2013 Tesla Model S Sedan

Conceived by Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk and penned by former GM and Mazda ace designer Franz von Holzhausen, the Model S is a high-performance, full-electric, five-door hatchback sport sedan with a standard 60 kWh or available 85 kWh lithium ion battery pack. Shown first as a prototype at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, U.S. sales began in June, 2012. The base 60-kWh Model S starts at $69,900, while the big battery pack adds another $10,000.

Its EPA-rated range is 265 miles with the 85 kWh battery - essentially triple the real-world reach of any other current production pure EV - and 208 miles with the 60 kWh pack. Largely because of its amazing battery range and despite its lofty prices, the Model S beaut out both the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf with 4,900 U.S. sales for the first quarter of 2013, making it the top-selling plug-in on the market today. Among its many honors are 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year, Automobile Magazine 'Automobile of the Year' and World Green Car of the Year.

'With a rigid body structure, nearly 50/50 weight distribution and a remarkably low center of gravity,' Tesla says, it 'offers the responsiveness and agility expected from the world's best sports cars while providing the ride quality of a sedan.' The standard Model S boasts 5.4-seconds 0-60 mph performance and a 125-mph top speed, and this performance model example is even quicker at 4.2 seconds.