Tesla in April introduced the first major redesign for its popular Model S sedan. And boy is it stunning.
The most notable change is the front of the car, which now lacks the faux-grille from the previous model in favor of a snub-nose look that’s quite similar to Tesla’s Model 3, the company’s affordable car set to begin production next year.
With this new update, we thought it’d be fun to highlight all the cool features and innovations inside the redesigned Model S. After all, there’s so much more to this car than its looks, though it excels in that department as well. Take a look.
1. Thanks to the car’s all-electric powertrain, the Model S can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in as little as 2.8 seconds — that’s faster than many supercars.
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2. The car’s unique battery structure strengthens the Model S against side impacts and keeps the car planted to the road. Its weight and low center of gravity make it an extremely safe car.
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3. The Model S has the largest “crumple zones” in the industry, which are the parts of the car that are meant to absorb the main force of the impact. That’s because the car lacks an engine, exhaust system and fuel tank.
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4. The Model S supports Tesla’s Autopilot software, which is designed to make highway driving safer and less stressful. With a combination of cameras, radar and sonar systems, the Model S continually scans the road to offer real-time feedback, featuring active safety tech like side collision avoidance and automatic emergency braking.
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5. Autopilot also has a “summon” feature where your car can turn itself on and pull itself out of the garage or drive way to come meet you, with your music and air conditioning already set to your custom preferences.
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6. The Model S comes with a HEPA air filtration system that strips outside air of pollen, bacteria, viruses and pollution before circulating it into the cabin. It also has a bioweapon defense mode that delivers medical-grade air quality no matter what’s going on outside.
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7. Forget how to use a feature? The owner’s manual is in the Model S at all times, inside the car’s 17-inch touchscreen. As new features are added via over-the-air software updates, which add useful features and an improved experience, the on-screen owners manual is updated too.
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8. The Model S doesn’t have a traditional physical key; instead the Model S key fob can open and close the doors, front trunk, rear hatch, and charge port.
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9. The key fob is actually designed to look like the Model S. To open the front or rear trunk, double click that area of the key fob. You can click the key fob again while the rear lift gate is in motion to stop it.
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10. You can open the charge port in several ways. You can press and hold the rear trunk button on the key fob, but you can also open it via the car’s touchscreen, by touching the port itself, or by pressing a button on any Tesla charge cable.
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11. You can have the Model S automatically lock itself once you’ve left the car and closed the door by turning on the “walk-away door lock” setting on the car’s touchscreen.
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12. When the Model S is locked, the handles are hidden and flush with the doors. The handles will automatically present themselves when the car senses the key fob is approaching the vehicle. You can also push in the door handles to have them extend from the door.
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13. To lock and unlock the doors from within the car, you can use the key fob or simply touch the lock button at the top left corner of the touchscreen.
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14. The steering wheel is designed so the driver can control any aspects of the vehicle without removing their hands from the wheel.
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15. Buttons on the left side of the steering wheel can skip, play, pause, and change the volume of your music or media.
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16. Buttons on the right side of the wheel can control Bluetooth-connected phones, complete voice commands and adjust various Model S features. A menu button on the right scroll wheel can change various settings like climate control and display brightness.
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17. The steering wheel itself is completely adjustable. There’s a small control lever on the left side of the column to move the wheel up or down, or telescope it in and out.
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18. You can actually change how much effort is needed to turn the wheel, which makes the car easier to handle in different settings. Those three steering options can be found in the touchscreen display.
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19. If you’ve purchased Tesla’s Autopilot software, you can adjust the distance you want to maintain between your car and the vehicle ahead of you. Just rotate the cruise control lever on the left side of the wheel to choose a setting from 1-7, 1 being the closest following distance and 7 being the longest following distance.
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20. If your Model S has the optional sub-zero weather package, you can access a control that instantly warms up the steering wheel, as well as the rest of the car’s seats, without any of them getting uncomfortably hot.
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21. To adjust the sunroof in the Model S, just tap and drag on the sunroof slider bar — or simply touch on the image of the sunroof on the touchscreen — and the sunroof will move to the selected position.
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22. The sunroof is clever. If you simply press “open,” it’ll only open 75% of the way in order to minimize wind noise. Tapping “open” twice opens the sunroof fully, but you can also press “vent” to open the sunroof just slightly.
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23. The Model S has a rain sensor located on the inside of the windshield at the base of the rear view mirror. When wipers are on “auto,” the frequency at which they wipe depends on how much the sensor detects; if it’s set to auto but there’s no water detected, the wipers won’t wipe.
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24. You can choose four levels of wiper speed: auto with low sensitivity, auto with high sensitivity, continuous slow and continuous fast. You can also press a button to just wipe the windshield once.
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25. If there’s snow or ice, Model S owners can turn on the car’s “service mode” through the touchscreen. This positions the wipers close to the defrost vent, allowing you to thaw them by directing air from the climate control system towards the windshield.
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26. You can dynamically change the suspension of the Model S, or how high it is off the road, in case your local roads have too many speedbumps, for example. Better yet, your car will remember which settings you used based on your car’s location to adjust the suspension automatically in the future.
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27. Going out for the night? The Model S has a “valet mode” that lets you turn off certain functions in case you need to leave your car with an attendant. After you create a 4-digit PIN (which you later use to cancel this mode), this function restricts the car’s speed, locks the front trunk and glove box, removes personal data from the touchscreen, and disables cruise control, voice commands, and more.
