easy to end up spinning the rear wheels. As a result, it could be worth upgrading to the dual motor P85D model, which uses a separate motor for the front axle to make the Model S all-wheel drive - so equipped, the car can race from 0-60mph in just 3.2 seconds.

As a final attraction, all of this performance comes at a fraction of the cost of an equivalently powerful petrol car.

Reliability

Some owners have experienced glitches

The Tesla Model S is too new to have been included in any major UK reliability surveys, but as an all-new model from a young car company, it is highly possible that there could be teething problems. For example, in the US some owners have experienced faults with the tablet display and powered door handles, both of which have been fixed under warranty.

On the plus side, the drivetrains of electric cars are proving to be very reliable, with few moving parts meaning there is less to go wrong.

Tesla provides a four-year, 50,000-mile warranty on the car itself, while the battery warranty is eight years and 125,000 miles (or unlimited mileage for the 85kWh battery). Tesla’s warranty also covers the battery if it is damaged due to improper charging.

Fuel economy

Very cheap to run

Fuel economy is of course a misleading term in this instance, but if we think about the range from a full battery charge (up to 265 miles, and in normal driving typically about 200 miles), plus the cost of recharging that battery (about £5 at current rates), the Tesla offers unbeatable pence-per-mile costs.

Better still, if you use one of Tesla’s Supercharger stations, charging is both free of charge and much quicker, with 20 minutes enough to boost the battery by 50 per cent, or about an hour for a full charge.

Tesla aims to have the whole of the UK and Ireland covered by Superchargers by the end of 2015, although this will mean that to use them drivers will have to follow certain routes. For example, to get from London to the south west, depending on your driving style, you might need to drive via Supercharger stations in Reading, Bristol and Exeter.

Supercharger stations are, however, open 24 hours a day, and positioned at places where there are also amenities. The fish and chip shack at the Darts Farm Supercharger station in Exeter is worth the trip in its own right...

Affordability

Small running costs for such a big car 

The Model S is priced from £49,380 for the 60kWh model with a claimed range of just over 200 miles, but our recommendation is to upgrade to the 85kWh battery pack, which boosts the range to closer to 260 miles, and gives superior acceleration. For those after the ultimate Model S, Tesla offers a dual motor Performance Pack, which endows the car with supercar-rivalling acceleration.

Servicing is required every 12 months or 12,500 miles, in addition to which Tesla can carry out upgrades to the car via the internet. For example, while not available on early cars, Tesla has since added, via a download, an optional function that allows the Model S to creep forwards when you lift off both pedals, just as a conventional automatic would.

Tesla also offers fixed-price service plans, which allow owners to budget for running costs.

Exemption from road tax, the London congestion charge and a zero per cent benefit-in-kind, also mean that for a car of this size and luxury, the Model S will save you thousands of pounds a year compared with petrol and diesel alternatives.

Safety

Scored top marks in crash tests

When it was evaluated in the US, the Model S outperformed all other cars that have ever been crash tested - so robust was its shell, in fact, that the Tesla broke the equipment used to test the strength of a car’s roof in the event of a rollover. It was no surprise, therefore, when the car also scored top marks in Euro NCAP crash tests.

Six airbags are fitted as standard, as are three Isofix child seat mounting points across the rear seats. In addition, if you order the third row of seats, Tesla reinforces the rear bumper to protect their occupants in the event of an impact.

Standard spec

You might need to spend quite a bit extra

Tesla might tempt you in with a £49,380 starting price and the promise of low running costs, but it is easy to almost double the price of your Model S with some choice options (our test car came in at £98,430).

All versions come with cruise control, a reversing camera, all-round electric windows, electric seats and keyless entry, but chances are you’ll want to add more to this, not least because as standard the lower capacity battery is not Supercharger enabled, removing one of the big draws of the Model S - free charging.

Nor are the options cheap: the glass panoramic sunroof is more than £2,000 and the 21-inch wheels almost £4,000.

However, the costliest upgrades are also those you really want: the 85kWh battery adds more than £7,000 to the car’s price, and if you combine it with the dual motor and Performance pack, the total rises by more than £27,000.

Our favourite version	Model S 85, list price £56,400
Options you should add	Tech Package (£3,500), Rear Facing Seats (£2,000) and Dual Chargers (£1,200)

Source : telegraph[dot]co[dot]uk