Elite Traveler Summer 2021

INSPIRE 20TH ANNIVERSARY GUIDE TO RESPONSIBLE LUXURY

Motoring

Since the advent of the internal combustion engine, automakers have discovered ways to unremittingly innovate: adding speed and torque, subtracting weight and heat. While superlatives will always secure bragging rights, over the last two decades consumer interests shifted, and a different set of races ensued. Catchphrases like fuel consumption, daily driver and emissions compelled manufacturers to invest in alternative technologies, bridging the gap between time-tested analog tendencies and digital frontier possibilities. Swan songs abounded while car companies realigned, creating mission statements and implementing legacy-building strategies around yet another set of buzzwords. Sustainability, electrification and carbon neutrality now drive agendas and set business plans. There’s a race for (electric) range at the moment, but brands know once that’s achieved, a greater objective must steer. In the following pages, a look to the past serves as a reminder of game-changing technological advancements while a peek into the future inspires, encouraging ideas once unthinkable.

by Alexandra Cheney

TESLA MODEL S From its outset, the company’s polarizing founder, Elon Musk, deemed Tesla a technology company, not a car manufacturer. Upon its debut in 2012, the Model S boasted a 0-60 mph of 3.9 seconds with a best-in-class 28 cubic feet of trunk space, proving to the world that an electric vehicle was neither slow nor impractical. The four-door luxury sedan turned heads with its enormous 17-inch interior touch screen, while Musk’s willingness to launch technology that wasn’t perfect caught the automobile world by surprise. Disregarding early profitability thanks to a $50m investment by Daimler (which resulted in a 10% stake in the company), Musk looked instead to perpetual improvements as well as the big picture. Tesla built a nationwide network of fast charging stations to complement its cars, altering the country’s infrastructure. When the Model S entered the market, it had a single motor propelling the rear wheels. Two years later, the dual motor option arrived with ‘Insane Mode’ (dropping its 0-60 mph to 3.2 seconds). Tesla continues to confound while establishing status quo, from the smartphone-style, over-the-air updates to early autonomy and a direct-to-consumer sales strategy. The 2021 Plaid + Model S claims a 520-mile range with a 0-60 mph in 1.99 seconds and top speed of 200 mph. From $142,990, tesla.com