The Tesla Model S P90D set the standard for mass production cars with an official 0-60 mile an hour time of 2.7 seconds. Now Tesla’s keeping it 100, with the Tesla Model S P100D. It’ll do 0-60 in 2.5 seconds with a heavy foot, and with a light one it’ll do over 300 miles on a charge.
For context, there are very few other “production” cars that can keep up with that run to highway speed, and that count includes the Bugatti Veyron Supersport, the Ferrari LaFerrari, and the Porsche 918. And none of those cars came close to cracking 1,000 units sold, and they all cost more than a $1 million.
There’s also a Model X P100D, which will do 0-60 in 2.9 seconds. That’s 0.2 seconds faster to highway speed than a McLaren F1, which is interesting enough in itself until you consider that the Model X weighs nearly three times as much.
The Model S P100D will also get up to 315 miles on a single charge, Tesla claims, though a lot of that is probably dependent on the driver, the weather, the load, and the harvest predictions of the 1762 edition of Poor Richard’s Almanack.
Of course, the Model S P100D is accordingly very expensive, with a base price of $134,500, or about $10,000 less than a Mercedes S63 AMG. Yes, the Mercedes is nicer on both the outside and the inside, but it’s also positively glacial with a 0-60 time of a mere 3.9 seconds. Nor do you get to make that blood-curdlingly smug face as you drive by knowing your car doesn’t have a tailpipe.
Tesla’s also trying to justify that price – beyond the simply absurd acceleration, which kind of feels like justification itself? – by saying that:
While the P100D Ludicrous is obviously an expensive vehicle, we want to emphasize that every sale helps pay for the smaller and much more affordable Tesla Model 3 that is in development. Without customers willing to buy the expensive Model S and X, we would be unable to fund the smaller, more affordable Model 3 development.
And since Tesla is very nearly at its financing limit with its banks, it needs people to keep buying the Model S and the Model X while the Model 3 is still in gestation.
Tesla created the P100D by not only enlarging the batteries, but also by tinkering the tech inside, much of which involved the cooling systems. But the company is “very close to the theoretical limit” of what it can do with current battery technology, CEO Elon Musk said.
Oddly enough, current Tesla Model S and Model X P90D owners will actually be able to physically upgrade their cars to P100D spec, although it does induce a $20,000 charge as Tesla must recycle the cars’ current battery pack. If you ordered a P90D in the past few weeks and are still waiting on delivery, you can actually just cut Tesla a check for $10,000 and they’ll put in the newest biggest and bestest battery pack before it shows up at your door.
Not bad for a family sedan.