Tesla has reportedly achieved another record time at Nürburgring race track with its Model S “Plaid” prototypes, beating the record of the Porsche Taycan, but it’s likely still unofficial.
As we previously reported, following the recent launch of the Porsche Taycan, Tesla CEO Elon Musk appears to be on a mission to show that Tesla’s vehicles are still the highest-performing EVs available today.
Last month, he said that Tesla would bring a Model S to the Nürburgring race track — right after Porsche established a new 4-door electric car record at the track.
However, in the following days, Tesla announced a Model S with a 3-motor “Plaid powertrain” and new a “chassis prototype.”
Musk also said that Tesla had a new 7-seater Model S prototype at the Nürburgring racetrack, and it seems like the track testing could simply be about testing new versions of Tesla’s Model S and the new 3-motor “Plaid Powertrain” instead of just going after the Taycan.
Either way, they were still going after a record.
A witness said that Tesla’s “Plaid” Model S already crushed the Porsche Taycan’s Nürburgring time, which Tesla confirmed in their own testing, but the time hasn’t been made official by the track.
Tesla said that it would be making improvements and head back in October.
Sure enough, the updated Model S Plaid prototypes were spotted there last week as we saw some prototypes try some hot laps at the Nürburgring racetrack.
Now Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, who have people spying on the track, says that Tesla achieved a new record time with one of the prototypes:
Somehow, they managed to get hold of a piece of free track and were able to burn twice 7:13-minute hand-stopped laps into the asphalt, according to our local source. Thus, Tesla again undercut their also unofficial time of 7:23 minutes from the previous weeks. Aboard the blue Tesla Model S sat the designated Nordschleife expert and racing driver Thomas Mutsch.
The publication’s sources recorded the laps themselves, so it’s not official and still not clear if they were attempted through Nordschleife’s official process.
However, Auto Motor und Sport has accurately reported Tesla’s lap times at the Nürburgring race track before.
Even if the time is official, there are also likely going to dispute about the modifications on the prototypes.
In September, we reported on the Tesla Model S prototypes at Nürburgring having new fascia, a strange rear spoiler, and more modifications.
They also tested different configurations last month, and Auto Motor und Sport now reports that the new record lap time was achieved with the blue Model S Plaid prototype, which was equipped flared fenders, a massive diffuser, and a relatively small spoiler.
When Tesla tested the prototypes on the track last month., Musk said that the Tesla Model S Plaid is going to be released next summer.
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