Fremont, California - Tesla says the latest version of its Model S electric car is the quickest production car in the world from zero to 100km/h.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Tuesday the Model S P100D sedan could hit 100 from standstilll in just 2.5 seconds. The LaFerrari and the Porsche 918 Spyder with combustion engines were faster, he conceded, but they were million-dollar specialty cars that could no longer be bought new.
The P100D has a new 100 kilowatt-hour battery pack that extends the car's range to about 500km; the maximum range of the previous Model S was 470km. the new battery would also be available for the Model X SUV, giving it a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of 2.9 seconds, he said.
Musk said the battery cell chemistry was the same but Tesla had reconfigured the battery pack to store more energy in the same space and handle increased cooling requirements.
New customers will pay $10 000 (R140 000) extra for the larger battery pack, while existing owners will have to pay $20 000 (R280 000) because their existing batteries must be recycled.
The Model S P100D starts at $134,500 (R1.88 million), while the Model X P100D starts at $135,500 (R1.9 million).
AP
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