Published: 21 August 2013

Los Angeles-Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA), the electric-car maker led by billionaire Elon Musk, said its flagship Model S sedan received the highest crash test ratings of any car tested by U.S. regulators.

The battery-powered vehicle, with a base price of about $70,000, got five-star ratings in every safety and crash category set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Palo Alto, California-based company said in a statement. The car has the "lowest likelihood of injury to occupants" and exceeds the performance of sport-utility vehicles and minivans, Tesla said late yesterday.

The assessment follows Consumer Reports magazine rating Model S among the best cars it's ever tested, in a May review.

Tesla, named for inventor Nikola Tesla, plans to deliver a record 21,000 of the lithium-ion battery sedans this year to customers in North America, Europe and Asia.

Tesla reported second-quarter earnings this month that surpassed analyst estimates on a surge in Model S deliveries.

On its operating basis, Tesla said it will make money all year, even as it expands to Europe and Asia.

The Model S lacks a large engine block and has a larger "crumple zone" to protect passengers in the event of a crash, the company said.

That helped the car get a combined 5.4-star score in government tests. Musk, 42, who is both Tesla's chief executive officer and biggest shareholder, joked in a July interview that the car would get "six- or seven-star ratings" if government tests had such designations.

Tesla gained 3.2 percent to $149.58 at the close in New York.

The company's shares have increased more than fourfold this year, compared with a 16 percent increase for the Russell 1000 Index. (RIY) Musk's personal net worth has more than tripled this year to $7.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
- Bloomberg

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