For the first time ever, Motor Trend’s Car of the Year doesn’t use an internal combustion engine.

All hail the electric conqueror: the Tesla Model S.

Tesla beat out all the big dogs to claim Motor Trend’s top award. Shocking. (Sorry, I couldn’t pass it up…)

I’ve written before that I don’t full understand Tesla’s financial model. I’m not convinced that the carmaker will be around ten years from now. But for today, it stands proud accomplishing what no other electric car had ever been able to achieve.

The Tesla Model S impressed Motor Trend on multiple fronts. It’s fast, beautiful and luxurious. Throw in the groundbreaking technical achievements, and you’ve got quite a car. While I have yet to drive one, I parked next to the 4-door Tesla the other day and it grabbed my attention because it’s just so darn cool looking (even before I recognized it as the Tesla). Throw in the fact that it has potential range (in some versions) to take you 300 miles on a charge, and it’s definitely going where none of the electric competitors can follow.

Heck, even Consumer Reports likes the Tesla. That’s a major achievement.

And then there’s the price. It’s still expensive, but according to Tesla the base sticker starts out around $49,900. You’d have to pay that for a luxury car like this with a regular engine. Of course the price can jump quickly to over $100,000 depending on the options.

Incidentally, the Chevy Volt did win back in 2011, but it’s not all-electric (the gas motor powers the generator which creates electricity after the battery runs low). The Prius also won back in 2004 (wow, it doesn’t seem like the Prius has been around that long), but again, it still uses fossil fuel.

You can see the winners from past years here.