Spring Clean Motoring Part 3: The Future's Bright With Tesla Lighting The Way

It’s not long to go until the EVOLUTION Motor Show charges once more to Ingliston, whisking countless delighted patrons around the Royal Highland Centre’s on-site test track in all manner of eco-themed vehicles. One of this year’s most exciting cars on display comes from a company that, up until 8 years ago, didn’t even build cars.

Tesla have just taken over 325,000 pre-orders for their newest offering, even though right now it’s little more than a concept. The Model 3 aims to bring technology from Tesla’s current lineup of uber-futuristic swish-mobiles, which includes the Model S and the soon-to-hit-UK-roads Model X SUV, and deliver on a platform closer in size to a BMW 3-series.

The Model 3 brings high-end leccy-tech to a wider market

That’s dangerous territory. The 3-series has been the undisputed king of its segment for 41 years, pretty much carving the template for all mid-size sports saloons since. Buoyed along by the public’s near-absolute trust of German build quality and virtually unwavering brand loyalty, how will the Tesla fare when put up against the distilled and refined Ultimate Driving Machine?

To get a feel for where the company was at just before it’s biggest launch to date, I dropped in to Tesla’s new showroom on Multrees Walk in Edinburgh. Appearing right at home nestled amongst the fashion boutiques and single-brand jewellery stores either side of it, Tesla have shirked the traditional car dealership model of out-of-town industrial estates, instead opting for eyes-on visibility, building a brand in a similar way to Apple, where product exposure is everything.

New approach: Tesla's dealership looks like it might sell shoes

Taking pride of place in the showroom is a bare-bones chassis from the Model S, showing off the innovative, twin-motor drivetrain and battery packs, all very low to the floor. With Elon Musk having declared Tesla’s technology free to the world to use and learn from, secrecy is not an issue here. Also on display are the car’s mighty adaptive air suspension arms,, which help maintain a level ride and pitch the car into corners, or lift the nose – not quite west coast rapper style – to clear bumps.

Seated behind the wheel (of a fully dressed car) the Model S feels like it was designed from the ground-up as a product seated firmly for the 21^st century – and I suppose it was. From little details like the door handles doubling as a pocket for your mobile phone, to the giant, iPad-dwarfing central control screen, incorporating clever sat-nav to help you navigate the car's useful 250 mile range between charges on longer journeys, the interface for which mimics the ease of use of modern smartphones. This car has the future in its sights – and that's all besides the sheer connectivity of the thing.  

 

Tesla have nothing to hide, flaunting their twin-motor setup

Another feature shared by the Model S and today’s raft of super-sleek smartphones is the ability to receive updates and fixes over the air. Using it’s own internet connection, the car feeds data back to Tesla HQ in California, where information from cars all round the world is compiled to see how the various systems, including the car’s auto-pilot mega-brain – more on that later - are coping in real world conditions. From here, system updates can be released, which the car will download and install entirely by itself.

On the road, the mighty tesla feels ethereal.  I’ve felt smoothness in big, executive Jags, Mercs, Audis and BMWs before, but nothing comes close to the way the Tesla glides from place to place. The self-levelling suspension adds an air of floating, untroubled by ancient constructs like the ground. In fact, the only thing that demonstrated the limits of the air suspension’s capabilities on my passenger run in a full-fat P90D was the car’s incredible surge of power, as the combined 762bhp output from the twin-motor set up silently bullys the horizon closer.

It’s not so much the power itself that surprises, rather the delivery – the way it erupts all of a sudden, without noise or any of that calamity. It simply goes. One minute you’re quietly cruising along, the next you’re bending physics. 0-62mph in 2.7 seconds surprises in a car that makes next to no noise at all. You could buy a P90D and offer a sideline as a chiropractor, using the G-forces this car develops off the mark to realign your passengers spine.

 

Sleek lines hint at the Model S's sporting prowess

Power is split between the front and rear electric motors – the front 259bhp for efficiency through the front wheels, with the 503bhp rear motor focused more towards high performance. This gives a rear power bias, the two motors working together to give the Model S astounding levels of grip whilst still handling in a sporty manner.

By no stretch of the imagination is the Model S a stripped-out sports car. Its weight is masked well by the suspension trickery, but it still tips the scales at 2,200kg. Most of this weight is down to the battery pack, an issue faced by all electric cars. Tesla do well to pack the batteries into the floor, keeping the centre of gravity as low as possible, but all that weight is still there, and centrifugal force is a harsh mistress.

Another two tricks up the Tesla's sleeve are it's hidden extra row
of seats in the boot - passengers' noses will take a bashing

That being said, you’d be hard pressed to find a more comprehensive car package than a well-specced Model S P90D. All at once it manages to be, a supercar, a sports saloon, a comfortable limousine, a tablet computer, a fashion item, a 7-seat people mover, a twin-booted grand tourer, a personal chauffeur - all whilst still saving the world, one charge at a time.

With the lack of any kind of noise, it would be easy to rest ones foot on the throttle and not register the car gently accelerating until you arrive at a traffic light doing 155mph, but that’s where features like Tesla’s auto-pilot system come in. This combines radar-guided cruise control with lane recognition technology, aided by a whole host of sensors and processors, to effectively allow the car to drive itself. The driver becomes accessory as the computers take over to gently guide you to your destination.

The Model S's giant centre screen serves all manner of purposes

Initial doubts about trusting the system fall by the wayside when you actually try it, as if the sensors latch on to a manual car, the system is so precise that you can feel every little gear change from the leading driver. Of course, the option is always there to take the helm and breeze along some B-roads, but for everyday trips and the tedium of creeping through traffic, the Tesla can pick up the slack.

  

The Model S is the only model Tesla currently sell in the UK, with the Model X joining it later this year. Tesla are bringing it along to the Royal Highland Centre this weekend, where car fans will be able to get up close with this high-end embodiment of what an electric car can be. It’s fascinating to think that, if Tesla sticks to it’s current trajectory, within the decade we could be seeing similar levels of connectivity and electric drivetrain technology in B- and C-segment cars.

The Model 3 is nothing if not a clear statement of intent from Tesla to make this technology more and more available in mass-produced cars. Whilst BMW won't quite be shaking in it's boots yet, Tesla have definitely given them something to think seriously about over the next few years.

It's popularity proves, as Elon Musk elucidates here, that Tesla's business model is working and it's only a matter of time before we're all quietly swooshing around, being excellently productive as our dashboard butlers find and navigate the best route through rush hour traffic, all whilst producing no emissions whatsoever. Come and discover the future of electric car tech at the Evolution motor show, on Saturday 16^th April at the Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston.

The Model S - showing there can be a bright, green future
in electric motoring that doesn't have to mean comprimise