Yesterday in a Melbourne Airport hanger, Tesla Australia gave press and owners, the chance to experience the all wheel drive version of the Model S. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to the event, yep one of those times you really hate your calendar. The guys over at Car Advice did attend and have posted about their hands-on experience.
The P85D is the most powerful version of the Model S and has that crazy ‘Insane’ mode. The performance of this car is just plain crazy, mashing the right pedal will send you to 100 km/h in just 3.3 seconds. The front electric motor is good for 193 kW and the rear is 375 kW which combine to shoot the P85D to a top speed of 250 km/h.
The interesting thing about Tesla’s implementation of an all-wheel drive system is that it is completely dynamic. Tesla founder Elon Musk said at the launch of the P85D, that it’s like a digital system, whereas conventional AWD vehicles are like an analog setup. This is because on the Model S, the software is doing the job and can shift the power delivery between the front and rear at less than a millisecond.
The price of the Model S varies considerably per state, . ACT is the cheapest at a very decent, $206,704 up to the most expensive in WA costing A$219,707. Unfortunately this future leaning vehicle attracts Australia’s luxury car tax, making up $30,067 of the price.
If you’ve got plenty of spare change under the mattress, and have a need for speed that just won’t quit, there’s an option you should consider. To turn your P85D into a P90D, you’ll pickup the range upgrade for an additional A$4,300. To upgrade your ‘insane’ power mode to a ‘ludicrous’ mode and bring the 0-100 time down to 3.0 seconds, you’ll pay another A$14,300.
If money is no object, throw in the Autopilot, premium interior and lighting, smart air suspension, ultra high fidelity sound, and snow pack, you’ll transfer between A$230,105 – A$244,629 depending on which state you live in.
2016 Tesla Model S dual-motor range launches in Australia : P85D with ‘Ludicrous… http://t.co/GBHmun4Yc0 pic.twitter.com/xc6NLfgr6F
— Car News Magazine (@carnewsm) August 11, 2015
The car was shown off in October 2014, so it’s great to see it making it’s way to Australia. Despite Simon Hackett expecting his in August, deliveries will start December.
More information and to get yours, head over to Tesla Australia.
