Almost 60,000 miles travelled and nearly £40,000 off? Where do we start…
Whether you’re a fan of the current electric revolution or not, it’s here to stay. That’s not to say we should be mothballing our beloved petrol machines in favour of soulless, whirring automatons, though. Rather that we need to come to terms with the fact that, in the not-too-distant future, the notion of a combustion powered daily driver will be about as relevant as commuting to work by horse and cart.
Today, then, car manufacturers from Jaguar to Nissan and Volkswagen to Aston Martin have electric offerings in the pipeline, if not on sale already. But not all that long ago it looked like the industry’s major players would take considerably longer to enter the EV game. Then Tesla came along. Whatever you think of its mercurial leader, its manufacturing ability, or its long-term viability as a company, one thing is clear: in an era when industry ‘disruption’ is the Holy Grail, Tesla has been the automotive sector’s Indiana Jones.
In that case, the Model S is Indy’s trusty whip, the tool which enabled the company to force its far more powerful rivals to stand up and take notice. It’s come in various guises over the years, some more Ludicrous than others, but while today’s Spotted may not be the famed P100d which took YouTube drag videos by storm, it still offers plenty in the way of performance. That’s thanks to its dual electric motors, which send 700hp and 686lb ft of instantaneously-available torque to all four wheels, allowing the 0-60 sprint to be taken care of in just 3.2 seconds.
A real world range of around 250 miles, free use of Tesla’s Supercharger network and remote updates to the car’s features mean that performance doesn’t come without practicality either. “Ah but it’s got 60,000 miles on it, the batteries won’t last much longer” the doubters will say. Not so, however; not according to those with first-hand experience of such things, at least.
A recent survey of 350 European Tesla drivers reported only around a five per cent drop in battery capacity for cars having covered 50,000 miles. Beyond that, degradation seemed to slow, with cars boasting 150,000 miles or more on their odometers retaining 90 per cent of their battery capacity when new. All of which means that today’s Spotted offers supercar performance, saloon practicality, and arguably as much peace of mind as any other used car purchase. And that’s not even the good news. From its £85,000 price when new, this handsome P85d is now nearly half price at just £46,500. Why wait for the electric future to arrive, then? It’s here already.
SPECIFICATION – TESLA MODEL S P85D
Engine: Dual electric motor
Transmission: Single-speed auto, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 700@0rpm
Torque (lb ft): 686@0rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: 0 (local emissions)
First registered: 2015
Recorded mileage: 57,000
Price new: £85,000
Yours for: £46,500
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