Tesla’s S100D moves the company further along in their pursuit of longer driving ranges for EVs. Sales for the all-electric automotive manufacturing company have been brisk—up over 50% between 2015 and 2016—and Tesla’s continued model diversification into lower-priced and more efficient luxury cars reflects a confidence that their market share will continue to increase.
In the U.S., where the automobile is an all but essential form of personal transportation, single-charge operational range is a key selling point, more important to daily drivers than the time it takes to travel from 0-60. Enter the S100D, which can travel 351 miles on a full battery, but sacrifices a bit of launch speed for greater efficiency. The S 100D might not leave owners room for bragging rights when confronted with a neighbor’s P100D, but it’s less likely to leave them stranded on the side of the road.
The Tesla S models feature a dual motor system, which adjusts torque to front and rear wheels, for improved control and, also, greater efficiency. The S-model Tesla vehicles also feature adaptive lighting, which alters headlamp beam direction to compensate for turns and corners, and the Bio-Weapon Defense Mode, a filtration system which removes fine particulate and microbes from cabin air. Full self-driving hardware is available on the S 100D, as it is on all Tesla models.
Tesla is planning for a big future. The company’s press-heralded Gigafactory—a 5.8 million square-foot battery manufacturing facility—is designed to provide the power supplies for an expected Tesla sales explosion in the next decade. The factory will be up and running by 2018, and it will produce batteries for its lower-cost daily drivers, which it projects will see mid six-figure annual production.
As the company continues to expand its presence on American roads—and worldwide—it is also phasing out unlimited gratis access to Tesla Supercharger stations, which provide a quick charge to original owners of Tesla vehicles; according to the website, the S-models will take a Supercharger-charge in about six minutes, but from January 2017 onward, new owners of model S and X cars will be capped at about 1,000 miles’ worth of free charging annually.
