Two weeks ago we brought you news that Consumer Reports had tested the 2015 Tesla Model S P85D. As it turns out, the best 0-60 time it got was 3.5 seconds -- 0.3 seconds slower than what is advertised by Tesla->ke1842. Full evaluation of the P85D has been completed, however, and Consumer Reports had to modify its scoring system because the P85D scored too high.

At first, the P85D scored 103 on Consumer Reports rating scale, which actually tops out at 100. No detail was given on what part of the system was changed, but it didn’t affect the score of any other car that has been tested (wonder how that worked). Throughout testing, it was found that the P85D handled and braked better than the base-model S. When it was compared to other vehicles in its price range, it achieved the equivalent of about 87 mpg. On the downside of things, Consumer Reports found the P85D to be louder than the base model. It was also said that the quality of interior components didn’t stack up well against other cars in the same price range. The P85D used for testing had a ticket price of $127,820.

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In the end, the P85D had a modified score of 100, but Consumer Reports stressed that a perfect score doesn’t mean it is a perfect car. If the car isn’t within Tesla’s supercharging network, a trip of over 200 miles can be troublesome, and they never were able to achieve the advertised 3.2-second sprint to 60 mph. Most other reviews have shown the P85D to accelerate as advertised, so perhaps the slower sprint time had to do with the configuration of the car, or the driver. Personally I don’t care if the car comes in a bit slower than advertised – it still runs about even with the 2015 – 2016 Audi RS7 and 2014 Mercedes E63 AMG S and pulls ahead of the 4.2-second 2014 BMW M5.

The battery technology alone trumps just about anything out there right now, and I suspect it will only get better once Tesla’s $5 billion, 24 million-square-foot Gigafactory begins production. Go ahead and blast the P85D over a few tenths of a second all you want, C.U., it still broke your scoring system after you slammed it for its slower sprint to 60 mph. I’m sure that initial report was a bit of a sting for Tesla, but it must sting even worse to come out a week later and say it scored better than any other vehicle.

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