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Consumer Reports gives premium Tesla Model S its highest score

The report caused the company to fix its "broken" rating system after the Tesla Model S P85D scored a 103/100.

By Marilyn Malara

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 28 (UPI) -- The Tesla Model S P85D is the best car Consumer Reports has ever rated.

According to the magazine, the premium Model S "broke" its longstanding 100-point rating system, receiving a score of 103.

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The impossible mark has forced Consumer Reports to tweak its means of evaluating vehicles in the future, but the fixes won't affect the scores of other cars.

"We're seeing numbers that we haven't seen before. So this kind of blew out the system," said Jake Fisher, the director of the Report's auto test division according to NPR. "We're giving it a score of 100."

The pricey P859 -- costing about $130,000 -- features the ability to silently reach 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and a "ludicrous" driving mode. The acclaimed model is only the beginning of a new genre of electric car; Tesla's Model X crossover is expected next year while an everyday sedan -- said to start at $35,000 -- will follow in 2018.

"We're not used to seeing large cars go 0-60 in 3.5 seconds," Fisher said in a recorded discussion about the P859. "We're not used to seeing large cars that get an equivalent of 87 miles per gallon, and are that fast. So it really blows apart a lot of things."

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The score, however, doesn't ensure perfection. Consumer Reports reminds readers that the electric car does have its downfalls -- its six-figure price tag being at the forefront.

"The interior materials aren't as opulent as other high-ticket automobiles," the report reads. "And its ride is firmer and louder than our base Model S."

A long drive might also be out of the question for this Model S, as the car has around a 200-mile range on a full charge. If not driving past any charging stations, the P859 might not be the best road trip car.

Still, the car's unprecedented rating with Consumer Reports marks a new era of evaluation as electronic cars inch to the forefront of the automobile industry.

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