Tesla Vs Porsche?

After Porsche’s Taycan secured its status as the fastest electric production vehicle ever to grace the Nürburgring, Tesla Motors was keen to steal the title. This evolving rivalry also resulted in Elon Musk tossing some light shade at the German manufacturer over its liberal use of the word “turbo.” What followed were some sedan-based lap records set by the American company at Laguna Seca, which was little more than a distraction from the main event while Tesla got its ducks in a row.

In Nürburg, Porsche’s Taycan Turbo S set the highly impressive time of 7 minutes and 42 seconds in August. The following month, Tesla starting running the Model S. This week, reports coming in from Germany claim the American manufacturer set an unofficial time of 7 minutes and 23 seconds. But there are issues with Tesla’s record-breaking run.

According to early accounts from Auto Motor und Sport, on-hand observers verified the time as accurate. While a gaggle of pro drivers — led by track veteran Thomas Mutsch — ran the Model S, many onlookers noted that the vehicles appeared to be wearing non-factory competition tires and new bodywork.

Tesla’s Laguna Seca runs also utilized a specially made Model S variant using a three-motor powertrain referred to as “Plaid” ( another Spaceballs reference). The system, which was originally intended for use in the revamped Tesla Roadster, is supposed to deliver quite a bit more oomph than existing powertrains, but would effectively nullify any production vehicle records the company was going for.

However, Electrek noted that Tesla is expected to bring various prototypes to test in Nürburg this month and may never have actually sought to break Porsche’s record. Auto Motor und Sport also mentioned that the company has several more weeks of testing scheduled at the track. But Musk has previously said there would be no updates for the Model S in the foreseeable future, making us wonder why the company bothered bringing modified versions of the car to Germany. Just to test the new powertrain?

Musk recently suggested that Plaid models could enter into production as early as next year, so it’s totally plausible. But that would also put Tesla’s lap record on a similar trajectory.

We’re curious as to what Tesla says next. It’s doubtful the company will proclaim itself as besting Porsche until Plaid models qualify as production vehicles, though it might still hype the run. Musk has been careful not to claim the Model S has official defeated the Taycan; he simply advised Porsche to be ready for the future.

“It’s a start,” the CEO tweeted on Tuesday. “We expect these track times to be beaten by the actual production 7 seat Model S Plaid variant that goes into production around Oct/Nov next year.”

[Images: Abu hasim.A/Shutterstock, Porsche]