2015 Tesla Model

The Tesla Model S electric car has been nothing less than a silent sonic boom that has shaken the auto industry like no other vehicle in half a century. Not only is it sold by a carmaker that only got its start 10 years ago, it good-looking, fast, and comfortable, gets the highest safety ratings, and offers ranges of 200 miles or more per charge. It remains the best demonstration of the potential for electric cars to transform the way we travel and the energy we use to do so.

No other car in the world offers this combination of qualities and capabilities, and Tesla has now likely sold about 70,000 Model S cars since the first one was delivered in June 2012. The car's rave reviews and ecstatically devoted owners have not only attracted notice from GM and Nissan, they have severely rocked the incumbent German luxury makers—Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche—all of which are now developing fast, luxurious electric cars of their own.

Tesla doesn't use conventional model years; modifications are added to production cars as soon as they're ready, and the car's various software systems are updated "over the air," using its cellular network connection (once the owner agrees). That means that a 2014 car made in January may differ significantly from one made in December, which would be identical to a 2015 car made two weeks later.

That means the Tesla lineup in April 2015 happens to differ significantly from that offered the previous September. The company added all-wheel-drive to the Model S lineup in the fall of 2014, and replaced its former base model less than six months later.

Starting at $75,000, the 2015 Model S is expensive (though Tesla has ambitious plans for a $35,000 electric car a few years hence). There are now four Model S variations, three fitted with all-wheel drive. The new base Model S is known as the 70D, for its 70-kilowatt-hour battery pack and "D" dual-motor system that powers all four wheels. The 70D has a rated range of 240 miles, much better than the 208 miles of the former base model, the rear-wheel-drive 60, which is no longer offered.