Motor Trend, the US automobile magazine, was recently loaned a Tesla Model S electric vehicle in order to put it to the test, and determine if it is worthy of the wonderful claims that Tesla make of it.
The Tesla Model S with the large battery was designed to cure any fears over range, and the guys at Motor Trend decided to drive it from LA to Las Vegas on one charge in order to assess the new improved range.
The EPA suggest that the Tesla Model S will get an estimated range of 265 miles per charge, whereas Tesla claim it will do 300 miles.
Nervous that the car may not quite make it, despite the fact that the trip was only 212 miles in length, they decided to keep speeds low, cruising at about 65mph, and keeping the air conditioning off, despite the scorching temperatures.
Only once they neared the end of the journey, with plenty of range still showing on the dash, they decided to crank up the air con and travel in relative comfort.
They arrived in Las Vegas having used 60.6 kilowatt hours of energy, the equivalent of about 1.8 gallons of gasoline, and giving them an average of 118mpg.
Once they arrived they still had a range of 74 miles showing, which led them to wonder if they could have traded that 74 miles for 112 miles of air conditioning.
So, the Tesla made the trip with ease, although it would be more useful, and more realistic, to have done the trip at normal cruising speeds with the air-con on. Maybe that could be the next test.
By. Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More