Tesla's Model S Plaid sets production EV record at Germany's famed Nürburgring race track

Shawn Knight

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What just happened? Tesla’s Model S Plaid has set a new world record for the fastest unmodified production electric car to go around Germany’s famed Nürburgring race track, completing the 12.9-mile course in just seven minutes and 30.909 seconds.

Tesla chief Elon Musk on Twitter said the car used for the run was completely unmodified and straight from the factory.

The previous record of seven minutes and 42 seconds was set by Porsche’s first EV, the Taycan, in 2019.

Tesla’s newly launched Model S Plaid is powered by a trio of electric motors that collectively put out around 1,020 horsepower. The all-wheel drive sedan is able to hit 60 mph from a stop in just 1.99 seconds and has a top speed of 200 mph (with the proper wheels and tires outfitted, which won't be officially offered until later this year).

While impressive, runs around the Nürburgring these days are largely just for bragging rights. And while quick for an EV, it’s still far behind what some of the fastest production / street-legal combustion cars are capable of.

Porsche’s 911 GT2 RS currently holds the world record in this category with a time of 6:38.835 that was turned in on June 14, 2021. Mercedes, Lamborghini and Ferrari also hold impressive lap times, as does the Dodge Viper and various models from McLaren.

Musk said Tesla is also planning to tackle the course with a modified Plaid equipped with aero surfaces, carbon brakes and track-rated tires.

The Model S Plaid can be ordered over on Tesla’s website, starting at $129,990.

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Just think what they could achieve by regulating the output and increasing the range!
Nothing, probably, they are oblivious rocket scientists. Musk proved it when he shoved one into space. These people seem confused what they are building and why. One has to be incredibly ignorant to think people need a sedan that can go that fast. I hope someday soon they will get punished for their stupidity when buyers start voting with their money for other brands.
 
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Nothing, probably, they are oblivious rocket scientists. Muck proved it when he shoved one into space. These people seem confused what they are building and why. One has to be incredibly ignorant to think people need a sedan that can go that fast. I hope someday soon they will get punished for their stupidity when buyers start voting with their money for other brands.
Nobody NEEDS a 3090, either, but they're cool and go fast. It's an expensive toy and it's cool to watch people push the limits of engineering. We're able to watch people push the limits of engineering BECAUSE of the people who want to buy expensive toys.
 
Notice how slow the Plaid is compared to IC cars. This just shows you how pathetic modern EVs actually are. The Plaid has to haul around 1500 pounds of batteries. Race cars MUST be light weight. That means the energy source must have the highest possible energy density.
 
Nobody NEEDS a 3090, either, but they're cool and go fast. It's an expensive toy and it's cool to watch people push the limits of engineering. We're able to watch people push the limits of engineering BECAUSE of the people who want to buy expensive toys.
This has nothing to do with GPU's where 3090 will, in a short time, be considered as an old, slow to run modern games alternative to future mainstream.
Cars that do 0-100 in 2 sec on the other hand would probably never see speed limits multiplied in the future.

High-end cars, phones, almost anything drives the innovation forward ... it's that simple, you do not need Tesla Plaid S, but your next car can pretty much benefit out the research that was put in this project.
 
Notice how slow the Plaid is compared to IC cars. This just shows you how pathetic modern EVs actually are. The Plaid has to haul around 1500 pounds of batteries. Race cars MUST be light weight. That means the energy source must have the highest possible energy density.

Compared to what IC cars? Please post a similar IC sedan that does better than this.
 
The 7:30.909 time is not "official" by the new standards. It's listed for reference to fairly compare vehicles previously tested under the Sport Auto testing procedure.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a37542845/nurburgring-lap-timing-explainer/

Also... (assuming Sport Auto times)
7:23.009 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé GT 63 S 4MATIC+ (2021)
7:23.164 Jaguar XE SV Project 8 (2018)
7:25.41 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé 63 S 4MATIC+ (2019)
7:29.81 Porsche Panamera Turbo (2020)

IC sedans its marginally faster than (assuming Sport Auto times)
7:32 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio (2015)
7:33.95 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT <- SUV

 
porsche panamera, audi RS7, Mercedes AMG 63 GT, BMW M8. I could probably name more but that's all I can think of off the top of my head

The Panamera beats the Tesla run by a second, I don't see either the RS7 or the M8 in that list. But the MB AMG GT coupe beats the Tesla by a good 7 seconds.

