Join us for the New Zealand Tesla Model S launch: let's go for a drive.

There are many unanswered questions about Tesla in New Zealand.

Can a Model S really break the sound barrier between traffic lights? More to the point, can it actually go around a corner? Because nobody ever talks about that.

Do rays of Jesus-light really follow the car wherever it drives? Is it legally permissible to register one without a personalised number plate?

DAVID LINKLATER Model S is the car that established Tesla as an 'it' brand. Still doing stirling work.

Can't promise to address all of that right away, but we're making progress. Tesla has officially been launched in NZ, with a media-drive event base at Shed 10 at the Ports of Auckland, followed by an evening shindig for owners, where it delivered the first eight cars to their new owners.

READ MORE:

* Tesla Model S now a wee bit more ludicrous

* Tesla confirms New Zealand launch

* Tesla's 'insane' driving mode becomes 'ludicrous'

The Tesla NZ rollout starts with the already famous Model S.

SUPPLIED Enormous centre-console touch screens are a Tesla thing. Impressive.

Excuse the Tesla scepticism, but what brand-superfans often do is quote the price of the cheapest model and the performance/range of the most expensive. That's what much of the Model S legend is based on.

For the record, the Model S range opens with the $116,800 60, which has a 60kWh battery (upgradable at any time to 75), rear-drive and range of 400km. It'll do 0-100km in 5.8 seconds, which is still pretty quick for a large luxury sedan.

Without wanting to get too tangled up in numbers, the Model S comprises 60, 75, 90 and 100 variants, which gradually rise in price, performance and range. The 60 and 75 are available in RWD or dual-motor (one at each end) 'D' versions, while the 90D and P100D are all-wheel-drive only.

SUPPLIED Nothing to see here in a battery-driven car. Except perhaps some really expensive luggage.

What does the 'P' mean on the 100D model? That's maximum Performance, with the so-called Ludicrous speed upgrade and air suspension as standard. The P100D can hit 100kmh in 2.7 seconds and overtake from 70-100kmh in 1.2 seconds. It also has the best range of any Tesla model, at a snip over 600km. Yours for $227,000.

The Model X SUV, with its Star Wars-inspired Falcon gullwing-style doors, will be available from next month. And of course there's the 'affordable' Model 3, which may or may not appear in 2018. We haven't even seen the finished car yet, so it's important not to get ahead of ourselves.

The first Tesla NZ store (that's a 'store', not a dealership) will open at 501 Karangahape Road in Auckland, mid-year. There's also a Supercharger network - that's Tesla's name for its own ultra-fast-charging system - planned, starting with a facility in Hamilton and reaching Turangi and Swanson by the end of the year.

SUPPLIED No premium brand can be without an SUV. Tesla sees your luxury crossover and raises you some Falcon doors.

Supercharging can fire 270km of range into the battery in just 30 minutes. It's free to Tesla owners who purchase before April. Globally, the company will start charging (excuse the pun) after that.

There are also 100 'destination' chargers planned for shopping centres, carparks, hotels and resorts. And Tesla owners can purchase a Mennekes Type 2 adaptor compatible with many public charging stations.

Destination chargers are essentially the same as the home-charging units available to owners. They can feed the cars up to 40-100km of charge per hour, depending on single or three-phase specification.

SUPPLIED Model 3 is the long-awaited 'affordable' Tesla. Kind of a crowd-funded thing, due in 2018.

Can you charge a Model S on a domestic power socket? You could... but probably won't unless you're really stuck. With 7000 lithium-ion batteries to replenish in the car's platform, it'll take an hour to achieve just 15km of driving.

Tesla NZ people (some of whom are also Tesla Australia people) are very nice but they do run a tight ship. They don't talk country-specific sales numbers, for example.

Or let you loose on your first go in a Model S; drive time for the launch event was limited to a 20km loop from the Ports of Auckland to the North Shore and back again.

You had to be accompanied by a Tesla engineer; mine was a nice Canadian bloke called Chris, although that's all I can tell you because I'm not allowed to quote him.

Shame, he had some interesting things to say.

Anyway, I grabbed the P100D for my drive-loop. It's impossible to say whether a city route such as this gave any opportunity to test Ludicrous mode, but if it did I would probably say it's astonishing.

Dynamically, the Model S is a hard thing to judge at this point. The steering is far from feelsome, but you can adjust the weight of the electric assistance. The combination of all that performance and the sheer traction of the D-powertrain does make this model highly engaging.

But I'm looking forward to more drive time (yes, they've promised) on real NZ backroads with different powertrains.

Early models were criticised for cheap cabin architecture. The latest ones sport some interesting textures and outwardly impressive build quality.

There are some borrowed bits, like the transmission selector and some switchgear from Mercedes-Benz, but there's also plenty of really interesting bespoke stuff.

Such as Tesla's signature 17-inch touch screen, which controls everything from... well, just everything. It's also your Google Maps sat-nav, Spotify music connection (it's okay, Tesla pays for the data) and web browser.

Tesla's big on automated-drive. Currently, the Model S can self-steer, change lanes and park without your help. But with extra camera and sonar equipment available for the latest models (the Enhanced Autopilot package is $8300), they will soon be able to drive from one motorway ramp to another (hence the term "ramp to ramp" that you might soon be hearing a lot) without driver intervention.

How soon? The necessary software can be transmitted to the car wirelessly (as can many other updates).

Tesla boss Elon Musk recently Tweeted that this automated-drive technology will be ready in six months.

But then he does get carried away sometimes.

And now, those big questions.

Acceleration: well, it does feel a bit like you've broken something when you punch the throttle of the P100D in Ludicrous mode. Possibly your neck.

I've driven supercars as fast, but never anything with the violence and immediacy of this super-EV acceleration. Say it shoves your body into the back of the seat and that won't be a metaphor. Impressed.

I think I counted one proper high-speed corner and all the roads were super-smooth, so the verdict on the handling will have to wait.

Jesus light? It was a sunny day for our drive. Hard to say.

Since our test vehicle had a regular Kiwi number plate, I guess the personalised-plate issue is settled. Although you can always change that; I imagine a lot of people will.