Plaid slays electric Ring record

Fastest version of Tesla’s Model S has blitzed the Nurburgring.

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TAKE a brand-new, completely factory-standard sedan onto the world’s most famous record-setting venue for cars …. and re-set the clocks.

So easy, right?

 Tesla made it sound so in announcing how it has set a new lap record for a production electric vehicle at Germany’s famed Nurburgring circuit.

The landmark car that completed the 20.7 kilometre lap in seven minutes and 30.9 seconds, bettering by 12 seconds a record set in 2019 by a Porsche Taycan?

A Model S Plaid. According to Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, the car was “completely unmodified, (and) directly from (the) factory.”

In a follow-up tweet, he said Tesla will return to the Nordschleife track using a “modified Plaid with added aero surfaces, carbon brakes ajd track tires (all things that can be done without Tesla being in the loop).”

Tesla also released the video here via YouTube, showing Swedish driver Andreas Simonsen at the wheel. He’s best known as a competitor in the German GT championship.

Correction: At the yoke. Yup, the run was made with the Plaid’s controversial alternative steering device. 

In setting the initial record, Porsche was basically creating a new category in which to compete.

Website ‘The Verge’ reminds this isn’t the first time that Tesla has set out to conquer the “Green Hell.”

The company has run Model S Plaid prototypes around the famous race track in the lead-up to its debut as a production model. Those runs weren’t attempts to break any records, though, as Musk has called them opportunities to “review and tune” the Model S Plaid for safety.

The Model S Plaid is powered by a new tri-motor drivetrain that collectively put down around 745kW, and the car can reach a top speed of 320kmh — though only when outfitted with certain wheels and tyres that apparently won’t be available until later this year.