2012 Tesla Model S Crushes 2020 EV Entrants

December 15th, 2019 by Johnna Crider

The 2012 Tesla Model S, despite being nearly 8 years old, is crushing the new 2019 and 2020 EV entrants on range and efficiency. In a tweet by our favorite Earl of FrunkPuppy, he shares a screenshot from the US government’s Fuel Economy website, which offers comparisons between vehicles on key metrics.

Can we take a moment to reflect on how amazing the 2012 #Tesla #ModelS was? It’s crushing 2019 and 2020 EV entrants for range and efficiency. Even with time and money, traditions automakers cannot best the original Model S. pic.twitter.com/4P3pjxAKWM — 🐶Earl of FrunkPuppy🐶 (@28delayslater) December 14, 2019

Comparison Vehicles

2012 Tesla Model S

Price started at $59,900, and it had a combined city and highway “fuel economy” rating of 89 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe). It has the highest range out of all four vehicles in the comparison — a total of 265 miles in range.

2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo

On this website, the 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo is not yet pictured, but its MPGe score of 69 is shown. Yikes! It has a range of 201 miles. Double yikes! The price is not listed, but it is very high — $150,900.

2019 Jaguar I-PACE

The 2019 Jaguar I-PACE starts at $69,500 and has the second-highest score when it comes to MPGe: 76. It also has the second-highest range at 234 miles.

2019 Audi e-tron

The 2019 Audi e-tron starts out at $74,800 and has an MPGe score of 74. It also has a total range of 204 miles.

To be fair, we should compare the 2020 Tesla Model S with these four, so while we’re at it, let’s throw in the 2020 Tesla Model 3 as well.

2020 Tesla Model S

The 2020 Tesla Model S Long Range, currently the lowest priced Model S, gets a 109 MPGe score and a total of 373 miles of range. The starting price is currently $79,900.

The EPA website lists a 2020 Tesla Model S Standard Range that has 287 miles of range, but there is no such Tesla available for sale at the moment.

2020 Tesla Model 3

The 2020 Tesla Model 3 Standard Range gets 131 MPGe and has a range of 220 miles.

The only ones who beat the 2012 Tesla Model S in these comparisons are the 2020 Tesla Model S and the 2020 Tesla Model 3. The 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo has the lowest score in all of these comparisons, as Max Holland already detailed at length.









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