TESLA MODEL S HITS THE ROAD

The electric sports saloon is creeping (near-silently) ever closer to reality, with the Tesla Model S currently entering the final stages of development before deliveries to customers begin next year. <br><br> The car doing its thing in the video is an 'Alpha build' development car (that's the first stage of pre-production builds - we think), and despite the lack of noise it certainly seems to be quite impressive.

The electric sports saloon is creeping (near-silently) ever closer to reality, with the Tesla Model S currently entering the final stages of development before deliveries to customers begin next year.

The car doing its thing in the video is an 'Alpha build' development car (that's the first stage of pre-production builds - we think), and despite the lack of noise it certainly seems to be quite impressive.

Graham Sutherland, Tesla's Vehicle Dynamicist (tr. - development driver), seems to agree - though it is just about possible that he's biased.

"The first Alpha is amazingly agile for a car of its size," he says. "It has great handling balance and poised ride with communicative steering. Just goes to show what combining a low centre of gravity with a very stiff body structure can achieve." We're certainly not 100 per cent sold on the idea of electric performance cars, but the Model S, with its reasonable performance (0-60mph in 5.6secs and a 300-mile range) is certainly an intriguing prospect.

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