Elon Musk used his personal Twitter to announce the soon to be revealed “D.” We, at the time, did not know what he was talking about, but as the October 9 unveiling date approaches, we’re starting to piece it all together.
What the company will actually be showing off is most likely an all-wheel drive Model S, called P85D. The letter could stand for “Dual” since it’s the way Tesla has already announced it’s going to do things (on the Model X crossover) – the P85D probably uses a twin-motor setup to power both axles.
It’s not, as we first speculated, the much anticipated BMW 3-Series rival, but it’s nevertheless worth looking out for.
With all-wheel drive, Tesla will greatly boost the popularity of the Model S and make all those who bought the rear-wheel drive variant in cold/snowy areas fidget with anxiety. Not only is their two-wheel drive Tesla going to depreciate more once the awd is out, but they’d definitely need the extra traction.
The Model S P85D will make a lot of future Norwegian Tesla buyers really happy. Those who already have one will do the fidgeting with anxiety thing…
One question remains, though: how much of a performance boost will the “D” get over the regular model? The twin-motor setup would theoretically allow for a total output in excess of 800 hp, but that’s silly and we know it’s not going to happen – will the two units be limited to run at half power and make the same 400-ish hp together?
Photo via adelman over on TeslaMotorsClub
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