Porsche Panamera vs Tesla Model S
What's the difference?

Porsche Panamera

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2024 price

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Tesla Model S

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2017 price

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Maserati Quattroporte

Mazda 2

McLaren Artura

Mercedes-AMG E63

Mercedes-Benz A-Class

Mercedes-Benz A35

Mercedes-Benz AMG GT

Mercedes-Benz C-Class

Mercedes-Benz C43

Mercedes-Benz C63

Mercedes-Benz CLA

Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class

Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class

Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Summary

2024 Porsche Panamera

2017 Tesla Model S

By Emily Agar

By Peter Anderson

Safety Rating

Engine Type

Twin Turbo V6, 2.9L

Electric motor type

Multi-Motor – Mixed Types

Fuel Type

Premium Unleaded Petrol

Vehicle type

Battery Electric

Fuel Efficiency

9.2L/100km (combined)

Electric range

613 km

Energy consumption

20.0 kWh/100km

Battery capacity

100.00 kWh

Seating

Likes

One of the best-looking in segment
Power and performance
Robust safety features

Rocketship speed
Clean interior design
Ever-improving proposition

Dislikes

Cabin not the most practical
Ongoing ownership costs
Pricey options

Sadly, it's not a sports car
It's a lot of money
Lack of convenient charging

2024 Porsche Panamera Summary

Australia hasn't had what you'd call a love affair with the Porsche Panamera. Especially compared to the on-going romance with its iconic sibling, the 911 and even its SUV stablemates.

The Panamera straddles the fence between high-performance sports car and family sedan and it's a position rivals like the BMW 740i, Maserati Quattroporte and Mercedes-Benz S450 have sometimes found difficult to balance.

This new-generation 'base' Panamera model is on test to see if this sedan's 2025 redesign will launch an arrow from Cupid's bow for Australian families?

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2017 Tesla Model S Summary

If you have even a passing interest in the Tesla Model S, you'll have seen the endless internet videos where someone has lined up a Ferrari, Lamborghini, or another fast exotic car you could name, to race against it.

There's a long build-up, usually involving men who can't operate a baseball cap, a drag strip and idiotic words in the headline like "destroys" or "rips", or whatever. There's usually a bunch of honking bros with bad haircuts watching on, already planning their next viral video where they set a perfectly good mobile phone on fire.

It's facile and idiotic and doesn't give you any real clue as to the depth of whatever supercar it has "humiliated" or, just as importantly, the depth of the Model S and its spectacular engineering.

So, I won't be spending the next thousand words building up to the conclusion that the Model S P100D with Ludicrous Mode is up there with the world's fastest production cars from 0-100km/h, because I'll tell you now that it is, and it does it in a claimed 2.7 seconds.

Now that's out of the way, there's quite a bit more to the Model S than a "broken" Nissan GT-R owner weeping into their bento box.

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Deep dive comparison

2024 Porsche Panamera 2017 Tesla Model S

Verdict

The Panamera is the ‘have your Porsche and drive it too’ model.

It encompasses the fun of the 911 while still being a comfortable daily driver that can easily fit a family of four. The cabin is sumptuously styled and not hurting for features, either.

Could the ownership costs and storage be better? Probably, but if you’re looking at this model, those items will probably be lower priorities for you.

For my little family of three, the base model Panamera is a win.

Verdict

I spoke to a friend who bought a Model S before one had even hit the ground here in Australia. He chuckled when I told him how much this car cost but then said something I'd already suspected. "My mates who own a P100D would never drop that kind of money on a normal car. Buying a Tesla is like buying shares in the company, you're buying into the future."

And that's kind of the point. A $300,000 Audi RS7 (fully-loaded, obviously) is a bit slower in a straight line, looks just as good, is extremely well-built and emits noises that make people like me go as weak at the knees (just as the Model S' acceleration does). And would probably win a 10 lap race with the Tesla around Mount Panorama.

The Tesla is the future of cars. It may still be decades before the internal combustion engine is gone, but Tesla buyers are getting the jump, and today the Model S is the best car in which to make that leap.

Porsche Panamera vs Tesla Model S What's the difference?

Summary

Deep dive comparison

Verdict

Verdict

Porsche Panamera vs Tesla Model S
What's the difference?