However the fact that the Tesla is 1.6% slower than a single sedan and as fast or faster than all others rather argues that the original claim of "pathetic" (not by you) is yet another typical internet troll.
 
The Panamera beats the Tesla run by a second, I don't see either the RS7 or the M8 in that list. But the MB AMG GT coupe beats the Tesla by a good 7 seconds.

However the fact that the Tesla is 1.6% slower than a single sedan and as fast or faster than all others rather argues that the original claim of "pathetic" (not by you) is yet another typical internet troll.
I'm an engineering nerd, all aspects of this stuff is cool. Whether it's internal combustion or electric, it's just cool. I'm a Porsche guy myself even though I'll probably never own one, but I love watching the engineers fight back and fourth. I love the competitive aspect of the automotive world in the same way many people like hockey or football.
 

Cars that do 0-100 in 2 sec on the other hand
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This is basically an impossibility - well it wouldn't look like a car - and the road would not look like a road to achieve this . The Human driver wouldn't even look human .

Tires /transmissions would look like normal ones either

I know this was hyperbole - I imagine ignoring rocket cars ( well rockets as would be flying )- if you powered up an insanely fast flywheel - no matter the power - you can not convert it too traction to get that acceleration.
As stated elsewhere I don't care about cars - went to one Drag meet - they go fast - and they make a lot of noise - those are my memories
 
This has nothing to do with GPU's where 3090 will, in a short time, be considered as an old, slow to run modern games alternative to future mainstream.
Cars that do 0-100 in 2 sec on the other hand would probably never see speed limits multiplied in the future.

High-end cars, phones, almost anything drives the innovation forward ... it's that simple, you do not need Tesla Plaid S, but your next car can pretty much benefit out the research that was put in this project.
Yeah it's like in the devil wears Prada where the fashion magazine editor tells a critical junior colleague that high fashion is the reason her cheap blue sweater is that particular shade of blue. Expensive innovation leads to run of the mill innovation too.
 
It looks cool, great driving as well but the car needs an identity. It's either gonna be a super/hypercar or it's gonna be a saloon. Otherwise it's just gonna fill a small niche or it could be a marketing ploy for pepole to buy other cheaper Tesla cars.
 
The Nürburgring is the only place you could drive fast to test your car top speed...! You always run out of road elsewhere...!
 
The 7:30.909 time is not "official" by the new standards. It's listed for reference to fairly compare vehicles previously tested under the Sport Auto testing procedure.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a37542845/nurburgring-lap-timing-explainer/

Also... (assuming Sport Auto times)
7:23.009 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé GT 63 S 4MATIC+ (2021)
7:23.164 Jaguar XE SV Project 8 (2018)
7:25.41 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé 63 S 4MATIC+ (2019)
7:29.81 Porsche Panamera Turbo (2020)

IC sedans its marginally faster than (assuming Sport Auto times)
7:32 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio (2015)
7:33.95 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT <- SUV

And after the speed limiter is removed via an upcoming software update, the Tesla will likely achieve a time that is exactly on par or better than best ones in your list.
 
This has to be the best car ever made. Its practical and faster than anything. Has no running costs and has the best tech of all...
 
This has to be the best car ever made. Its practical and faster than anything. Has no running costs and has the best tech of all...
Has no running costs ... you know, all the Tesla owners just laugh at that sentence ... and not just Tesla owners.
 
Has no running costs ... you know, all the Tesla owners just laugh at that sentence ... and not just Tesla owners.
Alright alright I should have said negligible running costs. I mean I also plan on having solar soon. My roof is specially designed for that - it have big plane side facing south, but I get most people pay for electricity and have no Tesla referral credits so yeah.
 
