Tesla Model S P85D Lauded By Consumer Reports, ‘Breaks’ Rating SystemTesla Model S P85D Lauded By Consumer Reports, ‘Breaks’ Rating System

The Tesla Model S P85D, the highest-performance and most expensive version of the all-electric luxury sedan, has earned even more plaudits and compliments from Consumer Reports magazine.
The P85D, in fact, “performed better in our tests than any other car ever has,” the publication said this morning.
In fact, it did so well, that it broke the Consumer Reports Ratings system, in the magazine’s own words.
DON’T MISS: Consumer Reports: Tesla Model S ‘Best Overall’ Again In 2015 (Feb 2015)
An early-morning press release from the consumer periodical played up the “breaking the system” aspect, noting that the P85D scored 103 points on its 100-point ratings scale–which it called “a quandry,” since the scale doesn’t go past 100 by definition.
“The car set a new benchmark, so we had to make changes to our scoring to account for it,” the magazine concluded. “Those changes didn’t affect the scores of other cars.”
Tesla Model S at Volta Industries charging station
CR lauded the P85D’s “instant acceleration,” which it said made the car “brutally quick” with “forceful and immediate” thrust.
The P85D is “explosively quick” and “frighteningly eerie in its silent velocity,” the magazine gushed.
ALSO SEE: Tesla Model S Tops Consumer Reports Customer Satisfaction Index, Again (Dec 2014)
It did note that the Model S isn’t perfect; for the price ($127,820 as tested), its “interior materials aren’t as opulent as other high-ticket automobiles” and the ride is firmer than the previous Model S it had tested.
The magazine also noted earlier this year that problems with failures of the electrically extending door handles continue to occur at high rates, although the company appears to address them quickly.
2015 Tesla Model S P85D door handle, captured from Consumer Reports video, May 2015
The Consumer Reports rating scale, moreover, doesn’t address the vehicle’s long-term reliability–which is average for the Model S, it said.
Nonetheless, the editors called the Tesla Model S an “automotive milepost,” and “a remarkable car that paves a new, unorthodox course, and it’s a powerful statement of American startup ingenuity.”
MORE: Tesla Model S Door-Handle Failures Still Plague Electric Car, Consumer Reports Learns (May)
Such praise would almost be embarrassing if the praise for the car weren’t backed up by largely satisfied owners and continuing sales.
We just wonder what the publication will have to say about the even-faster Model S P90D introduced a couple of months ago.
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