In a straight line... The Tesla weighs more than an F150 and corners like a boat
That gives it much better handling characteristics than an equivalent ICE car.
[1] http://www.motortrend.com/oftheyear/car/1301_2013_motor_tren...
[2] http://www.caranddriver.com/features/tesla-model-s-60-2015-1...
Unfortunately only 1 track, but it's not pretty and turns in times slower than a Golf GTD (diesel) or Fiesta ST.
The P85 has a bit more tracks: http://fastestlaps.com/cars/tesla_model_s_performance_model....
Around Willow Springs it's slower than a Ford Mustang Ecoboost (0-60 5.2s, 310hp), and around Laguna it's close to 3 seconds slower than a VW Golf R (0-60 4.5s, 300hp)
The Tesla is a luxury barge after all, not a sports car, so these results shouldn't exactly be surprising.
Just don't confuse that with being a fast car, at least not around a track.
Tesla Model S: DNF, overheated, http://insideevs.com/expected-tesla-model-s-fails-lap-nurbur...
Ford GT: 07:52, https://nurburgringlaptimes.com/lap-times-top-100/
Porsche Boxster S (981): 07:58, http://fastestlaps.com/cars/porsche_boxster_s_981.html
>The lap itself was around 10 minutes Bridge to Gantry (in heavy traffic) but unfortunately the car went into a reduced power mode about 3 minutes in due to excess battery heat (at least, that’s my guess).
>However, before it did it was able to keep a GT3 RS going full chat, within shouting distance (at the 2:00 mark) far longer than any 4,700lb sedan has a right to.
>I think without the reduced power output and traffic, a B-T-G lap under nine minutes is possible. According to the Bridge To Gantry site, that would put it in the company of some really quick hot hatches.
The Model S is a really nice sedan. But its performance on the track is clearly sub par because a) it’s heavy and b) it just isn’t designed to run at full tilt for very long before the batteries or motors start to overheat. Sure, from cold the performance is impressive but if you only get that performance for a few minutes, it’s rather less so.
The design spec was probably something like “give the buyer the feeling they’ve got their money’s worth when they burn off their friends from the next set of red lights” not “beat a top-line Porsche round the Nürburgring”. And that’s OK - no one expects executive barges to be amazing track cars, except (apparently) for the hoards of Telsa boosters who don’t seem able to accept that their object of desire might have the odd flaw.
Telsa are the Apple of the automotive world, right down to having their very own reality distortion field :)
Yes but the equivalent ICE car by weight is... an SUV, or one of those old, massive cadillacs.
The P85D is a heavy, heavy car at just under 5,000 lbs. Whereas something ilke the Aventador is 3,400 lbs (and it's on the heavier end of the sports car spectrum).
But regardless while a low CoG is nice, it doesn't change the basic physics of you need to alter the direction of 5,000 lbs and you are not going to do that as well as altering the direction of 3,400 lbs.
I've personally always had preference for smaller and better cornering / better handling cars. But there's a subset of car enthusiasts who only care about straight-line performance.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/17/8994649/new-tesla-roadster...
My guess is it will also have at least a 500-mile range, as the prices for batteries would have fallen by ~3x by the time the new one is out and since the original launched.