A first: An electric car has been awardedMotor Trend’s top prize

If anyone ever doubted that electric cars were the future tense , those concerns can now formally be laid to rest . Tesla ’s sumptuousness Sedan , the Model S , has just bewitch one of the automobile industry ’s most prestigious awards by taking home Motor Trend’sCar of the Year honors for 2013 . It pit the first time that an galvanic car has taken the top prize — a fomite that does n’t run on throttle or have an home combustion engine .

According to Motor Trend , the American - built Model S did not gain ground the prize just because it ’s powered by electricity . Rather , the fomite make all the relevant criteria required to win the prize , include carrying into action in intended function , technology excellency , efficiency , safety , value , and advancement in design . They write :

The 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year is one of the quick American four - doors ever built . It drive like a sports cable car , eager and agile and at once responsive . But it ’s also as smoothly effortless as a Rolls - Royce , can carry almost as much stuff and nonsense as a Chevy Equinox , and is more effective than a Toyota Prius . Oh , and it ’ll sashay up to the valet at a luxury hotel like a supermodel working a Paris catwalk . By any measure , the Tesla Model S is a truly noteworthy motorcar , perhaps the most accomplished all - newfangled lavishness car since the original Lexus LS 400 . That ’s why it ’s our 2013 Car of the Year .

Though pricey , the railcar ’s modern electric powertrain means that owners will still be save at the heart . Motor Trend writes :

The best push white plague pattern we ’ve returned is 118 mpg - e for a 212 - knot run from the eastern fringe of the Los Angeles sprawl to Las Vegas , Nevada . For the 313 naut mi of route loops during the COTY rating , where the car was labor at normal speeds by all the judge with the breeze - conditioning running game , it averaged 74.5 mpg - e.

Impressive numbers , especially considering the 4766 - pound Tesla Model S Signature Performance version will complete 60 mph in 4.0 seconds and the quarter in 12.4 seconds at 112.5 mph , with a top speed of 133 miles per hour .

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But as notice , Tesla ’s luxury Model S , a gondola that ’s covered by over 250 patent , comes at a sizable toll : USD $ 58,570 ( base ) . This puts it up there with the entry - level Mercedes - Benz E - Class , BMW 5 Series , and Audi A6 . So , as exciting as it is to see an galvanising car deliver the goods this prize , it ’s still not something most masses can give . gratuitous to say , the next great milepost for a Car of the Year will be in grant one that ’s more middling priced .

But for now , the Model S will remain the sort of vehicle that ’s reserved for those who can afford it — and for those who require to tie performance and undecomposed looks with an environmental sensibility .

And yes , the company is named after that Tesla . Which is middling coolheaded .

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