SYDNEY: For north of about $191,000, you too can almost toss your cookies as Tesla’s latest electric muscle car, the P85D accelerates towards 100 kilometres per hour in “insane” mode.
Or, if you are made of stronger stuff than The Australian Financial Review’s occasional motoring correspondent, you can just enjoy the sensation of your stomach and lungs pressing flat and hard against the back of your ribcage.
Tesla, founded by Paypal founder Elon Musk, is launching the D series of its revolutionary all-electric Model S rear-wheel drive performance cars in Australia.
That’s about nine months after they hit the streets in the US and six months after the European launch.
Launch is the operative word. Teslas eschew the wimpy performance of archetypal electric and hybrid vehicles and deliver what feels like the acceleration of a rocket ship to the uninitiated performance car driver.
D stands for dual motor – a motor on each axle – and the Fremont, California-based company reckons the extra motor adds a choice of power, efficiency, traction and range to the performance of its current Model S series.
Internode founder and car nut Simon Hackett has two white Model S Teslas and a red roadster Tesla – the original concept car.
The Model S P85D that the Financial Review takes through the acceleration tunnel at Avalon Airport is not quite the top of the range but can sprint from a standing start to 100 kilometres per hour in 3.3 seconds in “insane” mode.
A fully loaded P85D will set you back more than $250,000 including “ludicrous” mode, which cuts the time taken to 100 kilometres per hour to 3 seconds flat. It has a range of 491 kilometres and an 85 kilowatt hour battery pack, with the larger unit on the rear axle.
“Ludicrous” mode, named by Tesla geeks after the faster-than-the-speed-of-light velocity ordered by the spaceship skipper in the Star Wars parody Spaceballs, is a battery enhancement that boosts the power to 90 kilowatt hours. The company is taking orders for a 90D, with a 90 kilowatt hour battery and more than 550 kilometres of range.
For buyers less interested in such features, the base model 70D starts at about $131,000 on road and the base 85D at about $156,000. On-road prices vary with state stamp duties and electric vehicle incentives.
Tesla’s Australian sales are a closely guarded secret – engine range is a limitation for a performance car in our wide-open spaces – but the company is hoping the launch of the D series will give sales a big boost. It expects to sell 55,000 cars in the US this year.
Currently there are only three Tesla supercharging stations, which can recharge the battery in an hour and use mostly renewable energy: in Richmond in inner Melbourne, north Sydney and Pyrmont. Work has begun on a Goulburn supercharging station and more stations are planned in Gundagai and Wodonga to link Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney by the end of this year.
