The Tesla Model S, the all-electric sports sedan from Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors, has picked up yet another ringing endorsement for its virtues as a car, not just an eco-friendly one: The Model S was named Motor Trend’s Car of the Year 2013, as Musk announced at an event in New York City on Monday.
In fact, the all-electric engine was just a minimal part of the reason the car won, as Motor Trend’s Angus MacKenzie explained:
Sure, the Tesla’s electric powertrain delivers the driving characteristics and packaging solutions that make the Model S stand out against many of its internal combustion engine peers. But it’s only a part of the story. At its core, the Tesla Model S is simply a damned good car you happen to plug in to refuel…
The mere fact the Tesla Model S exists at all is a testament to innovation and entrepreneurship, the very qualities that once made the American automobile industry the largest, richest, and most powerful in the world. That the 11 judges unanimously voted the first vehicle designed from the wheels up by a fledgling automaker the 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year should be cause for celebration. America can still make things. Great things.
The honor comes on the heels of the Model S being named Automobile Magazine’s Automobile of the Year 2013 and Yahoo Autos’ Car of the Year 2013. The Model S, which gets 300 miles per charge (traveling at 55 miles per hour) starts at $49,000 and is available for reservation online now, though pre-orders are backed up. Musk earlier in September unveiled a network of supercharging stations in California.
