Detroit: Tesla Motors says a new version of the Model S electric car is the quickest production car in the world from zero to 60 miles per hour. The company says the Model S P100D sedan can go from stopped to 60 in 2.5 seconds.
The LaFerrari and the Porsche 918 Spyder with gas engines were faster, but they were million-dollar specialty cars that can no longer be bought new, CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday.
The new P100D has a new 100 kilowatt-hour battery pack that extends the car's range to about 315 miles. The top range of the previous Model S was 294 miles. The new battery also is available on the Model X SUV.
Musk says the battery cell chemistry is the same but Tesla had to reconfigure the battery pack to store more energy in the same space and handle increased cooling requirements.
New customers can pay $10,000 for the larger battery pack. Existing owners must pay $20,000 because their existing batteries must be recycled. The Model S P100D starts at $134,500, while the Model X P100D starts at $135,500. The SUV will be able to go from zero to 60 in 2.9 seconds.
