The
fine print, I do own a small amount of Tesla stock in a retirement
account. I own as I believe everyone should have access to a great
electric car, that is better than an internal combustion engine
(abbreviated as ICE in the rest of this article) car. I’ve
been behind the wheel of a few Teslas, an early 2013, a pair of
2014s, and now a 2014 P85D. Prior to 2014, I wasn’t 100% happy with
the performance of the Model S. It was fun, and great driving
experience but still something was missing. It couldn’t hold it’s
own in the curves compared to an ICE car. The way a Ferrari
develops torque and transfers to the wheels as horsepower
is familiar to most drivers even if it’s radically more intense
than your average car and is missing on the pre-2014 Model S. The
apparent center of gravity on the prior 2014 Model S was actually too
low, leaving the handling seeming eerily unnatural. When a pre-2014 S
in a straight-away accelerating, you’d hardly notice a
difference. However, when swiftly driving through the turns it’d
feel solid but as if something was off. It was as if your
lower body would surge forward carried by the car, while your head
took an extra fraction of a second to get there. I pushed
it a bit further on some harsh acceleration in a turn and it
responded by squawking.
In
late 2014 I was behind the wheel of a 2014 P85 (non-d). The
acceleration, when all battery saving modes are off, (regenerative
breaking set to low, sport mode enabled), was pure direct
acceleration. The slight under surge was gone, all of you, was just
left with the feeling of be connected to an electric motor, pure
torque, nothing in way, just unencumbered acceleration.
That drive was complete bliss. No more squawking, the 2014 Model S
felt like a more solid, faster version ICE car.
This
time, I was out to try out the recent D model. The P85D has been out
for a little over a year. I booked the P85D for three hours from
Getaround. Given the traffic and my inability to take it to a track
which is definitely excluded in my Getaround contract, I wasn’t
able to fully test the dual motor, unfortunately.
I
took the car to Panoramic Highway and back. Panoramic Highway is well
suited for driving. However, there are some road hazards such as slow
moving vehicles gawking at the gorgeous views and cyclists both of
which can seemingly appear from nowhere, due to the tight corners and
variable lighting from the forest canopy. I preceded quickly with
caution, all of which resulted in going not as fast as I’d had
hoped. On the earlier 2014 I was able to take some swift turns as the
road conditions were more clear. On the middle of a Sunday
afternoon, I wasn’t able to be sure the road was clear,
or would stay clear enough to allow to test for a
very fast acceleration. A true speed test will have to be saved for a
track.
Despite
being not fully stressed the car didn’t disappoint. On the few of
straight aways and curves I was able to fully go from very slow
(10-15 mph) to in 30s blindly fast. The acceleration to get there was
in, I’m guessing just under a second or around a second, given I
didn’t have all the sport modes enabled and I was driving
on a live road.
I
had it in normal regenerative braking mode, which
meant it wasn’t going to launch to speed the way it can. With
regenerative braking, the
moment one lets off the accelerator, the car starts to
regenerate power. Additionally, I had it in normal battery mode
for half the trip. On the way back I activated maximum battery
mode. It isn’t on by default and takes a short while to prime the
batteries to deliver maximum current.
For
those of you that haven’t seen or heard a Model S 'take off', when
the rear motor spins up, you hear a very audible whine
like to a small jet turbine. The
seats seem beefier than the early 2014, intact the entire car felt
heavier and stiffer over the early 2014. In low regenerative braking
mode, the 2014s (plain and D) still feel more fun than a F430. Yes,
that’s an opinion, I’ve arrived at the sheer absolute
responsiveness, acceleration and precision handling tested by taking
turns taken at speed.
Even
for electrics and previous models, it’s stiffer and heavier. In ICE
engines the weight and stiffness would cause the car to battle
inertia. When an ICE goes from a dead stop there’d be some
milliseconds delay then smooth increase to acceleration. With all
sport modes enabled, regen to low, and max. battery, both electric
engines launch you, and given the stiffness, you don’t feel any
jerking or lurching. A driving experience without the inertial battle
of the ICE engines, nor jerking, lurching or regen-braking
hesitation. Instead the P85D feels like the moment you step on
the accelerator, the car intuits your desired velocity and launches
to the correct velocity per moment.
I
stepped on the accelerator, and I was launched. The D intuited speed.
It was simply more immediate over any car including the older
2014 Model S P85. This held true under any condition, straight, flat,
uphill, downhill, or in a turn. Un****** unbelievable. Pure
acceleration. Absolutely velocity. True handling. I’ve had fun on a
track behind the wheel of an F430, I think if I could get the P85 to
a track I’d be astounded.
All
of this wants me to get a P85D and get a logger on the millisecond
scale to calc the acceleration and and force, and take it on a track.
Sigh, not enough time in the day.
The
funny part was the Getaround employee explained auto-pilot. I didn’t
engage the auto-pilot.
