This is the fastest car in the world – and it's electric

It means that the new Model S P100D doesn’t just come with the world’s first 300-mile plus electric car range, but also makes this large luxury hatchback the, ahem, world’s fastest accelerating production car. With a McLaren/Ferrari/Porsche-beating 0-62mph time of just 2.5 seconds. Madness? Well certainly Ludicrous, which in the Tesla way is actually the name of this latest super-electric model.

Squeezing that much power from so many lithium-ion cells, with all that that involves in terms of extra cooling and other gubbins, has understandably not been easy. Even Tesla admits it’s been a challenge, and how they mastered it is not something they are keen to share with other car makers – all of which are searching for their own battery breakthroughs. As an emphatic statement of Tesla’s electric car prowess, however, it doesn’t get much better than the 100kWh car. For now, at least.

This is no laboratory experiment either but will soon be in the showrooms. The Model S P100D Ludicrous comes first, and that will be followed up by the new Model X (SUV) P100D Ludicrous, though that car is slightly slower with 0-62mph of only 2.9 secondss. According to the tougher US range testing regime, the Model S will be able to go 315 miles on a charge, the Model X 289 miles.

All of this comes at some cost. The Model S in ultimate Ludicrous form has a tag of £114,200, and the Model X equivalent costs £117,200. Existing Model S and Model X owners are able to upgrade to the new battery packs for the equivalent of $10,000 (about £7,600).

Tesla began its extraordinary rise to prominence in 2012 with the Model S with 60kWh battery, subsequently upgrading power to 85. Another 15kWh on top of that may seem a small thing, but in the world of electric cars it has come as quite an, er, shock…