Tesla Unveils Electric Supercar

Tesla's new Model S (P85D) doesn't look all that, does it? The Californian manufacturer's latest all-electric vehicle has four doors, five seats, a big boot and even boasts two cup holders on the central arm rest. It would look at home on the drive of a family in some leafy suburban town, with a "Baby on board" sticker in the rear window. 

Where this ordinary lump of car gets interesting is in the accompanying sales brochure: Zero Emissions, naught to 60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds.

Three point two seconds. That's the same as a Porsche 911 Turbo - a sportscar with two seats and a lump of exacting German engineering in the boot. This all-wheel-drive electric machine is a family car, and yet it's quicker than the majority of sleek petrol breathers. It's got a top range of 306 miles - again, outstripping a sportscar equivalent - and while a full charge time of 13 hours is a touch lengthy, you can get 68 miles out of one hour's charge. 

Unfortunately, the $120,170 (£75,000) is somewhere closer to sportscar than family hatchback - but the new Model S is the clearest indication yet that electric cars are the future. A quick, practical future. 

(Images: Tesla)