Right wing media can scream all it wants. Electric cars are here to stay – an idea whose time has come again.
Roomy, zippy, and 250 + miles on a charge. Sure it’s expensive, but its half the cost of the first Tesla sports car. More consumer friendly models are coming.
And – yes, yes, yes, I get it – We’re too auto dependent – we need mass transit – more transportation options, not just fancier cars. But even if we could magically make the US as mass transit intense as Europe, (in reality, that is a multi-generational process) we’d still be driving a lot of cars – the auto is going to be with us for a long time. We might as well get it right.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Motor Trend magazine has named the Tesla Model S its Car of the Year. The magazine’s staff selected the all-electric plug-in luxury car out of a field of 11 finalists that included models such as the Ford Fusion, Porsche 911 and Hyundai Azera.
It is the first time the magazine’s Car of the Year award has ever gone to an all-electric car.
Just being electric wasn’t enough to earn the Model S the prize, though.
Ed Loh, Motor Trend’s editor-in-chief on Monday said that, with eleven finalists, it was a strong field this year. But in the end there was no question about who the winner was. “The vehicles that placed second and third didn’t get more than three votes. But it was a unanimous decision for the Tesla Model S.”
“At its core, the Tesla Model S is simply a damned good car you happen to plug in to refuel,” editor-at-large Angus MacKenzie wrote in an article about the award.
Motor Trend calls the Model S “as smoothly effortless as a Rolls-Royce” to drive fast while having the cargo and passenger capacity of an SUV.
Great news. That’s the third “Car of the Year” award I’ve heard about for the Model S. The other two being with Yahoo! and Automobile Magazine.
I would say that getting the seal of approval from Motor Trend is arguably the highest praise for the Model S.
Elon could sell a lot more if he could build them more quickly.
Here is another video by Consumer Reports on their initial test drive in the Model S.
They have yet to publish full test results,and there of course is no telling how the car will fare in reliability yet,but their initial impression looks good (except for the price of course):
http://youtu.be/VUEULCDkWYk
Twice in debates Mitt Romney referred to Tesla as a loser. Turns out one of them is a loser, but it’s not Tesla!