Tesla Model S Plaid establishes production EV record at Germany's Nürburgring race-course

Tesla set another lap record for a production electric vehicle at Germany's acclaimed Nürburgring race-course. A brand-new Model S Plaid finished the 12.9-mile lap in seven minutes and 30.9 seconds, beating a record set in 2019 by a Porsche Taycan by 12 seconds. The new record was affirmed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Twitter. As per Musk, the Model S Plaid was "completely unmodified, [and] directly from [the] factory." In a follow-up tweet, he said Tesla would take one more crack at the Nürburgring using a “modified Plaid with added aero surfaces, carbon brakes & track tires (all things that can be done without Tesla being in the loop).” How significant a record this is intended for Tesla, or any automaker so far as that is concerned, is positively far from being obviously true. In setting the initial record, Porsche was fundamentally making a new category in which to contend. As noted by The Verge's motorsports expert Sean O'Kane in 2019: Automakers love bragging rights, and the Nürburgring's Nordschleife course is one of the prime battlegrounds. Yet, throughout the long term, the constraints of the track have for the mostly been investigated, as there's not as much tenuous air left for organizations who want to claim they were the quickest around the 12.9-mile course. This isn't the first time when that Tesla has decided to vanquish the "Green Hell." The organization has run prototype versions of its Model S Plaid around the popular race track leading the pack up to its debut as a production model. Those runs weren't attempts to break any records, however, 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 altogether put down around 1,000 horsepower, and the vehicle can arrive at a maximum velocity of 200 miles each hour — however just when equipped with specific wheels that will not be accessible until later this year. In any case, expert car reviewers are not persuaded that the Plaid merits its sticker price of $130,000. In the wake of putting the new Model S through broad tests, Edmunds inferred that it was only a "marketing exercise designed to draw attention to an aging car." The question is the thing that will Porsche do now. The German automaker isn't probably going to sit back or two and permit Tesla to simply take its made-up record without a type of response. The issue, obviously, is that the Taycan simply isn't pretty much as speedy as the Model S Plaid. Simply take a gander at the scoreboard.