2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Tesla Model S

[Wretched]

The 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year is one of the quickest American four-doors ever built. It drives like a sports car, eager and agile and instantly responsive. But it's also as smoothly effortless as a Rolls-Royce, can carry almost as much stuff as a Chevy Equinox, and is more efficient than a Toyota Prius. Oh, and it'll sashay up to the valet at a luxury hotel like a supermodel working a Paris catwalk. By any measure, the Tesla Model S is a truly remarkable automobile, perhaps the most accomplished all-new luxury car since the original Lexus LS 400. That's why it's our 2013 Car of the Year.

Wait. No mention of the astonishing inflection point the Model S represents -- that this is the first COTY winner in the 64-year history of the award not powered by an internal combustion engine? Sure, the Tesla's electric powertrain delivers the driving characteristics and packaging solutions that make the Model S stand out against many of its internal combustion engine peers. But it's only a part of the story. At its core, the Tesla Model S is simply a damned good car you happen to plug in to refuel.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/oftheyear/...#ixzz2C3rXAn6Q

[mik]

it`s not a bad attempt, but it is still a city car, with the better charger it still takes 5 hours to charge, and it has a good size touch screen , but i still hate the bloody things.
would not have been my choice for car of the year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kCG-WqpVnI

[fou_bleu]

Muchly deserved winner IMO - the innovative powertrain system is worthy on its own! I truly believe that Tesla certainly has the potential to be a future automotive powerhouse.

While there is an SUV version coming (Model X), a wagon version would be my (and probably Europe's) pick (as imagined here by Theophilous Chin)!

[Rodge]

I like it and would be happy to own one if its reasonably priced.

[Mighty Reds]

Shock, an electric car that actually looks more like an Aston and less like a microwave.

[Buntz]

Originally Posted by Mighty Reds

Shock, an electric car that actually looks more like an Aston and less like a microwave.

And... an obvious pun for an electric car.


This is a great car. Ground breaking even. Shame it doesn't have a Ford badge.

The enormous laptop computer screen in the centre console would drive me nuts though I reckon.

[zilo]

I've been in a Tesla, albeit the previous model.

Absolutely breathtaking machines.

A well deserved award, much to the disgust of many inferior car makers no doubt.

I am seriously considering the Model S....and I drive Geelong to Clayton most days.

[Rodge]

Originally Posted by Ugg

I've been in a Tesla, albeit the previous model.

Absolutely breathtaking machines.

A well deserved award, much to the disgust of many inferior car makers no doubt.

I am seriously considering the Model S....and I drive Geelong to Clayton most days.

Yeap, bring it in ASAP, I'm soooo over how much fuel my SC FPV uses and 99.99% of my trips are well within the range of this vehicle. The 0.01% of trips that arn't, I'd be happy to fly and rent a car and pay for it with the thousands of dollars in fuel costs i'd be saving every year.

[SB076]

Great car, but they are around $90 K in the States so I presume they will be close to $200K here. No doubt they will get cheaper once the technology develops

[2011G6E]

When I go back to work on friday I'll make sure to deliver some more filthy coal to the power station to be burned to provide power for your eco-mobile...

Very nice car, but until battery issues are overcome and the power doesn't come from coal (and yes, shock, even if you tick the "green power" option on your bill, most of it will still come from coal...there's no separate power grid for green power sources), it's just an extremely nice toy for the latte set in the city...

[Rodge]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

When I go back to work on friday I'll make sure to deliver some more filthy coal to the power station to be burned to provide power for your eco-mobile...

Very nice car, but until battery issues are overcome and the power doesn't come from coal (and yes, shock, even if you tick the "green power" option on your bill, most of it will still come from coal...there's no separate power grid for green power sources), it's just an extremely nice toy for the latte set in the city...

In N.Z. the vast majority of power comes from environmentally friendly and renewable resources, (some not so to meet peak power demand periods), and you can chose a power supplier (Meridian), which we are connected too which generates its power from 100% eco friendly sources. I'd imagine there are many countries in the world which have a similar generation profile to N.Z. which would enable this fantastic vehicle to have an eco friendly footprint.

[2011G6E]

The countries where these sort of cars work well are ones that aren't pussies about investing big time in nuclear or hydroelectric or geothermal power...they make perfect sense in those nations, but in ours, they're still just another way of driving a car around and shouldn't honestly be marketed as having a "zero carbon footprint"...

[fou_bleu]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

When I go back to work on friday I'll make sure to deliver some more filthy coal to the power station to be burned to provide power for your eco-mobile...

