Tesla Model S P85D

Forget traditional super sedans like the BMW M5 or Audi RS7, Elon Musk is far more ambitious than that. With Tesla’s new Model S P85D, he set his sights much higher: “Our goal was to match one of the fastest cars ever, the McLaren F1.” Can a 467kW carbonfibre supercar really be humbled by a silent, overweight (2239kg), battery-powered five-door sedan?

As it turns out, yes. During the P85D’s recent Los Angeles unveil, Musk revealed “you’ll be able to choose three settings: Normal, Sport, and Insane.” Having now tested it, we can confirm that when it comes to insane, the P85D makes Charlie Manson seem like Charlie Chaplin. Lined up on the dragstrip, the P85D fires off the line like one of Musk’s Falcon 9 rockets launching horizontally; with 931Nm available from idle and no gears to interrupt progress, the P85D compresses time and space like nothing this side of the Starship Enterprise. Tesla claims 0-100km/h in 3.4sec with a high-11sec quarter mile if anything, it feels even faster.

Responsible for this science fiction speed is the installation of a second electric motor in the front of the P85D the ‘D’ standing for ‘dual motor’. Rated at 165kW, it combines with the 350kW rear motor for head-spinning outputs of 515kW/931Nm. The extra motor, tucked into what was a recessed cavity near the firewall in the now-discontinued reardrive P85+, adds 88kg and a very slight improvement in range, Tesla claiming a maximum distance of 480km between charges when driven at a steady 105km/h.

It also shifts weight distribution slightly from 47/53 to 51/49 frontto-rear, but electrification means conventional physics don’t really apply when discussing the big Tesla’s handling. There are thicker anti-roll bars and firmer damping rates, but it’s the drivetrain that has the biggest influence on the P85D’s dynamics. Feathering the accelerator now rotates the car’s trajectory via regenerative brake drag that instantly reallocates between both axles. Essentially, the two motors’ email-instant reflexes mean the stability control system is the drivetrain itself.

The P85D retails at $133,500 locally, though expect that to rise to the $150-$170K mark depending on options fitted (there’s a lengthy list). Crucially, the Model S interior has received a mid-life refresh, with better seats including excellent highly-bolstered performance seats available front and rear revised switchgear, a wider variety of interior trim, bigger sunvisors and a self-closing charge port. Cleverly, this means the car can’t be unplugged unless the doors are unlocked, so mischevious kids can’t cut short your charge.

Take a long blink and the car is likely to have changed, though, with Musk estimating Tesla implements about 20 modifications a week.

All Australian-delivered cars will also be fitted with Tesla’s autopilot system. In theory, the P85D can drive itself, autopilot controlling throttle, brakes and steering, with lane changes performed with a simple flick of the indicator stalk. It can also find its own parking spaces, though legal hurdles confine that talent to private property at the moment.

Perhaps the P85D’s most amazing feature, though, even more so than its incredible acceleration, is its ability to sync with your calendar, check prevailing traffic conditions to find out your commute length, then turn on the climate control, open the garage door and meet you at the kerb at the appropriate time.

The Tesla Model S may take car connectivity to new heights, but ever the showman, Musk knows that there’s no better way to stir the imaginations of Tesla fence sitters than to conjure a hulking alpha male performance version.

How will the psychological landscape shift when the RS, M and AMG owners of the world realise that when a Model S P85D rolls up at the lights, they haven’t got a hope? Brace yourselves, because the quickest-accelerating sedan in the world isn’t German any more, it’s from California.

Engine front and rear electric motors
Power / 515kW
Torque / 931Nm
Weight /2239kg
0-100km/h3.4sec (claimed)
Price / $133,500