Alright alright I should have said negligible running costs. I mean I also plan on having solar soon. My roof is specially designed for that - it have big plane side facing south, but I get most people pay for electricity and have no Tesla referral credits so yeah.
That solar roof is an awesome idea, but I am not so sure whether it will be able to cover all the Tesla needs - it's like 90kW battery in that car after all ;)
Anyway, solar is always awesome and even if it won't cover the Tesla, it can still make a huge difference when paired with battery that can accumulate a decent backup.
I myself have to charge in the garage the old fashion way, off the grid ;)
 
And after the speed limiter is removed via an upcoming software update, the Tesla will likely achieve a time that is exactly on par or better than best ones in your list.
There are multiple videos of older Tesla Model S owners running their cars at the Nurburgring and some of them with Ludicrous mode activated. And they found that the car would go into reduced power mode because the battery pack was overheating due to the higher discharge rate. Typically this happened after 3 minutes of running and often resulted in a 9+ minute running time. The Plaid runs a special track mode (aside from certain other changes to the standard Model S) to offer sufficient performance to complete the track without going into RPM. So, removal of the so called "speed limiter" would only compromise the Plaids ability to finish the track without going into RPM.

https://insideevs.com/news/323053/tesla-model-s-fails-to-lap-nurburgring-under-full-power-video/
https://www.thedrive.com/news/5207/...-that-the-tesla-model-s-is-an-awful-track-car

Also, most manufacturers are always evolving their performance cars while Tesla has literally taken years to come out with a version of the Model S that can complete the Nurburgring without going into RPM. I expect the number of ICE/Hybrid sedans ahead of the Plaids time to only grow in time. I doubt Tesla would even bother going through trouble of further tuning the Plaid now that they've gotten the fastest production EV title for running the Green Hell.
 
There are multiple videos of older Tesla Model S owners running their cars at the Nurburgring and some of them with Ludicrous mode activated. And they found that the car would go into reduced power mode because the battery pack was overheating due to the higher discharge rate. Typically this happened after 3 minutes of running and often resulted in a 9+ minute running time. The Plaid runs a special track mode (aside from certain other changes to the standard Model S) to offer sufficient performance to complete the track without going into RPM. So, removal of the so called "speed limiter" would only compromise the Plaids ability to finish the track without going into RPM.

https://insideevs.com/news/323053/tesla-model-s-fails-to-lap-nurburgring-under-full-power-video/
https://www.thedrive.com/news/5207/...-that-the-tesla-model-s-is-an-awful-track-car

Also, most manufacturers are always evolving their performance cars while Tesla has literally taken years to come out with a version of the Model S that can complete the Nurburgring without going into RPM. I expect the number of ICE/Hybrid sedans ahead of the Plaids time to only grow in time. I doubt Tesla would even bother going through trouble of further tuning the Plaid now that they've gotten the fastest production EV title for running the Green Hell.
TBH, they certainly did improve cooling a lot on newer Teslas.
Their new cooling system is like twice as big now and probably much more effective.
Certainly not a hardcore race car, but certainly much improved compared to older models.
 
That solar roof is an awesome idea, but I am not so sure whether it will be able to cover all the Tesla needs - it's like 90kW battery in that car after all ;)
Anyway, solar is always awesome and even if it won't cover the Tesla, it can still make a huge difference when paired with battery that can accumulate a decent backup.
I myself have to charge in the garage the old fashion way, off the grid ;)
Well I plan on installing 20kw of panels so it should be able to charge my daily commute for less than an hour in a good day. Already have the permits and installation should start soon.
 
Well I plan on installing 20kw of panels so it should be able to charge my daily commute for less than an hour in a good day. Already have the permits and installation should start soon.
TBH, that sounds pretty damn incredible :)
Good luck with that project!
 
Ok now how many miles could it go before dying after and how long to charge it back to 100% vs any fuel powered car, electric cars are a fad once you really get into the full lifecycle and getting the materials to create the cars. Hydrogen atm is the only real alternative we can currently use that is better than fossil fuels.
 
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