Very nice car, but until battery issues are overcome and the power doesn't come from coal (and yes, shock, even if you tick the "green power" option on your bill, most of it will still come from coal...there's no separate power grid for green power sources), it's just an extremely nice toy for the latte set in the city...

Until as such times as Australia joins the 21st century in regards to renewable energy investment, a 'stop-gap' advantage here is moving automotive emissions from populated centres to the power stations - more or less a health rather than ecological issue. But, for this to be effective, more cars on the road need to be electric - and granted, there need to be more desirable and affordable options for this to happen.

Another interesting development is off-grid charging systems - like a solar / other renewable home system. Battery technology is progressing at a substantial rate and it may even be possible to have a battery to charge on solar through the day to use as a charger over the evening.

As for "the latte set in the city", it's thanks to them half the devices in your home are affordable for a large percentage of the population, so I don't see why people are always banging on about them?

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by SB076

Great car, but they are around $90 K in the States so I presume they will be close to $200K here. No doubt they will get cheaper once the technology develops

Ummm, try $57,000 in the US and $75,000 in Aus....

[Fiesta_Man69]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Ummm, try $57,000 in the US and $75,000 in Aus....

Who is selling them in Aus? What kind of factory support do they have? What's the expectant life of the batteries and how much are they replace? Range with 5 ppl on board? Recharge time?

I still remember the Top Gear test of Tesla..... Yes, it's a few years on but...

There's plenty of I6 Falcons out there with half a million km on them with on basic services done.... I wonder how much it would cost to get one of these to such a distance?

The future is hydrogen: works fine in California and much better for the environment than an electric car.

[danthefordman]

Originally Posted by Fiesta_Man69

Who is selling them in Aus? What kind of factory support do they have? What's the expectant life of the batteries and how much are they replace? Range with 5 ppl on board? Recharge time?

I still remember the Top Gear test of Tesla..... Yes, it's a few years on but...

There's plenty of I6 Falcons out there with half a million km on them with on basic services done.... I wonder how much it would cost to get one of these to such a distance?

The future is hydrogen: works fine in California and much better for the environment than an electric car.

What about the energy cost of hydrogen production? Isn't it a very energy intensive process to produce?

[SB076]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Ummm, try $57,000 in the US and $75,000 in Aus....

My apologies I had an article with those prices but maybe they were referring the Signature model or different battery options. There are a few different prices depending on what specs you are looking at

Here is their websites with pricing etc.

http://www.teslamotors.com/models/options US site

http://www.teslamotors.com/en_AU/models Aus Site

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Ummm, try $57,000 in the US and $75,000 in Aus....

Yes that is the entry level one with a max 260km range and slower accelleration than a N/A XR6.

The go-fast one is expected to be about $130k

[Mighty Reds]

Nat Geo has a Doco on this vehicle if anyone is interested.
It's on the series called Supercars.

[The Snout]

Originally Posted by Mighty Reds

Nat Geo has a Doco on this vehicle if anyone is interested.
It's on the series called Supercars.

Well worth the watch. Bloody impressive what they are achieving and the spirit shown. Well deserved award.

[1TUFFUTE]

great looking car. something i can imagine ford or even austin martin designing.
Itd be great if aus had the eco safe power industry that NZ has...then we could drive these bad boys around without feeling bad...


on a side issue,,,was watching some show today about passing some noise legislation on wind turbines that make power.....REALLY people are concerned more about wind noise from fans over our air being toxic....

[Rodge]

The enormous laptop computer screen in the centre console would drive me nuts though I reckon.

Yeah possibly the only draw-back but crickey if you had the GPS system on full screen mode it would be bloody hard to get lost

I think the less expensive 40 KW/hr version of this car would be fine for many city dwellers.

On an interesting side-note if an 85 KW/hr battery version can travel for 300 km's with some residual charge, (they never run these batteries right down to nothing as its not helpful to their longevity), it shows this car must be only consuming on average less than 20 Kw's per hour when travelling on the open road, (assuming average speed of 75 k.p.h. on a country journey for four hours).

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Rodge

(assuming average speed of 75 k.p.h. on a country journey for four hours).

75kph!! geez, must be some busy clogged up country roads over there.

I usually average 85-90kmh with a speed limited B-Double

[Rodge]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

75kph!! geez, must be some busy clogged up country roads over there.

