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For two decades Cadillac and Lincoln have struggled to catch up with the Teutonic Threesome of BMW, Mercedes, and BMW. With its first sedan, Tesla has not only caught the Germans, it has forced them to respond with their own e-vehicles. The\u00a0top-of-the-line, Model S P90D I drove this fall<\/a>\u00a0has BMW good looks, Mercedes room, Audi-like AWD \u2014 with the performance of a Porsche 911 Turbo thrown in for good measure.<\/p>\n Oh, yeah. And it\u2019s Made in America in Fremont, California.<\/p>\n Tesla\u2019s secret is that it went back to the automotive drawing board. Built a new car from the ground up. Where Detroit manufacturers tweaked existing gas-engine platforms to create electric vehicles, Tesla re-imagined the automobile as an electronic product. An iAuto for the iPhone age. As Teslaphiles like to say: \u201cElon Musk didn\u2019t set out to make the best luxury electric car, he set out to make the best car.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cadillac ELR is a luxe plug-in built on GM\u2019s compact Delta II platform. A Chevy Volt in a tux. The Model S is an all-new chassis built for floor-mounted lithium-ion batteries, passenger seating for up to seven, and the acceleration of a Lamborghini Murci\u00e9lago.<\/p>\n Before we go any further, dear readers, let\u2019s address the elephant in the room: Tesla is a wedge issue.<\/p>\n Whenever I write about Musk\u2019s company, the comments section erupts in hand-to-hand combat about Tesla\u2019s, um, cozy ties to Washington. Fashionably green, Tesla scored $465 million in taxpayer loans and $7,500 in subsidies for each of its wealthy customers. You didn\u2019t volunteer to fund Musk\u2019s startup with a Kickstarter contribution and a promise of some Model S swag. It came out of your tax bill. Tesla even compromised Consumer Reports, which got so drunk on green Kool-Aid it gave the Model S a super-perfect grade of 103 even as Tesla flunked Reliability 101. Huh?<\/p>\n Politics, politics, politics. Musk would be wise to separate car and state. If it had earned its stripes the hard way like Ford\u2019s Model T, the Model S would get more respect.<\/p>\n Because let\u2019s face it, Musk-haters, the S is one of the best cars ever made.<\/p>\n Take\u00a0my $139,700 P90D<\/a>, a performance upgrade of the Model S in the spirit of BMW\u2019s M or Audi\u2019s S badges. After piloting one for a day, you don\u2019t want to drive anything else. It\u2019s like returning to your old flip phone after the first time you used an iPhone. Ho hum.<\/p>\n But of course, you say, any car that costs north of $100K is gold. The gorgeous Audi S7, roomy, Merc S-class, techy BMW i8, ferocious Porsche 911 Turbo. But the thing about the Model S \u2014 like the smartphone \u2014 is it does everything well. It\u2019s gorgeous, palatial, high-tech, and blindingly quick. It\u2019s a S7-S-Class-i811 Turbo. What other car on the planet can pick up a family of five and luggage at Detroit Metro \u2014 then snap off a three second 0-60 time at the first stoplight? Gas-free?<\/p>\n You\u2019ll want to warn the family first, though.<\/p>\n Unlike gas engine 0-60 sprints, the Tesla strikes quietly, violently. Prep a BMW M3 sedan in\u00a0launch mode requires<\/a>\u00a0a checklist before releasing the brake and storming off. It\u2019s exhilarating, loud, and a one-way ticket to the local sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n Not the stealthy P90D. Just stomp the gas \u2014 er, pedal. Like the base, rear-motor-driven P70, the e-acceleration is instant. Twice as instant. With another motor driving the front wheels and 20 more kWh in the battery pack, the P90D develops a shocking, 1.1 forward G-loads on its way to 60 mph in just 2.8 seconds. I feel a brief sensation of light-headedness.<\/p>\n They call it, appropriately, \u201cLudicrous\u201d mode.<\/p>\n I sought out a surgeon friend to explain my dizziness. My race car will build up a neck-taxing 2.2 side-Gs in a long sweeper, but what is an instant 1.1 forward-Gs doin\u2019 to my noggin,\u2019 doc? He explained my inner ear momentarily loses balance due to the sudden thrust. Good to know.<\/p>\n I invited Sean Maloney of Grosse Pointe \u2014 owner of a 2013 Model S P60 \u2014 to the P90D drag races. With theme park ride-like efficiency, we repeatedly stomped dizzying acceleration times. It was Cedar Point in Detroit. Sean also demonstrated the S\u2019s physics-defying athleticism.<\/p>\n On top of the already porky Model S, the P90D\u2019s extra motor and battery brings the scales to 4,950 pounds. That\u2019s the same weight as a Ford F-50 pickup. Yet unlike the F150 \u2013 or anything else for that matter \u2014 Tesla\u2019s design puts all its weight in the floor giving it the same center-of-gravity as a 2,465-pound, Scion FR-S.<\/p>\n Sean and I drove the Model S around I-94 cloverleafs like a sports car. That\u2019s not the way he commutes to Dearborn each morning, of course.<\/p>\n If driven with discipline, the S overcomes an electric car\u2019s inherent range anxiety. Tesla boasts 240 miles for the base Model S (270 for the P90D), but Maloney conservatively stays within a 160-mile radius \u2014 enough to get him to Lansing and back.<\/p>\n But push the envelope and the e-generation will bite. A Chicago friend pointed his Model S towards St. Louis at 80 mph on the freeway and soon feared he wouldn\u2019t make the first, Tesla-provided supercharging station along the way. Achieving 240-mile range means driving 65.<\/p>\n For all its performance bravado, the P90D doesn\u2019t have to be flogged to be enjoyed. Inside the hushed cabin, the 17-inch \u2014\u00a017-inch!<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 iPad console is a technical wonder featuring the latest Nvidia graphics chip that renders your route in glorious, Google Earth detail. Just as importantly, Tesla\u2019s digital instrument cluster displays the nav route in addition to mph, range, and music station, so you never have to take your eyes off the road.<\/p>\n The Model S\u00a0has its flaws<\/a>. Like\u00a0losing $4,000 per car<\/a>. And it\u2019s expensive, has limited range, and is reliability-challenged. Owners don\u2019t seem to sweat the reliability given the absurdly low operating costs. Consider a Savannah, Georgia pal who has put 15,276 miles on his S over two years while recharging during Georgia Power\u2019s off-peak rate of 1.3 cents\/kWh. That\u2019s a total re-fueling cost of just $65.85. Or the price of gassing up a Porsche Panamera. Once.<\/p>\n