It’s pretty interesting that a car introduced a little over nine years ago is targeting a new lap record for the fastest production four-door EV at the Nürburgring. Granted, this Model S is far from being the original 2012 version of the all-electric sedan as we’re dealing with the high-performance Plaid of which deliveries to customers started only a few weeks ago.
Riding on the optional 21-inch Arachnid wheels, this seemingly stock Model S Plaid was spotted by our spy photographers on its way to the Green Hell. We can’t quite see what’s going on inside the cabin, but from some angles, we’re getting the impression it had a roll cage. That’s quite common for prototypes working out at the ‘Ring gym.
14 Photos
It’s worth pointing out the very same prototype was caught on camera way back in September 2019 carrying an identical “BIT 0679” license plate. It was riding on different wheels and had a provisional rear spoiler along with the pre-Refresh styling of the Model S. According to our trustworthy spies, the test vehicle is now running on sticky Michelin tires, which will certainly help improve the lap time if Tesla is indeed eyeing a new record attempt.
In February 2021, head honcho Elon Musk joined the Joe Rogan Experience podcast and revealed plans to return to the Nürburgring and achieve a low-seven-minute lap time. He went on to say the Model S Plaid fitted with “further improvements could bust seven minutes on the Nürburgring, which would be a pretty wicked act on its own.”
An unofficial lap time of 7 minutes and 13 seconds was allegedly recorded in November 2019, so there are reasons to believe the Model S Plaid can dethrone the Porsche Taycan (7:42) as the fastest four-door EV at the ‘Ring. However, we’re sure the folks from Zuffenhausen are not resting on their laurels, especially since the current record was achieved with the Turbo, not the flagship Turbo S. The German sedan’s product manager Lukas Kramer has gone on record to say Porsche’s first EV could go even faster around the famous track.
With AMG preparing spicy versions of the EQS and the smaller (presumably lighter) EQE sedan, the battle for the fastest four-door car without a combustion engine at the Nordschleife is heating up. As to whether these records actually matter at the end of the day, that’s another story…