You know, if I am honest, I didn't think Tesla would make it this far. But they have. Good for them and good for American business. One thing that I don't recall when Tesla was developing the Model S — or Roadster for that matter — were spy shots of the cars. Now though it appears a Tesla owner putting some juice in his Model S may have stumbled upon something great.
While charging up his vehicle in Hawthorne, South Carolina, he happened to park right next to a test vehicle of some sort. It's clearly a Model S but it has a peculiar stainless steel box on the vehicle's roof along with sensors on all four wheels.
The wheel sensors aren't out of the ordinary as we've seen them on other products undergoing development.
What you will notice on the close up shot though is that there is significant wheel gap though. Could it be an all-wheel drive Model S? Possibly. It seems counter intuitive to avail such an option as batteries tend to lose charge in cold climates but given how many Model S' I see in the New York Tri-State area, it could be something owners are yearning for.
Now the other option that tin foil hat wearing folks are backing is that it's an autonomous vehicle. Considering there aren't any VISIBLE cameras for the system to scan and read the road/objects, I don't think that's the case here.
A more realistic option is that this could be a Model X chassis undergoing durability testing before the auto comes to market. Hell, it could even be a Model S undergoing durability testing.
All things considered, what say you, Spies? Care to make a wager?
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