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Automobile Magazine cited the Model S's powerful performance as well as its intriguing host of technologies in awarding the model "Car of the Year."

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Automobile Magazine has named the Tesla Model S its "Car of the Year," citing the car's design and impressive speed.

"It's the performance that won us over," Automobile Editor-in-Chief Jean Jennings said in the magazine's January 2013 issue. "The crazy speed builds silently and then pulls back the edges of your face. It had all of us endangering our licenses."

The Model S is an all-electric luxury sedan that can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 4.3 seconds. That's fast for any car, but especially one with the size and roominess of the Model S. In a test arranged by the magazine, the Model S even beat a 560 horsepower BMW M5 sedan in a race to which could hit 100 miles an hour first.

Besides being electric, the Model S doesn't have a key or a "start" button: Just sitting in the car with the key in your pocket turns it on. Put your foot on the brake, shift into "drive," and the car is ready to go

Gallery: Inside the Tesla Model S

Instead of dashboard and console buttons, everything from the stereo and air conditioning to the panoramic sunroof is controlled by a huge central touch screen that resembles a massive iPad. That same screen can also be used to check email and surf the Web.

"This was an electric car that felt very much like a real car," Automobile senior editor Joe Lorio said. "It doesn't feel like a science project. It doesn't feel like a second or third car."

When equipped with an optional pair of rear-facing children's seats, the Model S can hold up to seven people. Since there is no engine, both the back and front of the car can be used for cargo.

The Model S ranges from $50,000 for a car that can go 160 miles on a charge to almost $100,000 for a richly equipped model that can go 300 miles. It went into production this summere, and by the beginning of October, Tesla said it had sold about 250 Model S sedans. It expects to sell about 3,200 by end of this year.

Chief Executive Elon Musk has said he expects Tesla Motors (TSLA) to become profitable in November. Tesla has accepted $465 million in Department of Energy loans, which the automaker expects to begin repaying in December.

Tesla's start-up status was one factor that gave Automobile judges pause when making this selection, Lorio said.

"What if we give the car this honor, and a year from now the company disappears in a ball of flakiness?" he said "Are we going to feel foolish?"

In the end, Lorio said, the judges decided the award must be for the car and not necessarily the business, which will stand or fall on its own.

"This car is here now, and we think it's a significant milestone," he said.

First Published: November 1, 2012: 3:02 PM ET

Big Fish Casino UK (formerly Card Ace: Casino) is an iOS game from Big Fish Games, Inc. It is a particularly noteworthy app at present for being one of the first mobile social games to allow real-money gambling, thanks to Big Fish Games’ partnership with Betable. Due to the differing laws regarding online gambling around the world, however, the game’s real-money gambling incarnation is currently only available from the UK App Store – though a version of Big Fish Casino without the real-money component is available worldwide.

Big Fish Casino offers a variety of casino games for players to challenge — specifically, several slot machines; Word Ace, which is a word-creating variation on poker; Texas Hold’Em Poker; video poker; blackjack; and roulette. At the time of writing, only one of the virtual slot machines offers the facility for real-money play to UK players — all other games use in-game virtual currency.

Opting in to the real-money aspect of the game requires the player to sign up for a Betable account as well as setting up their in-game profile — and signing up for Betable also requires the player to make an initial real-money deposit. Betable offers a variety of bonus packages for new players, effectively doubling their initial deposit in most situations. There is actually no obligation for players to pay for an initial deposit, but the app does not make this particularly clear. Without real money in one’s account, however, it will be impossible to play the real-money machines — the minimum bet for the real-money slot machine is £0.01, and Big Fish Casino’s separate in-game currency chips cannot be exchanged for a real-money stake.

When playing any of the games within Big Fish Casino, there’s a synchronous multiplayer component, even in traditionally “solo” games such as slots or video poker. It’s possible to see what other players are winning and also to chat with them at any time, giving a pleasing sense of “community” to the experience. The game’s profile system also allows players to choose three different images to reflect positive, neutral and negative moods and switch between these at any time, and tapping on another player’s icon in the game offers the facility to add them as a friend, “Like” them, give them chips, give them gifts or report their profile for inappropriate content. It’s also possible to look at the player’s past records in all the different games on offer to see how well they have performed and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

Big Fish Casino does a competent enough job of providing some basic casino games (and a few fun variations) for players to enjoy, but that doesn’t mean the app is without its flaws. It supposedly offers Facebook connectivity for profile creation, but when attempting to make use of this the app simply threw a “Big Fish Casino is misconfigured for Facebook” error message and refused to allow me to go any further. The app also does not seem to store all its graphical assets permanently, for some reason — frequently, when switching to a new game, there is a moment or two while the game loads in the graphics for the various buttons and interface elements, giving the game a rather sloppy and amateurish feel at times.

