Tesla Model S: The 2013 Yahoo! Autos Car of the Year

The 2013 model year brought consumers a fleet of new machines, and the editors and writers of Yahoo! Autos tested over 100 new models this year, from the brutish Ford Shelby GT500 to the gas-sipping Toyota Prius C. But all those appear to be automotive afterthoughts when compared to that futureshock of an electric sedan and Yahoo! Autos' Car of the Year: the Tesla Model S.

PayPal co-founder Elon Musk's foray into the car game started in 2008 with the nimble Tesla Roadster, a Lotus Elise makeover that swapped an internal combustion engine for a suitcase full of lithium-ion battery packs. But where that coupe was a high-tech experiment disguised as a $100,000 eco-conscious status symbol, the seven-passenger, $50,000-on-up Model S sedan promised to be a make-or-break machine that would determine whether Silicon Valley-based Tesla Motors can survive as a legitimate purveyor of reliable everyday cars.

The result? While the company and its car still have hurdles to overcome before either becomes a streetside staple, the Model S is the year's most noteworthy automobile for the way Tesla has erased long-perceived limitations of electric cars (poor range, small size, spartan interiors) and, going where no established automaker has yet to tread, creating an uncompromised yet practical object of desire.

A day spent driving a top-of-the-range Model S Signature Performance Edition on Bay Area backroads and freeways revealed the Tesla's split personality. A price tag of $105,000 puts this iteration squarely in the premium luxury camp, shoulder to sheetmetal shoulder with the likes of BMW M5 and 7 series, Audi S6 and A8, and Porsche Panamera S. But the Model S can hang in such company from both performance and pampering standpoints.

While the Model S is content to quietly amble down the road as you take in its optional 580-watt Studio Sound Package ($950) stereo, simply flexing your right foot turns the car into a stealth fighter. Instant torque (and a 4.4-second zero-to-60 mph time) puts fellow travelers in your rear view mirror fast and without drama. That same composure is evident when carving up winding roads, thanks in large part to floor-stashed batteries that lower the car's center of gravity and provide its 265-mile range. The Tesla Roadster does the same thing; only now you've got your parents and your small kids plus some groceries along for the ride.

Stepping outside the vehicle, it's hard not to like the rakish exterior designed by ex-Mazda stylist Franz von Holzhausen, which splits the difference between a Jaguar XJ and an Audi A7. The one huge advantage of the Model S over any of those competitors is ample front and rear trunk space (so big that a $1,500 option is a pair of rear-facing seats for small children).

Inside, the Model S favors a modernist look, with unadorned door panels, ample room thanks to a lack of transmission tunnel and a noticeable absence of dash buttons courtesy of the car's true calling card: a 17-inch center-console screen with Apple-like operability.