Tesla Model S Performance is the quickest electric car…in the world

A Tesla Model S Performance has set a world record as the fastest production electric car with a 1/4 mile run of just 12.371 seconds.

Yes, we still believe – certainly with the current and prospective battery technology – that the only real use an electric car has is as a small urban runaround or a local deliver vehicle. But that doesn’t stop us being impressed by the Tesla Model S.

With its electric motor producing something north of 400bhp – and mountains of torque – we knew the Model S was quick, but according to Drag Times, the Tesla Model S Performance is the quickest electric car in the world.

Drag Times took a production Model S Performance with 21″ tyres and stuck it on the track at the Palm Beach International Raceway. They had a couple of blats and recorded quarter mile times of 12.678 seconds, but after plugging the model S in for three hours to top the battery up to full they recorded times of 12.371 seconds.

At the end of the 1/4 mile run the Model S hit a speed of 110.84mph, with 60mph arriving in a scant 3.9 seconds. That’s 911 S territory.

Drag Times videoed the Model S doing its drag run against a Viper SRT10 (below) which was demolished by the four-door saloon that is the Model S. It obviously happened, but we have to ask how good the driver of the Viper was?

Still, an impressive performance from the Tesla.

By Cars UK