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Tesla Model S P85D: The D is like nothing else on the road

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Certain experiences promise a thrill: roller coasters, free fall, love. Add The D to the list.

Tesla’s Model S P85D, the all-wheel-drive variant of the all-electric Model S, is like no other car on the road. I say this without hyperbole or overstatement. The D goes 0-60 mph in 3.2 seconds, making it the fastest production model sedan ever built. It fits five comfortably, with more cargo room than most crossovers. It burns no gas. It has an Insane Mode. It is earned.

With twin motors mounted on each axle, the full-size sedan hits 60 mph before you can check the rear view for your guts. The D shoves you back in your seat while lifting you up, creating a sensation like the tickle induced from reaching the apex of a swing. Except this is linear, the torque is instantaneous and you are traveling at the speed of ohmygod.

In the three days I drove it, the thrill never waned. It is as much from the speed as from the lack of everything that should come with it: no gear changes, no engine roar; instead, a jarring silence and a beguiling smoothness.

My 7-year-old daughter thought she peed her pants; my 8-year-old son likened it to a roller coaster. Every time the throttle was opened in Insane Mode, they squealed with delight.

That’s a lie; it was me.

Once was enough for them.

Not for a lack of safety. The D offers full confidence, unlike two-seat rockets with whipsaw rear ends or rear-wheel-drive horsepower beasts best driven by a pro.

The D builds off the same structure that earned the P85 a five-star safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The massive 85 kWh battery pack is at the bottom of the car extended between the axles, giving it a low center of gravity and even better balance than mid-engine mounted cars. Even though there is a sense of takeoff with an open throttle, the 5,000-pound sedan stays low.

Considering that it is heavier than the largest 2015 Ford F-150 AWD pickup (the 3.5-L EcoBoost V-6 4×4 Supercrew with the 6.5-foot box tops out at a curb weight of 4,984 pounds), which is also made of aluminum, the acceleration is even more remarkable.

It is a full second faster than the rear-wheel-drive P85, which is no slouch. The all-electric power means max torque is available at every point until the 155 mph top speed.

The 400-pound increase in weight over the P85 comes from the all-wheel-drive system, which also adds $34,600 to the price tag. Yes, the cost of another car. Sounds insane until you drive it.

Power is distributed to two motors in what Tesla calls a big/little configuration: the rear motor generates 443 pound-feet of torque, while the front motor makes 243, bringing total output to 686 pound-feet of torque. And 691 horsepower. The torque is controlled digitally and independently on each axle, with instantaneous response for precise traction. There is a slip control button that essentially engages a locking differential that delivers power to the wheel or wheels with the most traction. In short, it keeps you from getting stuck, helps you get unstuck. We drove in snow, on ice and thanks to the highest suspension setting, we were able to drive on an iced-over lake.

The D can satisfy nearly every desire for an everyday driver: family sedan, sports rocket, all-weather confidence, top safety rating and the most user-friendly interface on the market.

Consider that Tesla was founded in 2003 and the first Model S prototype debuted in 2009 with initial delivery of 2012. In a little over a decade of research and development, Tesla has accomplished with The D what automakers have been unable to do in over a century of development of the internal combustion engine.

For all its product delays and sensationalized stock price fluctuations, Tesla is revolutionizing the industry.

“Having Tesla there is a really good thing,” said Alan Batey, president of North America at General Motors. “It pushes the engineers.”

GM was there first in the ’90s with the ill-fated EV1 but has returned to the forefront of the electrification of vehicles. Launched in 2010 at the same time as the all-electric Nissan Leaf, the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid has been redesigned for 2016, extending its all-electric range to 50 miles, and trying to shake the Leaf from its best-selling perch.

Sales of the 83-mile-range Leaf have grown every year, including 2014, when Nissan sold over 30,000 units. Tesla may be the first to zap Nissan’s leafy crown.

GM is trying to wedge its way between them both. GM announced before the Chicago Auto Show that it would begin production of the all-new, all-electric Chevy Bolt for 2018. The tentatively-titled Bolt would start in the same $30,000 price range (after tax rebates and credits) as the Volt and the Leaf, except it would have a Tesla-like range of 200 miles.

The Model S can go up to 265 miles, depending on the battery size, but the sticker starts in the mid-$70s.

While 200 miles is believed to be the sweet spot for consumers to overcome range anxiety and embrace electric cars, affordability is key to consumers actually buying them.

But Tesla doesn’t see the Bolt or the Leaf as competition.

“Competition for us is internal combustion engines,” Ricardo Reyes, VP of communications for Tesla, explained at the North American International Auto Show in January. “Our objective from the very very beginning is to accelerate the adoption of alternatively fueled vehicles.”

