Wednesday 19th January 2011

Video: Tesla Model S Hits the Road

Electric sports saloon struts its stuff on US country roads

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The electric sports saloon is creeping (near-silently) ever closer to reality, with the Tesla Model S currently entering the final stages of development before deliveries to customers begin next year.

The car doing its thing in the video is an 'Alpha build' development car (that's the first stage of pre-production builds - we think), and despite the lack of noise it certainly seems to be quite impressive.

Graham Sutherland, Tesla's Vehicle Dynamicist (tr. - development driver), seems to agree - though it is just about possible that he's biased.

"The first Alpha is amazingly agile for a car of its size," he says. "It has great handling balance and poised ride with communicative steering. Just goes to show what combining a low centre of gravity with a very stiff body structure can achieve."

We're certainly not 100 per cent sold on the idea of electric performance cars, but the Model S, with its reasonable performance (0-60mph in 5.6secs and a 300-mile range) is certainly an intriguing prospect.

Model S Alpha Hits the Road from Tesla Motors on Vimeo. 

[beetroute]

Seems to be going MUCH slower once the headlamps are turned on .....!

[GKP]

There's something wrong with the speakers on my PC.

[alexpa]

And as battery energy densities increase so will the range increase/weight decrease. E.g some current research http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanowire_battery

[anonymous-user]

Reminds me of the Maserati Granturismo, quite a pretty car.

[kambites]

Certainly one of the best looking saloons around, if indeed it "around". How good it is, remains to be seen, I guess.

[Mr Gear]

A handsome but conservative-looking car. I'd prefer it if they didn't have the fake black grille. Just paint it silver and go for a bold new look for a brave new world.

[georgetuk]

Mr Gear said:

A handsome but conservative-looking car. I'd prefer it if they didn't have the fake black grille. Just paint it silver and go for a bold new look for a brave new world.

Agreed. Why fake it when you don't need it!

[MagicalTrevor]

alexpa said:

And as battery energy densities increase so will the range increase/weight decrease. E.g some current research http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanowire_battery

No pun intended?

[anonymous-user]

georgetuk said:

Mr Gear said:

A handsome but conservative-looking car. I'd prefer it if they didn't have the fake black grille. Just paint it silver and go for a bold new look for a brave new world.

Agreed. Why fake it when you don't need it!

It might need it. Obviously not for a radiator but it might duct air to cool the motor(s) and batteries no?

[Mr Gear]

MSTRBKR said:

georgetuk said:

Mr Gear said:

A handsome but conservative-looking car. I'd prefer it if they didn't have the fake black grille. Just paint it silver and go for a bold new look for a brave new world.

Agreed. Why fake it when you don't need it!

It might need it. Obviously not for a radiator but it might duct air to cool the motor(s) and batteries no?

It looks completely closed-off to me. There are some lower vents that look open. I doubt very much it would need a grille anywhere near as huge as the blacked-off area.

[joe_90]

Why did i put my headphones on to watch that...

[Doniger]

I love it - such an unashamed mishmash of stolen styling cues from Audi, Aston, Jag and Maserati, and it works. And a 300 mile range...they're getting closer to making an electric car that can actually do a real days work.

[goron59]

300 mile range is quite good, but what I want is 1000 mile range including refuels/recharges, within one day.

[KevSeymour]

joe_90 said:

Why did i put my headphones on to watch that...

Probably for the same reason i did, curiosity.

Totally pointless though wasn't it - "This is what moving air and tyres sound like".

I'm glad it exists, but i'm not convinced a near silent car can be considered sporty, part of the impression of speed is the sounds of the engine/exhaust, surely?

[anonymous-user]

How much does that car weigh? looking at the ride frequency and the body nod in that video suggests it's either softly sprung, or V. heavy ???

[jazzyjeff]

KevSeymour said:

I'm glad it exists, but i'm not convinced a near silent car can be considered sporty, part of the impression of speed is the sounds of the engine/exhaust, surely?

So in your view a car that is ACTUALLY fast is less sporty than a knackered base model hatchback with a fruity Halfrauds exhaust bolted on?

Ok.

JJ

[Chicane-UK]

Wow.. it's a handsome motor that! Really like it!

[bobbylondonuk]

Max_Torque said:

How much does that car weigh? looking at the ride frequency and the body nod in that video suggests it's either softly sprung, or V. heavy ???

It is a yank product.

[Mr Gear]

Max_Torque said:

How much does that car weigh? looking at the ride frequency and the body nod in that video suggests it's either softly sprung, or V. heavy ???

It's probably fairly heavy... that's why it can have a 300 mile range. You could have a 1,000 mile range if you wanted, but it would be heavier still.

[kambites]

1,735kg, according to wikipedia. Which is about what you'd expect from a petrol car of this size these days. About the same as a small engined 5-series.

Edited by kambites on Wednesday 19th January 12:08