Well known auto journalist and Top Gear presenter Chris Harris has said that the EV revolution will produce the “Fastest cars the world has ever seen” after track-testing the VW I.D. R race car.
Respected German publication Auto Motor und Sport is reporting that the Tesla Model S Plaid prototype has been hand-timed lapping the Nordschleife in 7 minutes and 13 seconds, according to the outlet’s local source. Adjusting for race-compound tires, this puts the Tesla around 19 seconds ahead of the Taycan Turbo’s 7:42 lap time reported by Porsche in August. It’s also faster than every gas-powered 4-door series production car ’round the ‘ring.
Despite Porsche’s recent ambitious claims to have engineered an electric vehicle with uniquely repeatable performance, Bjørn Nyland has just demonstrated that the already-on-sale Tesla Model 3 has long since been capable of repeatable performance.
The Porsche Taycan offers much higher performance “bang for the buck” compared to its gas-powered Panamera sedan sibling. This applies across the board — the new Taycan 4s variant provides faster acceleration than the Panamera GTS whilst being 20% less expensive, and the Turbo and Turbo S variants significantly outperform their more expensive Panamera siblings. Surely some mistake by Porsche?
Whilst seemingly irrelevant to everyday driving, the ongoing competition between Tesla and Porsche over EV performance supremacy is quickly demonstrating that fossil sports cars are becoming obsolete — an important symbolic milestone for the EV revolution which will have repercussions in higher volume segments. If Porsche wants its Taycan to keep pace with the Tesla Model S Plaid, Porsche will have to allow it to outperform the company’s current flagship Panamera combustion sedan. And that will only highlight the inferiority of fossil vehicles.
Porsche just held the launch event for the all-electric Taycan, sharing useful new information on WLTP range (up to 241 miles on the highway) and 0–62 mph acceleration time (as low as 2.8 seconds), thanks in part to great aerodynamics. We’ll have more coverage from the event itself in the coming days, but here’s a quick piece on the key information.
