When it comes to luxury 
performance sedans that cost about $100,000, the competition is incredibly fierce. Tenths of a second in 0-60 times become hugely important, and the big names in German super sedans are always hard at work trying to one-up each other with a few tenths. This is why it was such an important moment when Tesla announced that the 2015 Tesla P85D would be able to hit 60 mph in 3.2 seconds. That number makes the P85D quicker than any of the Germans , and that is a very big deal. But Consumer Reports has just tested the Tesla, and the findings theoretically tip the scales back to the Germans.
What was found was that the P85D hit 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. That number is different from what other magazines have gotten, but as is pointed out in the video, Consumer Reports doesn’t get its numbers from a Tesla loaner car, for what that’s worth. Just to compare, the 2015 – 2016 Audi RS7 can hit 60 in 3.4 seconds, and so can the 2017 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG , and both cost about the same as the Tesla. Although all of these cars can beat the 2014 BMW M5’s 3.7 seconds, the Bimmer is about 10 grand cheaper.
Continue reading for the rest of the story.
The truth is that none of this is all that important to anyone but hardcore fanboys and the manufacturers themselves. Both 3.2 seconds and 3.5 seconds are incredibly quick, and the real headline here is that an electric car is able to accelerate at a rate to be considered roughly on par with the best gasoline powered sedans in its class. Consumer Reports concedes that this is a very quick car, and it is sufficiently different from the competition that the reason you’d buy one or the other is unlikely to be those couple of tenths of a second. Still though, this has to sting for Tesla.
2015 Tesla Model S P85D
Read our full review here .