TESLA'S NEW MODEL S PLAID WITH TRACK PACKAGE CLAIMS NüRBURGRING EV LAP RECORD. AGAIN.
With Nürburgring being the circuit of choice for many automakers to show off how good their sportscars are, we have years worth of records and data showing lap times and sector speeds, enabling a pretty decent comparison between them all. In more recent years the track has been attacked by electric vehicles, and these new-technology cars have been laying down some mighty impressive lap times. While the EV cars that we see hitting the market are mostly commuter types, the ones marketed as fast cars have been having a battle for lap records all of their own. That battle for the fastest production EV has been a bit of a back-and-forth between Tesla and Porsche that started in 2019 after Porsche’s Taycan set a lap record. In 2021 Tesla took the new production version of the Model S Plaid to the track and the changes to the car were good enough to see it take the EV record back from Porsche after it set a lap time of 7:35.579. In 2022 Porsche took the record back, beating Tesla by a decent two seconds. Porsche fans loved this, as did the Tesla haters, of which there are many. But a deep dive into the specs of the Porsche revealed that while it was a Taycan taken from the showroom floor, it was optioned with a performance kit that was tailored to improve the car’s track prowess. So while the Taycan Turbo S is fast with the added updates, Tesla also had some new updates it wanted to try with an optional Track Package that it was planning for the Model S, and that update was just rolled out so the EV headed back to Nürburgring to set the record straight, so to speak.
The Tesla Model S Plaid with the Track Package is quite the beast, it’s the top-spec Tesla available. When launched it was predicted that the car would have a massive top speed just over 320 km/h, but the first units were limited at just over 260 km/h. t delivered last year, the vehicle “only” featured a top speed of 163 mph (262 km/h). Last year’s Track Mode update pushed the top speed to just over 280 km/h, even though there was more power to be had, the car isn’t light, so before the power was increased attention needed to be paid to the brakes and tyres. This is basically what the new update sorted out, and so Tesla headed back to the ‘Ring to see what the whole package was now capable of. A lot it seems. The Tesla EV obliterated the EV lap record with a new fastest lap time of 7:25.231. We’ll save you from having to open up your calculator app, the new time shattered the old time by more than 8 seconds. In track racing terms that’s a lifetime. While we’re sure the record will eventually be beaten as battery packs are getting lighter and smaller, it’s still going to take a massive effort for any competitors to improve their offerings enough to be faster. The best part about this Tesla update is that it’s available to existing Model S Plaid owners and can be had for between $15 000 and $20 000.
Take a look at the YouTube video that shows just how fast the new Tesla Model S Plaid is when the optional Track Package has been optioned. Don't expect your Tesla to be able to do the same though, the massive kahoonas needed to chuck a stupidly fast and heavy EV around the famed racetrack aren't included in the go-faster package. It does make us wonder though, seeing as the Model S is basically fully autonomous, could the car take you around at the same speed now that one has done it with a human at the wheel?: Model S Plaid at Nürburgring Again | Tesla
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