The NHTSA ranks crash safety on a scale of one to five, with five stars being the best, one star being the worst. The Tesla Model S just scored 5.4 stars. Yes. It broke the scale.
Tesla says that the Model S did so well because it scored a five in every single possible category and subcategory. And even though the NHTSA doesn't have a rating higher than five, it does record when something exceeds the five star level.
Apparently, because the Model S doesn't have a large thing some people call an "engine" up front. That gives it huge crumple zones to absorb impacts, according to Tesla. The frame is also pretty strong thanks to all the batteries.
Hell, the Model S broke the testing machine for roof crush protection. What the hell is it made of? Boron? What exactly is boron? I don't think anyone knows.1
Results like this are more evidence in my theory that Elon Musk might just be a supervillain. He's a billionaire. He has his own space program. He's built a nearly invincible car. My only guess is that the car will be used to transport a legion of some sort of electric warrior to conquer the Earth, or possibly just the east coast.
This is like the nail in the coffin for my wife. That's basically all she cares about.
The math still just washes out though. My current monthly car spend plus gas is about exactly what the non-performance 85kWh would run well equipped and I'm not driving as much yet as I will be.
There is a place out here that rents one and they get $500 a day for it with a 100 mile limit. I called as an interested customer and they said they can't keep it on the lot and that it's more popular than a lot of their exotics. That won't last for long. A lot of that is people's initial interest in the car but as long as it remains priced out of the average person's checkbook there will be interest in renting one for a day or so just to see if it's cool. Plus there's people like me that don't like to throw down $90k on a car after a 10 minute test drive.
So I thought to myself, maybe I should buy one and just rent it out a few days a month for $300 a pop. Then I look at how much home prices have gone up in the last year where we want to buy (20%) and the adult in me thinks we should be using that credit score for a house instead of a car. Then again, the tax credits completely offset the 10% down payment of the Tesla.
Oh lordy...
There just isn't anything else even close as far as mileage goes if you want a luxury car. Not the Panamera hybrid S, not the S400... nothing. Nothing is even close. The Lincoln MKZ starts at 35k for the 45mpg hybrid which is an amazing value but comparing an MKZ to a Model S is kind of like comparing a Celica to a Supra or a TT to an R8.
