Tesla Model S now first ever electric vehicle to receive EPA range rating above 400 miles

After eight years on the market, Tesla Model S is now the first ever electric vehicle to receive EPA range rating above 400 miles. In achieving this feat, Tesla Model S Long Range Plus beats Rivian, an all-electric vehicle produced  by Amazon-backed startup. The Tesla Model S is an all-electric five-door liftback sedan first introduced on June 22, 2012. The Model S Long Range Plus has an EPA range of 402 miles (647 km), higher than that of any other battery electric car on the market.

Earlier this year, Tesla introduced a new “Long Range Plus” version of the Model S earlier this year with an EPA-rated range with 391 miles on a single charge. In a blog post released late this evening, Tesla said, “Starting today, all North American Model S Long Range Plus vehicles have an official EPA-rated range of 402 miles, representing a nearly 20% increase in range when compared to a 2019 Model S 100D with the same battery pack design.”

The company said:

This significant achievement reflects Tesla’s obsession with efficiency and energy frugality, and is realized through several changes, both iterative and transformational, in core hardware and system architecture development by the Tesla engineering, design and production teams. These changes went into production earlier this year when we first started manufacturing Model S Long Range Plus at our factory in Fremont, California. All Model S Long Range Plus vehicles will receive the new 402-mile rating.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk also went on Twitter to announce the major milestone. Musk said, “Tesla Model S now first ever electric vehicle to receive EPA range rating above 400 miles!” Musk also claims that is a first among production EVs—a key win given the impending all-electric Rivian R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck, which are promised to have 400 miles of maximum range but have yet to receive public EPA certification.

Tesla Model S now first ever electric vehicle to receive EPA range rating above 400 miles! https://t.co/EOTwVfvHS5

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2020