5 Facts You Need to Know About Tesla Cars

    February 21st 2017     Suhail Ajmal

Tesla has set its foot in Dubai on 13th February and announced to open a showroom on Sheikh Zayed Road along with a service center, which we expect to start operation in the 3rd quarter of this year. Tesla launched two of its available electric cars, the Model S and the Model X, which are now open for preorder. The Model S sedan carries a starting price tag of Dh 275,000 while the Model X crossover SUV costs AED 344,000. To achieve its environmental goals, RTA bought 200 Tesla cars for Dubai Taxi Corporation’s limousine fleet.

With deliveries starting this summer, Tesla cars will be a frequent site around the UAE. Today, we decided to acquaint you with these cars so you understand them better.

  1. Tesla develops all-electric cars, which means they don’t require petrol to run, just need a recharge. The Model S with a 60 kWh battery can travel 385 km (with an outside temperature of 40C), while the Model X can cover 557 km on a single charge. Of course, if you opt for a high-powered battery pack the range will be a lot higher. Tesla batteries have been tested at 67 Celsius in the strong conditions of Death Valley.
  2. Tesla has installed superchargers and destination chargers across the UAE with plans to install more by the end of this year, so drivers do not have to maroon their Tesla cars on the road in case the battery dies. Just plugin to the charging station and let it do the work.
  3. Tesla cars are one of the most advanced electric cars in the world. They are not only luxurious, but also are equipped with the state of the art technology. For instance in Model S, the active safety technologies comprise of collision avoidance and automatic emergency braking, daytime running lights, smart Air Suspension for raising and lowering ride height, six airbags: head and pelvis airbags in the front plus two side curtain airbags, electronic stability and traction control, four wheel antilock disc brakes with electronic parking brake, three second row ISOFIX attachments for child seat installations (accommodates three child seats simultaneously: two with ISOFIX and one with top tether and belt).
  4. Recently, there has been much debate in the UAE on driverless cars. Tesla is one such car which has the potential to go fully autonomous. The new Tesla cars now feature the hardware necessary to function in complete driverless mode. However, Tesla asks you to do not fully trust the technology and be ready to take control whenever required. Tesla cars have an autopilot system which controls all the autonomous hardware components. The cars can change lanes, avoid collision, figure out the optimal route, navigate urban streets (even without lane markings), manage complex intersections with traffic lights, stop signs and roundabouts, and handle densely packed freeways with cars moving at high speed.
  5. Tesla cars are super fast. Recently, the Tesla Model S with ludicrous plus mode hit the 60 mph mark in just 4 seconds. This makes it the fastest production car in the world in the acceleration times.