Electric car manufacturer Tesla will officially launch its Model S sedan this Friday, but the EPA efficiency estimates for the version bearing the biggest-available 85 kilowatt-hour battery are out.
The news is good and bad. With a 265-mile range, the second-to-sell Tesla can drive farther than, say, a Nissan Leaf by more than double. Exhausting that range is also likely to be a pleasant experience, but here’s the bad news. As nice as it would be to have an electric car with such ambitious range, those numbers are only true for the most expensive battery, which pushes the price into six-figure territory.
Opting for the smaller battery options will decrease how far you’re going to travel on a single charge which makes the Model S’ MPGe rating more obvious. It’s certainly nothing to scoff at, but the EPA estimates 89 MPGe which puts it almost at the back of the pack, only besting the CODA which gets 73. Most of the competition hovers around the 100 MPGe mark, while the Mitsubishi i MiEV can brag a top-tier 112.
Then again, there aren’t any other cars like the Model S, so it’s not really a fair comparison. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that a well-appointed luxury sedan will use more power to move than then tiny Mitsubishi. Given the Tesla’s 350-hp electric motor powering the rear wheels, the car sits in a class all its own – for now.