Tesla Model S Gets Faster, Adds New Entry Level Trim
In an announcement both logical and “ludicrous,” Tesla has knocked $5,000 off the starting price of its all-electric Model S sedan, and added two options that extend the car’s range and ensure that it will fly out of dealerships quicker than ever.
Starting in late August, according to the Tesla web site, the base Model S 70 will be available with rear-wheel drive for $71,200 (all prices cited are before incentives but include a destination charge), a savings of $5,000 over the existing all-wheel-drive version.
Related: 2015 Tesla Model S P85D: First Drive
On the other end of the spectrum, buyers of the top trim level, the P85D, can add a Ludicrous Speed Upgrade (we’re not making that up) that Tesla says will allow the car to do zero-to-60 mph in just 2.8 seconds, which is an improvement of 0.3 seconds over the regular P85D set in its Insane mode (that one either).
The Ludicrous option costs $10,000 on top of the car’s $106,200 starting price, but going Ludicrous also requires the new $3,000 Range Upgrade option, which ups the size of the P85D’s battery pack from 85 kilowatt-hours to 90 kWh, increasing range by 5%, according to Tesla. The total for this version, which could reasonably be called a P90D to reflect its larger battery, would be $119,200.
Current P85D owners are eligible for the Ludicrous option at a discounted $5,000.
The Range Upgrade, available independently, would add about 12.5 miles of range to the P85D’s EPA-estimated 253 miles. Also available on the Model S 85D, which has a longer estimated range of 270 miles (265 miles for the rear-drive 85), the option should add more than 13 miles.
While $71,200 is still a long way from the affordable, mass-market car Tesla has promised, it does put the Model S in closer reach for people who don’t need all-wheel drive – though it knocks the estimated range down from 240 to 230 miles. Unlike gas and diesel cars in which all-wheel drive adds weight and lowers efficiency and range, having one drive motor/generator rather than the two employed by Tesla’s all-wheel drive translates to less energy regenerated through braking in the electric Model S.
As for paying five figures to get a car that’s a few tenths of a second faster to 60 mph, Tesla buyers will be as mainstream as they come. Many gas-powered-car buyers make that decision every single day.
