On this episode of Ignition
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00 (dramatic music)
00:03 Where do we start with the massively important Tesla Model S?
00:07 Well, we've already delved into its technical bits.
00:09 We've performed three range tests,
00:11 and we know it'll go anywhere between 238 miles
00:14 and 285 miles on a charge.
00:16 But there's one thing that will prove the Model S's worth,
00:20 and that's how it works as a car.
00:23 How fast is it?
00:24 How fun is it to drive?
00:26 This week on Ignition, we're gonna find out.
00:29 (car engine revving)
00:32 The first thing about the Model S
00:35 is that it doesn't start like a normal car.
00:38 Instead of pressing a key to unlock it,
00:40 you simply touch the door handle.
00:41 It pops out, and you tug it open.
00:45 You don't press a button or turn a key
00:46 to start the car, either.
00:48 You just touch the brake and put it in drive.
00:52 The massive center screen jumps to life,
00:55 and with barely a sound, you're off.
00:58 (car engine revving)
01:01 You might think with all this instantaneous torque
01:04 that launching the Model S might be difficult.
01:07 It's not, you just hit the go pedal.
01:09 The thing just leaps off the line.
01:11 The torque is insane.
01:13 Zero to 60, four seconds.
01:15 And the quarter mile flies by, 12.4 seconds
01:20 at 112.5 miles an hour.
01:22 (car engine revving)
01:26 And now for our 60 to zero braking test.
01:29 Very good stopping power.
01:33 Our best stop was 113 feet.
01:35 (car engine revving)
01:39 So now I begin the figure eight test
01:41 in the Tesla Model S, and the acceleration out of a corner.
01:45 It's just incredible.
01:47 I mean, it's a heavy car.
01:48 You can feel that mid-corner right now.
01:51 But when you come out of a corner,
01:53 and you put the gas pedal down,
01:55 or the accelerator pedal down,
01:56 the thing just takes off.
01:58 (car engine revving)
02:01 It's like riding Superman at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
02:07 Now, it has a surprising amount of grip,
02:11 given its size and its weight.
02:13 And you can push it pretty hard.
02:16 We have traction control off,
02:19 but you can't fully defeat stability control.
02:21 And that's a good thing,
02:23 because this thing makes so much torque
02:26 as soon as you touch the throttle.
02:28 If you get too aggressive with it on corner exit,
02:31 you just end up doing these big sideways movements,
02:34 and that is slow.
02:36 Although you can see the smoke in the rear view mirror.
02:40 That's pretty fun.
02:41 This thing is certainly a respectable performer,
02:47 not just as an electric sedan, but as a car.
02:50 (car engine revving)
02:54 Well, now we get to find out if the Model S
02:59 is any fun to drive.
03:01 And the initial impressions are, yes, it is.
03:04 The power is just incredible.
03:08 You dip onto the accelerator pedal.
03:10 We can't call it a throttle pedal.
03:12 But you dip onto the accelerator pedal,
03:14 and you just get this sensation of torque
03:17 that you don't find in anything but a supercar.
03:19 (car engine revving)
03:22 It's incredible to think that the quickest sedan
03:25 built in America is built in California,
03:28 and it's electric.
03:29 The steering feel is very nice,
03:31 very linear in the way it responds.
03:33 You can tell it's a heavy car,
03:35 but the chassis loads up nicely around a corner,
03:38 and it's using its weight rather well,
03:41 all 4,700 pounds of it.
03:42 Now, part of the reason why it's working so well
03:46 is because the battery pack sits so low in this car,
03:49 it's actually a stressed member of the chassis,
03:51 and that helps this thing around a winding road,
03:54 definitely helps this thing.
03:56 Now, one of the things I admire so much about this car
03:59 is that it isn't built by an established automaker.
04:02 It's free from the established philosophies
04:05 of how to build a car,
04:06 and it feels totally different because of it.
04:09 This feels like car 3.0.
04:12 It's the next generation of what a car should be.
04:15 I mean, sure, the core concepts are there.
04:16 It has a steering wheel, it has four tires,
04:18 but it's electrically powered.
04:20 It has really nice styling cues that look futuristic,
04:24 but not too in-your-face.
04:26 The interior is very well done,
04:28 but it still feels different, but in a nice way.
04:31 You could tell this car would be easy to use
04:33 on a day-to-day basis.
04:35 The infotainment system is like a giant iPad
04:38 glued to the dash, although it looks a lot better
04:40 than simply an iPad being glued to the dash.
04:43 It's touchscreen, and I've complained a bit before
04:46 about how touchscreen systems work,
04:47 how they don't provide enough tactile feedback.
04:50 Well, it turns out if you design a touchscreen
04:52 that's good enough, it's plenty usable, like this one's is.
04:55 It's fast to respond, it works very well.
04:58 (car engine revving)
05:02 One of the strange things about driving an electric car
05:04 versus a gasoline-powered car
05:06 is you don't have any engine sound.
05:08 You have no cues to tell how fast you're going
05:10 other than the torque sensation in your stomach
05:12 and the speedometer that's rapidly climbing up.
05:15 (car engine revving)
05:18 And without that engine noise,
05:20 you hear a lot more of the tires,
05:21 you hear a lot more of the wind.
05:23 You might be able to hear the limits of the tires
05:26 a bit more as a result, too,
05:27 because you don't have an engine blaring at you at full song.
05:30 (car engine revving)
05:32 You have to recalibrate your right foot as well.
05:36 In a gasoline car, you lift off to coast,
05:38 but in this Tesla, you lift off
05:40 and it goes into an aggressive regen
05:42 that slows the car down pretty dramatically.
05:44 You have to use the accelerator pedal to manage your speed
05:48 and then rely on the brakes
05:49 only when you need to slow down quickly.
05:52 Now, this is not an inexpensive car,
05:55 upwards of $90,000 or above,
05:58 but you consider the technology that you're getting,
06:01 but also the luxury that you're getting,
06:02 and it puts it right in the realm of the E63,
06:06 Panamera, and so on.
06:08 This thing, as heavy as it is,
06:11 is pretty comparable with those.
06:13 And given how forward-thinking it is with its drivetrain,
06:19 with its infotainment system and so on,
06:21 it might be the better bargain.
06:23 And so, to sum up,
06:25 can an electric car be fun to drive?
06:29 Well, if this Tesla Model S is any indication,
06:32 it definitely can.
06:40 Forget for a second that the Model S
06:41 is powered by electricity,
06:43 and what would you have?
06:45 Well, you'd have a good-looking,
06:46 forward-thinking luxury sedan
06:48 with a very impressive entertainment system.
06:50 You'd have a car that drives like the best
06:52 of its competition, fun, smooth, and pleasant.
06:56 You'd have a car with large interior dimensions
06:58 and plenty of cargo space.
07:00 And with all that, you have an electric powertrain
07:02 that offers incredible acceleration and considerable range.
07:06 This car, this Model S,
07:09 despite being the second car Tesla has built,
07:11 has transitioned from a niche product
07:14 to one that competes on the world stage.
07:16 It may very well be the most important new car
07:19 since the Model T.
07:20 (dramatic music)
07:27 (dramatic music)
07:30 (dramatic music)
07:32 (dramatic music)
07:35 (dramatic music)
07:38 (dramatic music)
07:41 (dramatic music)
07:44 (dramatic music)
07:47 (dramatic music)
07:50 (upbeat music)
07:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]