Return, the figurehead of the American brand displays an excessive power to fold at the Doxa of traditional supercars
by Jean-Michel Normand
The model s is back. Appeared in 2012, the one who made Tesla known to the general public had left the catalog for two years, which is quite unusual for a manufacturer. Called to become a figurehead, this car was designed to cross a level in terms of performance, sophistication, but also price, even if it means paying in excess and risking trivialization.
The new Tesla is not affected by the recent drops in prices announced by the manufacturer. It’s quite the opposite ; The range starts at 113,990 euros or 19,000 euros more than the first generation and culminates from 138,900 euros with the Plaid version, which presents itself as the car of all superlatives. “The best car in the world”, proclaims the American manufacturer, whose modesty has never been the strong point. The model is associated by landing them all the ingredients of what makes Tesla culture: technological virtuosity, a fairly amazing sense of innovation, but also a quest for sometimes confusing originality. She adds a certain propensity to pay in the absurd.
Let’s start with the absurd. The Model S undertook to tackle the thermal supercars designed by Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini or Mercedes AMG. Much more expensive cars, whose accelerations impress the new millionaires which retreat to nothing to offer them. In its configuration Plaid (Private Joke derived from Spaceballs, a parodic film cult of 1987 dear to Californian geeks), it does not deliver less than 1,020 horsepower for a maximum speed of 322 kilometers-hour. This disproportionate power, displayed as we would agitate a rattle, is not only an aberration and a good deal for tire sellers. 2>
unpleasant feeling, even physically unbearable
This kind of flight forward is a dealership made to the doxa of traditional luxury brands that assess the fascination that a car can exercise in the number of horses that stick under the hood. Tesla is therefore not such a disruptive manufacturer as one might think, and Elon Musk can announce by bombing the chest has managed to pass an anvil weighing 2.1 tonnes from 0 to 100 kilometers-hour in just 2.1 seconds. Unless you have dreamed of becoming Rafale pilot, the feeling of acceleration is perfectly unpleasant, even physically unbearable.
This race for power – and weight – creates a risk of trivialization, especially as with an electric motor and a large battery, reaching such a level of performance is actually not so complicated. The first generation of the Model S had already undertaken to roll mechanics, but in lower proportions. This time, three engines were used (one at the front, two at the rear) and the axles were reinforced to tolerate the Dantesque couple delivered on the four wheels. The 600 kilometers of theoretical autonomy are likely to melt very quickly if you have a little heavy foot on the accelerator, and you should not consider adjust the level of energy recovery to deceleration, determined once and for all by the manufacturer.
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