I usually average 85-90kmh with a speed limited B-Double

Max Speed limit anywhere in N.Z. is only 100 k.p.h. and there's plenty of area's where its less and that along with all the small towns and traffic density on the roads, yeah... even if you set the cruise control to a GPS corrected speed of 100 k.p.h. somewhere around where I'm suggesting is a reasonable assumption for North Island average speed travel, about 5-10 k.p.h. more for South Island's more open and substaintially less congested roads.

Interesting that this new Tesla only uses 37 Kw's per 100 miles, (161 Km's) = 17 Kw's to travel at an average speed of 75 k.p.h., that super slippery Cd of only 0.24 is a miracle worker !! If the 40 KW/hr version is just under $100K Kiwi I'll be really interested.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Rodge

Max Speed limit anywhere in N.Z. is only 100 k.p.h. and there's plenty of area's where its less and that along with all the small towns and traffic density on the roads, yeah... even if you set the cruise control to a GPS corrected speed of 100 k.p.h. somewhere around where I'm suggesting is a reasonable assumption for North Island average speed travel, about 5-10 k.p.h. more for South Island's more open and substaintially less congested roads.

Interesting that this new Tesla only uses 37 Kw's per 100 miles, (161 Km's) = 17 Kw's to travel at an average speed of 75 k.p.h., that super slippery Cd of only 0.24 is a miracle worker !! If the 40 KW/hr version is just under $100K Kiwi I'll be really interested.

I hate to be the physics nazi but kW is a measurement of power which is instantaneous. Power over time is energy and commonly measured in units of kWh (kilowatt hours) or MJ (megajoules).

[2011G6E]

Is it possible to charge a fully electric car with the sort of solar setup the average person would have on their roof? In a reasonable amount of time? Could be a problem seeing as how most people would, I assume, charge it off peak in the middle of the night.

Battery pack replacement...that's been a sore point ever since the Prius first came out. The wall of silence you meet if you dare bring up the taboo question is deafening...of course, it's not an issue for the first owner, but any subsequent owners would surely have to have it in the back of their mind...what's the resale like on a Prius anyway...?

[Rodge]

Originally Posted by flappist

I hate to be the physics nazi but kW is a measurement of power which is instantaneous. Power over time is energy and commonly measured in units of kWh (kilowatt hours) or MJ (megajoules).

Quite right, I meant to say 17 Kw/hr's per 75 Km's. Amazing that you can move a vehicle of that size a distance of 75 km's for only 17 KWh don't you think ?

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Is it possible to charge a fully electric car with the sort of solar setup the average person would have on their roof? In a reasonable amount of time? Could be a problem seeing as how most people would, I assume, charge it off peak in the middle of the night.

Battery pack replacement...that's been a sore point ever since the Prius first came out. The wall of silence you meet if you dare bring up the taboo question is deafening...of course, it's not an issue for the first owner, but any subsequent owners would surely have to have it in the back of their mind...what's the resale like on a Prius anyway...?

Pretty doubtful on the charge from one's solar panel I would have thought, probably not enough current. Are they following Toyota's lead and putting an 8 year warranty on the battery ?

[Buntz]

Originally Posted by Rodge

Yeah possibly the only draw-back but crickey if you had the GPS system on full screen mode it would be bloody hard to get lost

I think the less expensive 40 KW/hr version of this car would be fine for many city dwellers.

On an interesting side-note if an 85 KW/hr battery version can travel for 300 km's with some residual charge, (they never run these batteries right down to nothing as its not helpful to their longevity), it shows this car must be only consuming on average less than 20 Kw's per hour when travelling on the open road, (assuming average speed of 75 k.p.h. on a country journey for four hours).

It amazes me how a car that is propelled solely by energy, was designed with so much energy sapping, electrically powered gizmo's. Even the door handles require a small amount of energy to open. How does that work if your car has run out of battery and something you need/want has been left in the car?

How much more battery life could they have saved from unnecessarily powered items?

[zilo]

Originally Posted by Buntz

It amazes me how a car that is propelled solely by energy, was designed with so much energy sapping, electrically powered gizmo's. Even the door handles require a small amount of energy to open. How does that work if your car has run out of battery and something you need/want has been left in the car?

There is a reserve battery for essential services.

Originally Posted by Buntz

How much more battery life could they have saved from unnecessarily powered items?

Stuff all in the big picture.
If they hadn't made the most up to the minute cabin appointments they would have been criticized by the knockers for being too austere.

[mik]

you can bet all these range figures are best case scenario, imo they are still no real opposition to a internal combustion engine, the hybrid seems to be the only logical cheap alternative to the conventional motor car at the moment.