30th April 2015 — exactly 11 years ago today, a comparatively younger and more enthusiastic Tesla (TSLA) CEO, Elon Musk, chauffeured the then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a Model S luxury electric sedan.
A large number of media and the general public gathered in the Silicon Valley, California area to get a glimpse of Japan’s PM and Elon Musk. Sadly, Shinzo is not with us anymore. But this post isn’t about the sad part; it’s about a beautiful and fun memory shared by these two ultra-popular public figures.
Yesterday, I posted a 2-minute 18-second video clip of this event on X. The video went viral. As of this writing, it has received more than 5K likes and more than 300K views. Fans of both Shinzo Abe and Elon Musk are sharing their thoughts and emotions about this sweet memory.
As Mr. Abe sat in the car, checking out its minimalistic interior design and the large center touchscreen, Musk explained to him that their sole battery supplier worldwide was Panasonic. Musk was reaffirming his company’s commitment to Japan and its businesses.
“So, I should mention that the battery pack is made by Panasonic; we have a big strategic partnership with Panasonic,” Elon Musk told Shinzo Abe.
In 2015, Tesla had only one vehicle production plant in Fremont, California. Giga Shanghai wasn’t even in the talks at the time. Later on, Tesla also added LG and China’s CATL as its battery suppliers.
Panasonic still makes a large number of batteries for Tesla vehicles at Tesla’s Giga Nevada factory. However, let’s get to the fun part. So, it was a Tesla Model S P90D, the vehicle Musk was driving.
In those days, ‘P’ stood for Performance variants. ‘D’ in the name of the car showed that it’s a Dual-Motor. 90 meant that it has a 90 kWh battery pack installed.
So, a P90D was a Dual-Motor Performance with a 90 kWh battery. In the coming years, it was discontinued in favor of the P100D.
The cabin was quiet, no sound of the engine as well, as it was an EV.
A couple of streets later, as the crowd was left behind, Musk asked Abe, “Are you ready?” Then he floored the accelerator pedal.
A collective “Ohooo” was the collective expression, as instant acceleration pushed everyone’s heads against the headrests (like in a roller coaster).
What followed was a few good laughs. “It’s fun, we’re gonna make cars fun,” said Musk. “It is fun,” the Japanese PM replied.
Sadly, Tesla has discontinued the Model S. The remaining 250 Signature Edition models are also sold out.
The automaker is celebrating the Model S and X phaseout next month by delivering some of the Signature Edition vehicles to their owners at the event.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
* Musk didn’t confirm that it was a P90D, although he’s tagged in the viral video post on X. According to some long-time Tesla owners, it was a Model S P85D.
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 CEO Elon Musk drove the then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a Model S P90D launch demonstration (watch video and read the story).){kind=link}