Test-Driving Tesla Motors's Super-Fast Model S

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It’s actually kind of eerie that something can go this fast and make such little racket. On the whole, the car is a total delight.

Ashlee Vance - BUSINESSWEEK - July 10, 2012

So far, Tesla Motors (TSLA) has delivered 10 of its Model S, all-electric sedans. Last week, I managed to find one of these beasts out in the wild. It belongs to Konstantin Othmer, an easygoing engineer-cum-entrepreneur, who let me take the wheel of his new toy.

The standard Model S starts around $50,000 and will start shipping in the coming weeks. Othmer does not have a standard Model S. Rather, he has one of the super-high-end Model S Signature cars that just started rolling out of Tesla’s Silicon Valley factory in the last couple of weeks. With some extra add-ons and a luscious red paint job, Othmer’s car went for about $130,000. For that much money, you get a car that seats seven people (if a couple of them are small children) and has enough juice to go 300 miles on the highway and 0 to 60 in 4.4 seconds.... [Read More]