Wham! With the force of a body tackle I am slammed into the back of the passenger seat. Have we been hit from behind? Did something blow up? With shock, I realise that the only thing that has happened is that my co-driver has slammed the accelerator and catapulted the car from 20 to 50 km/h in less than a second.

The all-electric Tesla Model S plays tricks on your senses. Here are a few of things that make it a remarkable driving experience:

• Silent acceleration. What really threw me is that there is no sound when you accelerate: no deep, guttural growl of a V8, no earsplitting whine of a turbo. There is literally no detectable sound at all. Racing through a tunnel with the window down, the only thing you hear is… other cars.
• Monster torque. To me, acceleration is a key part of a driving experience. I can only compare this torque-beast to my experiences with the Porsche 911 Turbo and Dodge Challenger SRT8. The Model S is amazingly rapid. Faster than both of those from 0-100 km/h. Soon you forget about the lack of sound and just enjoy the power. This is car is a silent rocket.
• Passive braking. Accelerating the Tesla clearly brings its share of surprises, but so does lifting your foot off the gas. Instantly the car starts to slow down, like you are engine braking hard. While jerky and annoying at first, you quickly learn that the trick is to not take your foot completely off the gas. And there are benefits: you end up using the regular brakes less and achieving a smoother ride — with the added bonus that the re-generation prolongs the range of the car.
• Dashboard jumbotron. There are two displays. One above the steering column featuring an analogue dial showing speed, charge and consumption/regeneration. This beautiful, discrete instrument gives great feedback while driving. Then there is the over-the-top 17" touchscreen in the center console. There are countless issues: insanely bright (I had to set it to night mode), a ridiculously convoluted design and each view is overloaded with options. Its only hope is that its software might be updated one day with something less like a game console and more attuned to driving a 2000-kg rocket ship.

The Tesla is a beautiful car, both inside and outside, and a pure joy to drive. If this is the car of the future, I’m all in.