Big Fish Casino is off to a relatively solid start with its real-money gambling component, then, but the whole app needs a little more polish to make it worthy of recommendation without hesitation. Those looking to gamble their real money via their phone would also probably appreciate the option to do so in games other than slots, and with higher stakes, too — but this will likely come with time as Big Fish and Betable examine the uptake for the currently-available £0.01-stake option and determine how much to expand. For now, then, Big Fish Casino UK is one to keep an eye on, but it doesn’t look like the online mobile-social gambling revolution has quite started yet.

Big Fish Casino UK does not currently appear to be ranked on the App Store leaderboards. Check back shortly to follow its progress with AppData, our tracking service for mobile and social games and developers.

Wait

A tentative step into real-money gaming in the UK, but an app that still needs a bit of spit and polish to be truly worthy of recommendation.

Big Fish Casino UK (formerly Card Ace: Casino) is an iOS game from Big Fish Games, Inc. It is a particularly noteworthy app at present for being one of the first mobile social games to allow real-money gambling, thanks to Big Fish Games’ partnership with Betable. Due to the differing laws regarding online gambling around the world, however, the game’s real-money gambling incarnation is currently only available from the UK App Store – though a version of Big Fish Casino without the real-money component is available worldwide.

Big Fish Casino offers a variety of casino games for players to challenge — specifically, several slot machines; Word Ace, which is a word-creating variation on poker; Texas Hold’Em Poker; video poker; blackjack; and roulette. At the time of writing, only one of the virtual slot machines offers the facility for real-money play to UK players — all other games use in-game virtual currency.

Opting in to the real-money aspect of the game requires the player to sign up for a Betable account as well as setting up their in-game profile — and signing up for Betable also requires the player to make an initial real-money deposit. Betable offers a variety of bonus packages for new players, effectively doubling their initial deposit in most situations. There is actually no obligation for players to pay for an initial deposit, but the app does not make this particularly clear. Without real money in one’s account, however, it will be impossible to play the real-money machines — the minimum bet for the real-money slot machine is £0.01, and Big Fish Casino’s separate in-game currency chips cannot be exchanged for a real-money stake.

When playing any of the games within Big Fish Casino, there’s a synchronous multiplayer component, even in traditionally “solo” games such as slots or video poker. It’s possible to see what other players are winning and also to chat with them at any time, giving a pleasing sense of “community” to the experience. The game’s profile system also allows players to choose three different images to reflect positive, neutral and negative moods and switch between these at any time, and tapping on another player’s icon in the game offers the facility to add them as a friend, “Like” them, give them chips, give them gifts or report their profile for inappropriate content. It’s also possible to look at the player’s past records in all the different games on offer to see how well they have performed and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

Big Fish Casino does a competent enough job of providing some basic casino games (and a few fun variations) for players to enjoy, but that doesn’t mean the app is without its flaws. It supposedly offers Facebook connectivity for profile creation, but when attempting to make use of this the app simply threw a “Big Fish Casino is misconfigured for Facebook” error message and refused to allow me to go any further. The app also does not seem to store all its graphical assets permanently, for some reason — frequently, when switching to a new game, there is a moment or two while the game loads in the graphics for the various buttons and interface elements, giving the game a rather sloppy and amateurish feel at times.

Big Fish Casino is off to a relatively solid start with its real-money gambling component, then, but the whole app needs a little more polish to make it worthy of recommendation without hesitation. Those looking to gamble their real money via their phone would also probably appreciate the option to do so in games other than slots, and with higher stakes, too — but this will likely come with time as Big Fish and Betable examine the uptake for the currently-available £0.01-stake option and determine how much to expand. For now, then, Big Fish Casino UK is one to keep an eye on, but it doesn’t look like the online mobile-social gambling revolution has quite started yet.

Big Fish Casino UK does not currently appear to be ranked on the App Store leaderboards. Check back shortly to follow its progress with AppData, our tracking service for mobile and social games and developers.

Wait

A tentative step into real-money gaming in the UK, but an app that still needs a bit of spit and polish to be truly worthy of recommendation.

The 2013 model year brought consumers a fleet of new machines, and the editors and writers of Yahoo! Autos tested over 100 new models this year, from the brutish Ford Shelby GT500 to the gas-sipping Toyota Prius C. But all those appear to be automotive afterthoughts when compared to that futureshock of an electric sedan and Yahoo! Autos' Car of the Year: the Tesla Model S.

PayPal co-founder Elon Musk's foray into the car game started in 2008 with the nimble Tesla Roadster, a Lotus Elise makeover that swapped an internal combustion engine for a suitcase full of lithium-ion battery packs. But where that coupe was a high-tech experiment disguised as a $100,000 eco-conscious status symbol, the seven-passenger, $50,000-on-up Model S sedan promised to be a make-or-break machine that would determine whether Silicon Valley-based Tesla Motors can survive as a legitimate purveyor of reliable everyday cars.

