OVERVIEW An impressive product for such a young company, but there are still many areas to improve PROS Epic performance CONS Spartan and conservative interior VALUE FOR MONEY We need a lower-priced offering from Tesla! WHAT TO CHANGE? Fix the ergonomic niggles here and there

Insane mode is not a euphemism. Delve into the Controls sub-section on the Tesla Model S P85D’s enormous touchscreen interface, and you’ll find a little slider that asks: would you prefer Sport mode, or dare you flick to the right and start the insanity?

What a silly question. Click.

At a dead stop, the Tesla, which stickers for $114,700 CAD, hums quietly to itself, as though ethereal electronica is being played at near subsonic levels in the cabin. Sliding the virtual switch summons a click from somewhere inside this monster’s electronic gizzards, a snick-click-clack that sounds not unlike someone taking the safety off on an electromagnetic railgun.

Car Review: 2014 Tesla Model S P85+

Stomp right foot, exit stage left.

Waaarrrrrhhhhhgbbbllll! You can’t help screaming like a Wookie as all six-hundred and ninety-one electronic horsepower unload through all four wheels and immediately launch this big sedan off the line without a microsecond’s pause. This thing’s fitted with a hyperspace drive!

It’s an utterly ferocious performance, an instant-on holeshot accompanied by a rising whine in a cabin that remains surprisingly quiet, even as speeding levels approach… oh dear, really? Oops: better let off a little before the Empire dispatches Boba Fett.

If the Hellcat twins are the last bellowing of the no-replacement-for-displacement combustion engine, then here’s what fast looks like in the future. The already-exhilarating Tesla Model S has been taking its Vitamin D, and the results are – I’ll risk the pun – utterly shocking.

The exterior remains essentially unchanged, apart from new red calipers for the Brembo brakes, and a very small addition to the rear badging, P85D. The D stands for Dual-Motor, and adds a 221-hp AC induction drive for the front wheels, bringing total power levels to the aforementioned 691-horsepower (515 kW) total.

Torque is nominally rated at 687 pound-feet total between fore-and-aft motors, but there’s some funny business going on here. Strapping a P85D to an all-wheel-drive dyno seems to produce much higher numbers, possibly thanks to the instantaneous way in which an electric vehicle delivers its power.

Certainly the brain can’t handle the Tesla’s immediate, intensely violent off-the-line reaction. There are cars faster to 100 kilometres per hour, and the faster you go, the more the Tesla trails off to feel more like something conventional like a 911 or Audi RS7 (!). However, that initial zero to 60 km/h punch is supercar-destroying, and no launch control is required. Zap! and you’re somewhere else, having whooshed forward to make the merge, leaving befuddled faces in your wake.

This is the genius of Tesla as a company, that the first thing to be discussed on launch of a new model is its literally insane performance. Where fuel savings, lower maintenance costs, and emissions concerns are all first-mentions with most other electric-drive vehicles, the Model S also happens to bring considerable emotional appeal to the table. It’s very pretty, and it goes to plaid. Ask most car enthusiasts what they think of it, and many will start frothing at the mouth, gearheads lusting after a car that doesn’t actually have any gears.

But even non-petrolheads are big fans of the P85D, and in my hometown of Vancouver, the Model S is everywhere. It’s the car of choice for the entrepreneur, a machine that attracts those who operate at the forefront of the business world.

This one isn’t a press car, but rather belongs to Howard Haugom, a West Vancouver resident who founded his own successful company. He looks forward to “hoping to become more or less completely Teslafied” with the addition of a Model X, Tesla’s upcoming SUV.

You might also remember that Jason Bailey, now looking forward to a full year of competition behind the wheel of that rally-prepped Scion FR-S, owned a Tesla sedan as his daily driver. In many ways, the Model S is replacing the Porsche 911 as both a street performance machine, and a status symbol on the West Coast.

It’s not hard to see why. First, it’s both a futuristic shape, and also one conventionally pleasing to the eye. This particular machine is sitting on 19-inch alloys fitted with snow tires, and looks quite conservative in grey metallic.

On the inside, the P85D is just like any other Model S, in that it resembles a lightly furnished loft apartment dominated by a central flat-screen TV. There’s Alcantara and piano-black trim on the dashboard, and carbon-fibre in the lower storage area, but beyond that, the Tesla is somewhat spartan when compared to the multi-layered interiors of many conventional luxury cars.

Most tech-heads won’t care a whit, given the enormous touchscreen canted slightly towards the driver. Almost everything on the car can be controlled here, from headlights to trunk release, and it provides massive satellite navigation displays, on-board WiFi, and is in nearly every other respect like someone stole a giant’s iPhone.

Three conventional stalks handle cruise control, gear selection, and wiper functions, and all three are lifted straight from Mercedes-Benz. Doubtless Tesla will have its own control systems before too long, but these remain just a little bit odd, like a rotary dial on an iPad.

Other than that, the P85D loses most of its front trunk space to front-drive hardware, but remains as impressively wide and spacious as the old one did. It’s heavier than the previous Model S at nearly 2,200 kg, but still rides well over seamed pavement, and the four-piston brakes don’t seem overtaxed in normal driving. Perhaps in hard canyon-carving, that high curb weight would be a liability, but as an executive cruiser with ballistic passing performance, they’re quite adequate. Thanks to regenerative braking, you’ll also wear through them fairly slowly.

Handling is very good. Steering feedback isn’t pin-sharp, but neither is it in an Audi RS7, Porsche Panamera GTS, or nearly any other big German competitor. Grip is excellent, aided by some electronic trickery that uses the drivetrain as stability and traction aid, rather than applying brakes or chopping the throttle. It’s a big, heavy car, but feels very secure through the bends, and then walk on it out of the corner exit and it’s the Kessel Run all over again.

Range for the P85D is claimed by Tesla at 407 kilometres at an average speed of 105 km/h. All this faffing about in Insane mode has dropped nearly 100 km of range off the clock, but even assuming a less-relaxed driving style, average round-trips of 300 km or so would be more than enough for most consumers to pop up to the ski hill or what-have-you.

In addition, Tesla’s Supercharger network now provides quick-charge stations (notably in B.C., located in Squamish and Hope, for those on their way up the Sea-to-Sky or en route to the interior). An 80% charge can be effected in 40 minutes, or merely top off the battery while you check your email and the sports scores on the giant touchscreen.

Compelling indeed, but it’s not quite a perfect car yet. Both Consumer Reports and Edmunds have had issues with their long-term standard Teslas, but it should be noted that reliability is still rated average overall by the former, and the latter notes Tesla’s strong post-sale customer service.

So, while I note a few ergonomic niggles here and there with the Model S, and online forums are filled with teething troubles including sunroof squeaks and rattles, Tesla appears to be treating its customers directly, rather than holding them at arm’s length. Moreover, they also seem committed to rewarding their early adopters, and continually upgrading their products: this P85D is equipped with the hardware for a suite of automated driving assists, the software for which will be rolling out later this year.

There’s thick fog on the shore in Vancouver on the morning I pick the car up, and run it out from West Van and up a local ski hill. However, the P85D soon punches a hole through the mist and out into the brilliant sunshine, barrelling along the wet and slippery curving road with nary a misstep.

There’s a lot of hype around this car. It’s an impressive product for such a young company, but there are still many areas to improve, including the release of a lower-priced offering the average person can afford.

However, the P85D is the real deal, a big, comfortable, spacious sport-sedan at the cutting edge of technology that’s capable of ludicrous speed without burning a drop of oil. If the future’s not here already, then it’s just up ahead: punch it, Chewie!