Tesla Model S Plaid Breaks Nurburgring Lap Record For Production Electric Car

The Tesla Model S Plaid edition has broken the lap record at the seminal Nurburgring Nordschleife track with a lap time of 7:30:909 minutes. Tesla has been testing the Model S Plaid at the track which for many is the most challenging and dangerous racetrack in the world. Importantly, it breaks the record set by the Porsche Taycan by more than 12 seconds and comes quite close to gas-powered cars.

Also Read: Tesla testing Model S Plaid at Nurburgring

The Nurburgring Nordschleife was the stage for Nikki Lauda's life-changing accident which has been portrayed even in the movie Rush. 3-time F1 world champion Sir Jackie Stewart has dubbed the track "the green hell". It is also one of the longest tracks with a single lap being almost 21 kilometres with track winds inside the Rhineland forests being extreme and roads having undulations and an assortment of corners. It is a technical challenge for a car and the driver of monumental levels.

Tesla Model S Plaid just set official world speed record for a production electric car at Nurburgring. Completely unmodified, directly from factory. pic.twitter.com/AaiFtfW5Ht

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 9, 2021

The Tesla Model S Plaid clocked an average speed of 166.320 km/h, something Elon Musk shared on Twitter. Now, Musk has revealed that the Plaid will be modified with an aero kit, carbon brakes and track tyres which is something that was done unofficially at Pikes Peak as well. This will represent a further improvement in lap time.

A modified Telsa Model S Plaid also raced at Pikes Peak

Technically, the Nio EP9 set a lap time of 6 minutes 45.90 seconds on the track in 2017. But since only 20 cars were made it can't be counted as a production car/ Volkswagen's ID.R which was an electric version of its Le Man's car did even better with a whopping time of 6 minutes and 05.336 seconds which to date remains the fastest time on the track by an electric vehicle but again that's not a production car.

Tesla believes it can make the Plaid achieve a time in the realm of the 7 minute 5-second mark. But this will come with the new aero kit and of course, if Tesla takes out the usual production car paraphernalia then the curb weight of the car will go down which will make it faster.