CarBrandLogos archive · Tesla · 2012

TeslaModel S

The first electric car judged against good cars rather than against other electrics.

Photo: Peteratkins · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Tesla history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Tesla Model S, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The Roadster was a modified Lotus. The Model S, which entered production in June 2012, was Tesla designing a car from the ground up around a battery, and the difference is visible in the packaging. Peter Rawlinson's engineering team laid the pack flat in the floor as a structural element, which gave a very low centre of gravity, a completely flat cabin floor, and space for luggage at both ends. Franz von Holzhausen's body was a clean four-door liftback that did not signal its powertrain at all, which was deliberate.

Tesla Model S · M 93 · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Tesla Model S & X side by side at the Gilroy Supercharger

Design and engineering

Several decisions in it became normal afterwards. A single large touchscreen replaced almost every physical control. Software updates arrived over the air, so the car changed after purchase, including performance and features. Tesla built its own fast-charging network rather than waiting for anyone else to, which turned the Model S from a commuting appliance into something that could plausibly cross a country. And it was sold directly rather than through franchised dealers, which produced years of litigation in the United States.

Tesla Model S & X side by side at the Gilroy Supercharger · Steve Jurvetson · CC BY 2.0

In production

The reception was unlike anything an electric car had received. Motor Trend named it Car of the Year for 2013, the first time an all-electric vehicle had taken the award, and Consumer Reports scored it near the top of its testing. Buyers cross-shopped it against German executive saloons rather than against other electric cars, which was the goal.

2016 Tesla Model S 75 Front · Vauxford · CC BY-SA 4.0

Legacy

It was not without cost. Early cars had build quality that fell well short of the German saloons they were priced against, with panel gaps and trim problems that owners tolerated because nothing else offered the same experience, and the touchscreen-first interior removed physical controls that some drivers and, later, some safety regulators wanted back. The company's driver assistance features, marketed under names that promised more than they delivered, attracted regulatory scrutiny that has never gone away.

Chapter 5

Tesla built it at the former NUMMI plant in Fremont, California, with a period of final assembly in Tilburg for European cars, and kept escalating it: rear-motor rear-drive at launch, then dual-motor all-wheel drive, then the tri-motor Plaid, which posted acceleration figures previously reserved for cars costing several times as much.

Chapter 6

Production ran to May 2026. Its significance is not sales volume, which the Model 3 and Model Y dwarf, but the fact that after 2012 no established manufacturer could treat electric cars as a compliance exercise. The Model S set the terms everyone else has been answering since.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Designer

Franz von Holzhausen (2008)

Body

4-door liftback sedan

Technical specification

The Model S, in detail.

Production: June 2012 – May 2026
Class: Full-size
Body style: 4-door liftback sedan
Layout: Rear-motor, rear-wheel drive ; Dual-motor, all-wheel-drive; Dual-motor, all-wheel drive ; Tri-motor, all-wheel-drive layout; Tri-motor, all-wheel-drive (Plaid)
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Designer: Franz von Holzhausen (2008) ; Peter Rawlinson (Chief Engineer)
Assembly: United States: Fremont, California (Tesla Fremont Factory; Fremont factory) ; Netherlands: Tilburg (Tesla facilities in Tilburg; Tilburg factory, final assembly, 2013–2021)
Manufacturer: Tesla, Inc.