Silent fitness: Tesla Model S P90D first drive, CAR+ April 2016

Opt for the huge 21-inch wheels (not pictured) and, thanks to air shocks, the rides’s still fine

More info on Tesla Model S

► We drive the Tesla Model S P90D
► Optimistic mile estimator causes anxiety
► Breathtakingly fast electric vehicle

Bugatti offers three test-drive routes to prospective customers; 20 minutes, an hour or two hours. Believe it or not most plump for the quickie – it seems you need only taste 1480bhp once to know that you need it. In that respect the quad-turbo, 8.0-litre W16 Chiron is uniquely placed as a leviathan of instant test-drive appeal. But the P90D Model S Tesla (with £8700 Ludicrous upgrade in place) is an unlikely rival for mind-scrambling first impressions, and the almost immediate creation of wanton desire.

Approach the car and the door handles extend from the body to greet you: neat, but hardly a game-changer. You then slide aboard, smile dumbly at the enormous touchscreen and nonchalantly nudge into D – no ignition key, no handbrake, no clutch. Then it’s just you, your nearest and dearest and a near-silent and apparently bottomless well of drive. Thump the pedal to the floor and, with all-wheel drive and launch control, 60mph comes up in 2.8 seconds (3.1sec without the Ludicrous option).

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