Frankfurt 2013: Tesla Model S
Not new, not relevant, but one of the best cars at the show
By Shahzad Sheikh
This is not new, and it’s not coming to our region – this all-electric car probably wouldn’t work here anywhere – but it was my first opportunity to look at one up close and I was very impressed with how this has been thought-out and executed. So bear with me for a moment.
This is something of a phenomenon in the US right now, and when you see one it doesn’t take long to figure out why.
It’s not just that it’s a handsome saloon that seems to draw on styling cues established by Jaguar for the XF.
But it’s also superbly finished, like it’s been done by a proper manufacturer.
But that’s not all, there is an incredible amount of room inside resulting from the batteries being mounted flat beneath the entire floor panel and which can be dropped out and changed for a fully charged set.
This means there is no central tunnel – the compact motors are mounted almost in the wheels themselves. So there’s a boot up front, and even a pretty decent sized cargo space under the hatch at the back.
Not only that, but two rear facing seats with five-point harnesses can be flipped out for occassional use by small adults or children.
Everthing inside is digital including the entire instrument panel, and there’s a massive TV screen placed vertically in the middle of the dashboard that controls everything.
It’s a stretch but I do hope we’ll see this in our region sometime soon, it’s a very clever car indeed and one of my favourites of the show.
