I wonder how well the motor is insulated from ground shock at that spot versus a further spot? I guess there's the same concern with the MiEV and the motor right on the wheels. The energy transmission efficiency from the motor to the wheels increases greatly but so does the reverse, the wheels send the shock from the pot holes straight into the motor. Time will tell I guess.

@dgpcolorado - I agree with you. The only thing I would change in the Model S is to go with front wheel drive or four wheel drive. Either is much better for EVs. Performance driving people tend to prefer rear wheel drive, which is why the Model S has it, but front is better for regen braking and for the snow.

But even with that, I think this will be the greatest production sedan on the planet. By a wide margin.

Except maybe that it is actually a hatchback and not a sedan. Unless you count the trunk under the hood. Maybe it is a rearward facing sedan (could that mean that it actually has frontwheel drive and but that it drives backwards?).

I tease it, but actually it is a truely remarkable car. Very worthy of the almost 2 year waiting list that it has, despite being pricey. And I like hatchbacks better anyway.

The Model S really shows what an EV can do. And the LEAF makes EVs affordable. As we go through time battery technology will improve and get cheaper and the two will converge. That is when EVs will dominate the roads. We are all helping to make that happen.

FWD??? I guess you guys weren't listening. They said they wanted to produce the best sedan in the world. Their goal is not to build a glorified Camry electric.

We do have a graphic, sort of:

http://www.google.com/search?q=2012+camry+tail+lights&oe=utf-8&rls=org.m...

Ok back to the Tesla... :)

On traction my feeling has been that front wheel drive is most always better due to pull vs push. Front wheel drive the wheels will pull you in the direction you wish to go. In rear wheel you can push but that does not mean it will turn. However weight and the distribution is a great equalizer. But what do I know I live in TN where we have seen only one snow thus far that lasted 4 hours. Big difference from last year where I lost count on the number of snows.

Red Leaf

FWD cars turn much worse than RWD cars, this is due to the grip available from the front tyres being required to both turn and power the car. The available grip can either be used to accelerate the car longitudinally (speed up or brake) or laterally (turn) or a portion of each, with RWD the rears can concentrate on accelerating while the fronts work on turning. This is made worse when accelerating through a turn as the weight transfer rearwards reduces the grip to the front wheels, hence why nearly all FWD cars understeer. With the battery being the major source of weight in the model S and not the motor, having that weight positioned between the wheels low down should give it brilliant handling as the weight transfer will provide more grip at the rear under acceleration and more grip at the front under braking. Most of the cars i have owned have been RWD and i have never had a problem even in heavy snow as long as i drive to the conditions and dont try and drive at 60mph round corners like i can in the summer, and that would be no different to if i had a FWD car.

oh and here is a funny video to explain understeer and oversteer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoICf55jED8

I said that the weight of the battery being between the wheels of the model S would make it better handling, and i think it will outperform both FWD and RWD ICE cars as a result. However i do agree with you that 4WD will always provide more grip especially in the snow when compared with either FWD or RWD. I was just saying that this idea that it is totally impossible to drive a RWD car as soon as there is snow is in my experience false, although some people may live in areas where there are more steep hills and snowfall is greater, in which case they may find it harder to manage with a RWD car.

@ Norbert - Yes, I think that all of the FWD and RWD advocates should be able to agree that an AWD is best. Especially for EVs and regen braking.

In addition to Tesla going in this direction for the Model X, there have been rumors of Nissan working with in the wheel motors for future models, which pretty much require AWD. Many complain about the unsprung weight of an in the wheel motor, but that depends as much on the motor type and design as anything. And there are configurations where the motor is on the other side of the spring but still more or less in the volume inhabited by the suspension system. Sometimes people get lazy and call that an in the wheel motor. I am not sure which Nissan is working on, but they do have other non-car vehicles (industrial vehicles in Japan) in production already with that second kind of configuration so they have experience with it. But the rumor is that they are working on such a thing for their next car model. This is something that we talked about earlier on this site, but this rumor that I am refering to now is amoung Nissan employees who should be in a position to know. So there may be good and exiting things coming from Nissan in the next couple years or so.

AWD is so much easier to do in an EV then in a mechanical car. And it has the regen advantage. Some may say that the regen advantage is not necessary and may quote this or that car's stated regen capability with 2 powered wheels, but if you look at what really happens in dynamic situations and not just ideal situations, AWD regen is awsome.

The more auto manufacturers get experience with EVs the more I think they will head to AWD.

I don't think Mario Andretti was talking about regen braking.

It's awesome to see this develop. Am I the only one concerned Tesla will get picked up by a major manufacturer and all we'll have are electrified Camrys in the end? If they deliver on the S, I worry the company will be an easy target and consumers will miss out on future vehicles like these.