Tesla Model S vs BMW Alpina B7
What's the difference?

Tesla Model S

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2017 price

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BMW Alpina B7

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2018 price

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Maserati Quattroporte

Mazda 2

Mazda 6

Mercedes-AMG E63

Mercedes-Benz A-Class

Mercedes-Benz A35

Mercedes-Benz A45

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 E53

Mercedes-Benz EQ-Class

Mercedes-Benz EQS

Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Summary

2017 Tesla Model S

2018 BMW Alpina B7

By Peter Anderson

By Laura Berry

Safety Rating

Electric motor type

Multi-Motor – Mixed Types

Twin Turbo V8, 4.4L

Vehicle type

Battery Electric

Premium Unleaded Petrol

Electric range

613 km

9.6L/100km (combined)

Energy consumption

20.0 kWh/100km

Battery capacity

100.00 kWh

Seating

Likes

Rocketship speed
Clean interior design
Ever-improving proposition

Supremely comfortable ride
Luxurious cabin
Supercar-scaring 330km/h top speed

Dislikes

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

Exhaust note could be tougher sounding
Extra care needed to pilot through car parks and alley ways
Australia's speed limits

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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2018 BMW Alpina B7 Summary

You know when you're walking along the footpath and you come to a soft spongey bit that the council have put in around a tree and your mind goes: "Whoah, the ground is bouncy but it looks just like bitumen?!"

Well that's the kind of response you'll get from people when they think they're looking at a regular BMW 7 Series, only to have their world go a bit bouncy when they see the Alpina B7 badge on the back of this car as you're overtaking them at Warp Factor 9000.

And you will be overtaking them like a blur because, thanks to the elves at German tuning house Alpina, the B7 is hugely fast for a five-seat, 5.3m-long, 2.2 tonne limo. But then the B7 is fast for any type of car of any dimensions, because with its 330km/h top speed this beast will outrun a McLaren 570GT. Yes, seriously.

Based on the BMW 750Li long wheelbase, the B7 begins life rolling down the same production line as a regular 7 Series. Alpina then goes on to make so many changes to the engine and chassis that the German government requires the BMW VIN to be replaced with a new one.

Ready to find out more? Well there's so much to see here that things may go a bit weird and bouncy again. Be prepared.

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Deep dive comparison

2017 Tesla Model S 2018 BMW Alpina B7

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.

Verdict

The BMW Alpina B7 is a special car destined (like all Alpinas) to be a collector's item, due to its rarity and exclusivity. I asked Alpina just how many current model B7s there are in Australia and the answer was "less than five", which is just as mysterious as most people find the car in general.

The B7 is fast – too fast to enjoy legally on Australian roads – but it is also supremely comfortable and well appointed. For Alpina fans lucky enough to be driven in on,e this would make for a truly rare and niche way to be chauffeured.

Tesla Model S vs BMW Alpina B7 What's the difference?

Summary

Deep dive comparison

Verdict

Verdict

Tesla Model S vs BMW Alpina B7
What's the difference?