As further evidence of the rise of electric vehicles, Tesla’s Model S Sedan was named Motor Trend’s 2013 Car of the Year. The plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt won the title in 2011, completing the evolution of electrified transport (The Toyota Prius, a gasoline-electric hybrid, won in 2004).
With a sticker price nearing $60,000 (not including the tax credit that brings it just under $50,000), the Tesla Model S is an expensive car by most people’s standards. However, Motor Trend cites the Model S as “one of the quickest American four-doors ever built. It drives like a sports car, eager and agile and instantly responsive.” The Model S is a chimera of sorts. While it is a full electric vehicle, Motor Trends compares the car to the luxurious Rolls-Royce and enormous Chevy Equinox, the former in terms of its smoothness and the latter for its cargo capacity.
In naming the Tesla Model S as its Car of the Year, Motor Trend acknowledges that its the first non-internal combustion vehicle in the 64 year history of the award, but that that fact only plays a small role in the decision. “Tesla’s electric powertrain delivers the driving characteristics and packaging solutions that make the Model S stand out against many of its internal combustion engine peers. But it’s only a part of the story. At its core, the Tesla Model S is simply a damned good car you happen to plug in to refuel.”
Here’s to a car that competes with gasoline powered rivals in terms of style, luxury, and performance, if not price.
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