The result? While the company and its car still have hurdles to overcome before either becomes a streetside staple, the Model S is the year's most noteworthy automobile for the way Tesla has erased long-perceived limitations of electric cars (poor range, small size, spartan interiors) and, going where no established automaker has yet to tread, creating an uncompromised yet practical object of desire.

A day spent driving a top-of-the-range Model S Signature Performance Edition on Bay Area backroads and freeways revealed the Tesla's split personality. A price tag of $105,000 puts this iteration squarely in the premium luxury camp, shoulder to sheetmetal shoulder with the likes of BMW M5 and 7 series, Audi S6 and A8, and Porsche Panamera S. But the Model S can hang in such company from both performance and pampering standpoints.

While the Model S is content to quietly amble down the road as you take in its optional 580-watt Studio Sound Package ($950) stereo, simply flexing your right foot turns the car into a stealth fighter. Instant torque (and a 4.4-second zero-to-60 mph time) puts fellow travelers in your rear view mirror fast and without drama. That same composure is evident when carving up winding roads, thanks in large part to floor-stashed batteries that lower the car's center of gravity and provide its 265-mile range. The Tesla Roadster does the same thing; only now you've got your parents and your small kids plus some groceries along for the ride.

Stepping outside the vehicle, it's hard not to like the rakish exterior designed by ex-Mazda stylist Franz von Holzhausen, which splits the difference between a Jaguar XJ and an Audi A7. The one huge advantage of the Model S over any of those competitors is ample front and rear trunk space (so big that a $1,500 option is a pair of rear-facing seats for small children).

Inside, the Model S favors a modernist look, with unadorned door panels, ample room thanks to a lack of transmission tunnel and a noticeable absence of dash buttons courtesy of the car's true calling card: a 17-inch center-console screen with Apple-like operability.

The massive display allows full connectivity to the Web, grants total control over the car's various systems and provides a navigation map that is nothing short of mesmerizing. The genesis of the interface was the aviation industry, where almost all commercial jets have swapped gauges for large-panel LCD screens, says J.B. Straubel, Tesla's co-founder and CTO who previously founded electric aviation company Volacom.

"We think that's where the trend is going in the automotive industry, so we wanted as much (screen) real estate as we could fit in the car," he says. "This will be the new normal."

But there's a ways to go before Tesla's products become ubiquitous. For starters, Model S owners have reported a range of glitches in online forums, including door handles that freeze (they're motorized affairs that extend out when touched), wiper arms that break (they exert tremendous force on a dry windshield and can be triggered by drops of sap), and a range of software glitches (perhaps to be expected given that the car is genuinely a computer on wheels). When Yahoo! Autos' editorial director Greg Anderson first received the Model S test car, it refused to drive for no particular reason -- then suddenly sprung to life. He also reported that the driver's door required a slam to shut properly, and the massive panorama sunroof made a grinding noise while closing.

Tesla is being aggressive about addressing those issues, but also has bigger fish to fry. Financially, so far it has stayed afloat thanks to a range of investors and loans from the Department of Energy. But ultimate survival will depend on a genuine marketplace embrace of both the Model S and the forthcoming Model X, a four-door mini-ute that should be priced a bit downmarket from the S. Critical to the adoption of both cars, however, is the continued rollout of Tesla's Supercharger stations, electric version of traditional gas stations. So far, there are six spread out across California that allow drivers to add three hours of highway cruising time in a 30-minute pit stop. And the company's strategy of selling its cars only online with factory-owned showrooms around the country has drawn two lawsuits from traditional dealers.

As for current S production, Musk's early October blog post noted that 359 Model S sedans had been completed at the company's Fremont, Calif, plant, with 250 actually delivered. While Musk congratulated workers two days ago for building the 1,000 Model S bodies, the factory's pace will have to be sped up to meet its financial targets. Tesla officials say they have 13,000 $5,000 reservations for Model S sedans; the goal is to have 3,000 cars produced by the end of 2012 (1,200 of those being the pricey Signature edition) and ideally make between 20,000 to 30,000 cars a year going forward.

Those are lofty aspirations, but then again Musk likes to aim for the stars; consider that his other company, SpaceX, intends to put tourists into orbit. Many automotive trailblazers -- from Preston Tucker to John DeLorean -- failed because they tried to change so much of the automotive business at once. There's no more complicated manufacturing on earth than building cars, and the next few weeks will be crucial to Tesla's survival. Yet it doesn't change what Tesla's team of free thinkers has already accomplished; the Model S may not be a rocket to outer space, but it is the most significant automobile to land on our roads in many a moon.