Tesla Model S is a “Car of the Year”
Motor Trend magazine has named the Tesla Model S it’s Car of the Year. The magazine’s staff selected the all-electric plug-in luxury car out of a field of 11 finalists that included models such as the Ford Fusion, Porsche 911 and Hyundai Azera.
It is the first time the magazine’s Car of the Year award has ever gone to an all-electric car.
Just being electric wasn’t enough to earn the Model S the prize, though.
Ed Loh, Motor Trend’s editor-in-chief on Monday said that (with eleven finalists) it was a strong field this year. But in the end there was no question about who the winner was. “The vehicles that placed second and third didn’t get more than three
votes. But it was a unanimous decision for the Tesla Model S.”
“At its core, the Tesla Model S is simply a damned good car you happen to plug in to refuel” – editor-at-large Angus MacKenzie wrote in an article about the award.
Motor Trend calls the Model S “as smoothly effortless as a Rolls-Royce” to drive fast while having the cargo and passenger capacity of an SUV.
Tesla Model S.
The 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year has all the features you’d expect from a vehicle that has earned that honor. It has a light body, advanced design, a roomy cabin, and plenty of load capacity. What the Tesla Model S doesn’t have is an internal combustion engine.
Motor Trend heaps praise on the Model S, saying it drives like a sports car and sashays like a supermodel working a Paris catwalk. I never thought about a car being able to sashay, but it’s certainly an evocative comparison.
This all-electric supermodel starts at 58.570 dollars and has a range of 265 miles. That’s not enough for a cross-country road trip, though a new network of Supercharger fast charging stations could make it more practical for long journeys.
We’ve come a long way since Cadillac took home the honors for the first Motor Trend Car of the Year back in 1949. That behemoth sported a honking V8 engine and enough chrome to blot out the sun.
I just broke the news of Tesla’s win to Harvey, my 2008 Prius. He took it pretty well. You might recall how Prius grabbed the Car of the Year award for 2004. In car years, that’s nearly a lifetime. The gas/electric hybrid is starting to look kind of old school next to the sleek all-electric Model S.
The super-stylish, super-sporty, and super-green Tesla Model S sedan is this year’s Motor Trend Car of the Year, the automotive magazine announced this week.
The selection of an all-electric vehicle as Car of the Year is a first for Motor Trend and Tesla’s Model S beat out other finalists such as the Porsche Boxster, BMW 3-series, Lexus GS, and Subaru BRZ, Tesla Motors said.
Motor Trend said Tesla faced tough competition in the selection process but in the end, only the Model S was a unanimous selection for the honor by all participating judges.
The award could prove the capper on a stunning year for Tesla and especially for its high-profile chairman and CEO, Elon Musk. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based automaker began delivering Model S vehicles to customers in June, with the new luxury sedan quickly building on the excitement generated by the company’s first available all-electric, plug-in automobile, the original Tesla Roadster.
Musk, meanwhile, is also co-founder and CEO of SpaceX, the aerospace venture that this year became the first private company to successfully orchestrate a supply run to the International Space Station using its own rocket and capsule. SpaceX has been contracted by NASA to make a dozen supply runs to the ISS in the next few years.
The Model S is a four-door, full-size luxury sedan with rear-wheel drive and a rear-positioned three-phase AC induction motor. The base model, currently being manufactured in Fremont, Calif., sports a 40 kW-h battery pack, can travel up to 160 miles on a single charge, and starts at 58.570 dollars. Tesla also released about 1.000 limited-edition Signature and Signature Performance Model S sedans with an 85 kWh battery pack good for between 265 and 300 miles on one charge, priced at 95.400 dollars and 105.400 dollars, respectively.