Tesla Model S P85+ review, test drive

With 310kW or 416bhp powering the rear wheels, the Tesla is seriously quick for a sedan with a claimed 0-100kph acceleration time of 4.2 seconds. But it’s the way the power is delivered that is sheer genius. The tidal wave of electric performance is instant, easy-to-modulate and perfectly linear. The low-end response, mid-range and top-end feel almost similar. There’s no peakiness, turbo-lag or any of the ails of an internal combustion, which allows you to precisely meter out the Tesla’s shattering pace. That it goes about delivering super-car busting performance so noiselessly is eerily thrilling. The Tesla doesn’t feel like anything I’ve driven before.

If there is something ordinary about the Tesla it’s the driving dynamics. It neither rides nor handles brilliantly and the air suspension seems to have limited travel, which gets used on the less-than-perfect roads in rural Britain.

The true test of any EV is the range and the Tesla boasts 402km on a single charge which I bravely tested on a 394km round trip from London to the southern end of the Isle of Wight. There are several ways to charge a Tesla. The fastest is by using dedicated Tesla superchargers which will pump half a charge in 20 minutes, but the network is small and there’s only one such outlet in London. The high-output chargers in the Haymarket office can ‘tank’ your Tesla up in about 8 hours, whilst the good old 15amp home socket will recharge your battery at a more relaxed rate.