The Tesla Model S P85D Is An All-Wheel Drive, 681bhp Electric Monster That Can Drive Itself

When Tesla’s Model S P85D was spotted out in the wild last week, most of the internet speculated that it would be a four-wheel drive version of the P85. It turns out that the speculation was spot on, as the ‘D’ bit has been revealed to stand for ‘Dual Motor All Wheel Drive.’

As we found when we drove it recently, the P85 is already astonishingly quick, so as you’d expect, adding a motor to the front axle has a rather profound affect on performance. The front motor supplies 218bhp, while the rear dishes out 463bhp, giving an absurd total of 681bhp. Oh, and 687lb ft of instant torque.

This results in one jolly quick car. 0-60mph is dispatched in just 3.2 seconds, while the top speed is 155mph. But the four-wheel drive goodness isn’t limited to just one model. There’ll also be an 85D and 60D, both of which will get a 188bhp motor on the front axle. This allows the pair to go from 0-60mph two tenths quicker than the equivalent rear-drive model: 5.7 seconds for the 60D, and 5.2 for the 85D.

The front motor adds 132kg to the Model S’ total weight figure, but despite that, the range of each version has increased 10 miles, giving a possible 295 mile range in the 85D.

Also new in camp Tesla is a clever semi-autonomous system, which scans the road ahead using optical cameras and a 360-degree sonar to look for obstacles and slow the car down to a stop if necessary. It’ll even change lanes for you after you signal left or right. Spooky.