Tesla continues to test the refresh Model S on public roads with several spotted in recent days on public roads in California. One lucky Tesla fan was able to sit inside one this weekend at the Kettleman City Supercharger, giving us our first look at the new V11 software.
Not only did he get to see it up close, he also got a video of it, along with another refresh Model S leaving Kettleman City, giving us another first look at the vehicle’s acceleration and u-turn capabilities.
Seeing a vehicle do a u-turn might not sound exciting, but it is when you consider the new smart shifting found in the refresh Model S and Model X. Gone are the traditional gear stalks, replaced by the computer determining which gear your car should be in.
It might sound unusual, but Elon Musk has said it works so well that after using it for a while, getting back into a car where you have to select the gears is annoying.
The blue Model S seen in the video is the same as the one that the fan got to sit in. Based on those images, Smart Shift was turned on. That means the u-turn we get to see in the video was performed without the driver’s input, switching from drive into reverse and back again.
And it appears to be seamless.
Once facing the right direction, the driver then accelerates hard down the short road, followed closely by a second white refresh Model S, giving us just a glimpse of what a sub-2 second 0-60mph time will look like.
Check out the full video below.
NEW Model S take off video. (See previous post as well) from r/teslamotors