Tesla just announced a supercar
200It's called the Model S P85D. It comfortably seats four, more if you're willing to squeeze in a kid or two.
If your frame of reference for automobiles ended somewhere around the year 2000, the performance of Elon Musk's hottest all-electric sedan yet would be outright difficult to comprehend. Even today, the numbers put up by this all-wheel-drive hatchback compare favorably with some of the rarest, most exotic, and most expensive vehicles ever made.
The top speed of the P85D is undoubtedly limited to something that won't send you violently hurtling into another dimension, but let me say it on no uncertain terms: its quoted 0-60mph time of 3.2 seconds is solidly in supercar territory. Acceleration isn't everything, but it's something. It's a big something. It's what glues your butt to your seat when you mash the pedal to the floor. This car is unspeakably fast. It's a full second faster to 60 miles per hour than the standard P85, which was already faster than any human being could ever require. (The P85 was what we drove in our road test, and it dropped my jaw on multiple occasions.)
Watch our road test in the Tesla Model S.
Of course, this isn't a cheap car: it starts at $120,170. Still, that's a lot less than some cars capable of eliciting a similar reaction with your foot mashed on the pedal.
Here are some bona fide modern supercars as points of reference:
Porsche 911 Turbo ($151,100): 0-60mph in 3.2 seconds
Ferrari 458 Italia ($233,500): 0-62mph in 3.4 seconds
Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 ($237,250): 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 ($78,995): 0-60mph in 2.95 seconds
And let's look at a few really fast sedans:
Dodge Charger Hellcat (pricing TBD): 0-60 in a reported 2.9 seconds
Porsche Panamera Turbo S ($180,300): 0-60 in 3.6 seconds
Audi RS7 ($106,500): 0-60 in 3.7 seconds
The P85D starts shipping in December, but you may want to consider some performance driving courses ahead of time — a 3.2-second sprint to highway speed is no joke.
