When an automaker announces that it is updating its 691-hp, dual-motor, all-wheel-drive electric supersedan with an extra 71 horsepower and a new “Ludicrous” drive mode, it’s difficult to even care about any concurrent announcements from said company that don’t have to do with Ludicrous anything. We’re of course talking about Tesla Motors, which in addition to dropping a 762-hp bomb today, also announced a new Model S 70 model (a rear-drive version of the new AWD Model S 70D); a 90-kWh battery pack option (5-kWh denser than the current top-dog 85-kWh unit) for the Model S 85; timing on its next two models; and a Plaid drive mode for a third new model. It’s not that those developments aren’t noteworthy (besides, of course, that plaid thing), it’s just that, well, we dig power. Nonetheless, we’ve outlined each of Tesla’s five major announcements below:
-Model S 70: Yes, we know, you want the details on the 762-hp Model S, but the new rear-drive Model S 70 model is just as important. That’s because even as sales of the Model S continue to rise, Tesla has decided to offer a new, more affordable base model to slot below the recently introduced Model S 70D. That car is an all-wheel-drive Model S with a 70-kWh battery pack that earlier this year replaced the Model S 60 as the brand’s base model. The 70D’s additional driven wheels, 514 horsepower, and smidgen of extra range (240 miles) were all worthy updates, as we discovered in our full test of the car, but they came at a cost some $5000 over that of a Model S 60. Now, the rear-drive, 328-hp Model S 70 can be had for just $70,000 with 230 miles of driving range, a savings of $6200 over the all-wheel-drive 70D.
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90-kWh Battery Option: Today, if you want the most driving range in Tesla’s lineup, you must opt for the Model S 85, whose 85-kWh battery brings an EPA-rated 265 miles of ultimate driving range. According to Tesla’s consumer site, the new, non-Performance-package-equipped 90D—an 85D with a $3000 90-kWh battery upgrade—is good for 270 EPA-certified miles of range and 417 horsepower. The company further claims that, in the real world at a steady 65 mph, a 90D could do 300 miles. Impressive. Existing P85D owners aren’t left in the cold, either, as they can retrofit their ride with the new battery for the same price, although Tesla CEO Elon Musk says they may not want to do so unless their usage is already at the ragged edge of the car’s original range—better to wait, he says, until they introduce an even more powerful battery to get more bang for their buck. If they decide to upgrade anyway, however, they’ll get 253 miles of range and a mind-bending total of 762 horsepower.
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Ludicrous Mode: Supplementing the already wildly named “Insane” drive mode available in today’s P85D—as in our long-term Model S P85D test car—is a new, even quicker acceleration mode dubbed “Ludicrous Mode.” Besides the core awesomeness of culling drive-mode names from the movie Spaceballs, Tesla’s graduation to Ludicrous comes by way of a new battery fuse. The fuse on the P85D’s battery pack melts when a high level of amperage is run through it, creating a performance bottleneck wherein 60 mph is attained in a “mere” 3.1 seconds, according to Tesla. (It should be noted that we’ve been unable to match Tesla’s claim, with our quickest zero-to-60-mph time for the P85D landing at 3.3 seconds.) Eager for more acceleration, Tesla designed a new fuse with “its own electronics and a tiny lithium-ion battery” that can handle 1500 amps versus the 1300 of the old fuse. According to Tesla, this drops the 0-to-60-mph time of the P90D to just 2.8 seconds; the quarter-mile time breaks the 11-second mark at 10.9 seconds. Needless to say, we’re looking forward to trying to verify those times.
-Ludicrous mode won’t come cheap, with the potential unlocked by a $10,000 option on new Performance Package–equipped P90D models. Current P85D owners can have their cars upgraded to Ludicrous spec in the next six months for just $5000 plus labor at a Tesla service center, but going forward, the system will only be available as a factory option on new P90Ds. As such, a brand-new ultimate-accelerating P90D will cost $119,200 before federal and state tax incentives—let alone other options—are factored in. That number includes $106,200 for the P85D, another $3000 for the 90-kWh battery, and $10,000 more for Ludicrous mode.
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- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Tesla Model S P85D Road Trip
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- 2015 Tesla Model S 70D Tested: The Car of the Century, Now Updated With More Power and AWD
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- Tesla Model S Research: Full Pricing, Specs, Reviews, and More
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Maximum Plaid Mode: Piling on the ludicrousity of the Ludicrous mode announcement, Tesla also promises that the next-generation Roadster model due in four years will get a Maximum Plaid drive mode. Yes, that’s more Spaceballs goodness, and yes, we can’t wait to declare “we’re going plaid!,” strap on our helmets, and mess with that hyperdrive.
-Model X and Model 3 Still on Track: The long-delayed Model X crossover is finally going to be a thing, according to Tesla. Deliveries of that model are promised to begin in the next two months. As for the smaller, more affordable Model 3 originally promised for 2017, Tesla reconfirmed it will go on sale in two years as, we assume, a 2018 model.
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via Agya
