P85D

Tesla Motors has built a strong reputation for performance, starting with its first Roadster and then its Model S P85 and P85+ sedans, before moving to the dual-motor P85D and most recently the latest line-leading P90DL. But how much has performance actually improved with these evolutionary changes...

The Tesla Model S P85D, the highest-performance and most expensive version of the all-electric luxury sedan, has earned even more plaudits and compliments from Consumer Reports magazine. The P85D, in fact, "performed better in our tests than any other car ever has," the publication said this...

The Tesla Model S P85D electric car is breathtakingly quick, and quietly forceful in a way that makes it simultaneously a tailpipe-free counterpoint and a serious rival to some of the world’s top performance cars. You won’t need to search hard to find video footage of this...

Electric-car advocates know that a seamless rush of maximum torque from 0 rpm is one of the secret advantages of using an electric motor to power a vehicle. And that fact--most publicly shown off by the Tesla Model S P85D performance model, and now by its even faster successor, the P90D--has pretty...

The Tesla Model S luxury electric sedan will get an upgrade of its highest-capacity battery pack, from 85 to 90 kilowatt-hours, as well as a new optional high-performance mode called "Ludicrous" mode. The news was announced today by Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk during a press conference (and followed...

It is one of the more remarkable features of the Tesla Model S electric luxury sedan: door handles that retract flush with the body until needed. But the retracting door handles proved tricky in practice; owner of early Model S cars reported that quite a lot of them had to be replaced under...

It had been more than 50 years since I'd been to a drag race--back in what now seems almost like the very dawn of motoring. Back then, I just watched. Yet here I was, just a month ago, behind the wheel of my Tesla Model S P85D, facing off against another car as I watched the lights change. Red...

Leave it to electric-car maker Tesla Motors to spring another surprise on the world. This morning, it announced a brand-new version of the base model in its signature battery-electric luxury sedan lineup. The Tesla Model S 70D is an all-wheel-drive Model S with a 70-kilowatt-hour battery pack...

If you haven't heard of the all-electric, all-wheel-drive Tesla Model S P85D--and you're reading about green cars--you may not have been paying attention. Tesla Motors claims the P85D is the fastest four-door sedan on the market, at least from 0 to 60 miles per hour. To date, no other automaker has...

Even 10 years ago, the idea of a “family sedan” that could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than 4 seconds was something between a rarity and a fantasy. Even more delusional was the thought of a stock family sedan that could exceed 200 mph. Those heady performance figures were...

Last October, Tesla announced an all-wheel-drive version of the Model S electric car, with up to a mind-boggling 691 horsepower, and said deliveries would start as early as December—only a two month wait. The performance specifications of the new P85D version promised supercar numbers on the...

There’s been a lot of confusion recently about the official EPA-certified ranges of certain electric cars. That all-important number goes on the window sticker, and is typically used for advertising and marketing purposes. In November, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk announced, with great fanfare...

Say "P85D" to Tesla owners and fans, and you will see the drooling and twitching and heavy breathing and lustful stares--and more drooling--that Tesla's fastest, highest-performance electric car brings. The same happens with the word "Hellcat" for fans of high-powered Hemi V-8 performance. DON'T...

A Tesla Model S P85D goes for a spin on a dyno.

As a long-time Tesla Model S owner—almost two years now—I was naturally eager to get behind the wheel of the new dual-motor P85D. I’d had a couple of brief stints in 416-hp P85 loaners while my standard S85 was in for service. Those had been exhilarating enough, almost scary. What...

In an effort to simplify its assembly process and boost production rates, Tesla Motors has streamlined its 2014 Tesla Model S electric-car lineup and eliminated several variants. Specifically, the California carmaker will no longer offer its P85 and P85+ performance versions in rear-wheel-drive...

Been searching for stratospheric levels of soaring, over-the-top, heavens-rattling hyperbole lately? You will do no better than the recent road test of the Tesla Model S P85D, published on Monday by Motor Trend. That's the new dual-motor all-wheel-drive version of its signature electric car...

How can you add all-wheel drive to an electric car, making it hundreds of pounds heavier--and still increase its efficiency and range? Amid all of last week's hoopla over the blazing performance of the all-wheel-drive Tesla Model S P85D--0 to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds, 155-mph top speed--what really...

In the end, the online rumors proved to be largely accurate. Last night, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk revealed an all-wheel-drive version of the Tesla Model S electric luxury car--known as 'D'--whose most powerful P85D version will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.2 seconds. DON'T MISS: Tesla...