Award Winner: Tesla Model S receives high praise, top honors, and reintroduces the 60 kWh option [Video]

The Tesla Model S is accustomed to winning awards. Its trophy case is virtually full of them. That said, this week the Tesla Model S was recognized as the winner of two very prestigious awards. Tesla Model S won AutoPacific's top Vehicle Satisfaction Award and Robb Report's Best of the Best Award in the premium sedan category. In addition, we can take great pleasure in Tesla Motors [NASDAQ: TSLA] knocking Volkswagen out of the top 10 car brands as it's now valued at $4.4 billion according to Millward Brown's BrandZ report. And with all this amazing momentum, yesterday Tesla brought back its 60 kWh option of the Model S.

Twitter: Tesla Motors

First, AutoPacific just announced its 20th annual Vehicle Satisfaction Awards (VSAs), identifying the most satisfying vehicles in the market. An industry benchmark for measuring how satisfied an owner is with his/her new vehicle, VSAs are based on survey responses from over 65,000 owners of new 2015 and 2016 model year cars. Tesla won the most satisfying premium brand for the second year in a row. “VSAs look at the big picture, which includes owners' experiences with their vehicle’s quality and safety, but also goes deeper into the heart of the ownership experience... Tesla was new to the survey results in 2015 and won the top premium brand award by a considerable margin (23 points). They hold the top spot this year,” says AutoPacific president George Peterson.

Source: AutoPacific

And if that wasn't enough Tesla took home another award this week: "for [those] connoisseurs seeking the very best that life has to offer, Robb Report remains the essential luxury resource." Winning Best of the Best 2016 Sedan award, Robb Report writes that Tesla's, "Model S P90D is the fastest-accelerating production sedan on the market when equipped with the Spaceballs-inspired Ludicrous mode... Without making a sound, the car throws your head back and triggers a tickle in your stomach. In addition to speed, the Model S P90D offers handsome looks and a spacious interior, making it the most refined choice for all-electric driving." Robb Report released this flattering P90D review video previously too (see below).

Youtube: Robb Report

In addition, even though it's not an official award, it's especially satisfying to see Tesla knock Volkswagen out of the top 10 car brands after VW's diesel-gate scandal. As reported by Electrek, "BrandZ published its annual report of the 100 most valuable brands and Tesla knocked VW out of the top 10 in the car category. The BrandZ report is a popular annual research paper by the Millward Brown group. The company says that it uses data drawn from interviews with more than three million consumers worldwide."

Source: Silicon Valley Business Journal via Millward Brown's BrandZ Report

It's reported that, "The group valued Tesla’s brand for the first time and estimated it at $4.4 billion (the brand – not the whole company) – enough to reach the 10th position. BrandZ highlighted the following about Tesla in its report: 'The Tesla brand has come to represent much more than beautiful cars; it also means breakthrough technology and exhilarating performance. Tesla has become a symbol of a new way of living – clean, bright, innovative and forward-thinking. Tesla’s pioneering spirit, as personified by founder Elon Musk, conveys an urgency to shed the old ways of doing things.'" 

Twitter: Tesla Motors

After receiving all this praise, it's no wonder Tesla Motors brought back its 60 kWh variant (see above) of the Model S in order to make the vehicle more accessible via its compelling $66,000 price point. We're excited to see more car owners experience the Model S after this announcement yesterday. Judging by these recent honors, I'm sure they'll treasure the vehicle.