So what’s good for plug-in cars is good for Tesla.

“We never thought we could do this alone,” Reyes said.

They’re not. Over 30 plug-in models will hit the market in 2015, led by German automakers. Mercedes-Benz is launching roughly three plug-in vehicles annually to get to 12 total by 2018. In a shift from its diesel strategy, Volkswagen announced plans to sell 20 plug-in models in China, where air quality is awful. Some, like the e-Golf, are launching in the U.S. as well.

Tesla is planning to roll out an affordable 200-mile range vehicle called the Model III by 2017, but Tesla is known for revolutionary innovation as much as the technological delays that come with it. The Model X, a luxury crossover that will be 5 to 10 percent more expensive than the S, is expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2015, nearly two years after initial production plans.

Tesla’s highly anticipated third and fourth models have resulted in highly publicized delays.

“Our motivation right now is we are a research and development shop,” said Reyes. “We put our products on the road way quicker than anyone else.”

It could be argued. The industry average is about five years, and Tesla is well within that average.

Tesla has been called a technology company that makes cars. As such, it’s had bugs, glitches and, dare I say, a recall or two. This is not a phrase founder and CEO Elon Musk likes. In one case, new home charger kits had to be sent out to the 200 of 35,000 owners who had a short in their plug. In another, much more sensationalized duo of cases, road debris pierced the battery pack at the bottom of the car and the cars caught fire. The system warned the driver before, and both drivers walked away not only unhurt but eager to get back into their warranty-covered Model S. Tesla fixed the problem by adding a titanium underplate standard on all new models and issuing a software update to raise the suspension on the old ones. This is not what we know as the tedious inconvenience of a recall. All that was needed was an Internet connection.

In fact, 31 software updates have been issued since 2012.

The technology, more so than the performance, may be the biggest appeal of the Model S, even in the case of the insane D.

“The all-wheel-drive isn’t what I’d want,” says Mark Sami, an IT consultant in the Loop who owned a BMW 6-series before buying his Model S P85. “It’s the autopilot.”

Autopilot uses cameras, radar and sonar sensors with real-time traffic updates to enable it to drive itself and park itself. This self-driving car feature is part of a tech package for $4,250.

“Every car I’ve owned I purchased because of its tech prowess, and when I tested this car it blew my mind,” says Meena Barsoum, a dentist from Chicago who logs 20,000 miles a year in his P85 by commuting to his practice in Arlington Heights. “It functions like how you would expect technology in the 21st century to function.”

Getting regular software updates from a smartphone is expected; for a luxury car, there is a different set of expectations.

“There is a little bit of a letdown when seven to eight months into ownership, now there’s a P85D with new seats and all the kinds of stuff you wish you had,” Barsoum says.

Neither Barsoum or Sami ever considered themselves EV owners, but now neither one can imagine driving anything other than a Tesla.

For Barsoum and his wife, the range enabled them to maintain a one-car household in the city.

But the updates are what keeps Tesla owners satisfied. Sami and Barsoum, who are childhood friends, were pleased that their rearview cameras got backup guidelines in a software update three weeks before our meeting.

“The challenge is keeping the original owners satisfied by constantly helping improve their cars,” Barsoum says.

A big challenge indeed. After initially giving the Model S the highest rankings in its venerated history, Consumer Reports had questions about the technological reliability in its Model S. The 17- by 11-inch touch screen, which is the nerve center of the tech and what you use to do everything from climate and audio controls to popping the trunk or switching from Sport to Insane Mode (in The D), went blank. A hard reset was issued, and the car was fine.

As for The D, the technology of the user interface is above and beyond the best on the market, with voice commands that are nearly flawless. To expect that other automakers can’t offer this level of sophistication because it would alienate or intimidate a wide swath of consumers is faulty; if automakers made systems this intuitive and easy to learn, consumers just might embrace them.

One minor complaint is that you have to hold down the voice command button while talking, but it also increases fidelity over the call and ping systems of less evolved vehicles.

If I’m going to be that critical, I’ll add that it’s disappointing that the back seats don’t have climate control or seat adjustment functions like those in other luxury sedans. Especially in a car that costs $133,320. Such is the trade-off for Recaro race-inspired seats.

Otherwise, The D is a peerless thrilling machine with widespread capabilities. Or, as the 8-year-old put it: “It’s like a race car that’s also a family car.”

As long as he’s buying.

rduffer@tribpub.com

Tesla Model S P85D ‘The D’

Performance sedan

As tested: $133,320

Base model: $69,900

Motor: Twin motor powered by 85 kWh battery pack

Transmission: All-wheel drive system

Range (INSTEAD OF MPG): 250 miles

Parting shot: “The D” is like nothing else on the road.