With the widespread use of electric vehicles in California in recent years, the production EV record at the Laguna Seca race track has become something of a performance benchmark.
Record attempts take place on a regular basis there and one of the more recent ones proved to be very successful. Cameron Rogers claimed the production electric vehicle record at the track with his Tesla Model 3 Performance. He set a remarkable lap time of 1 minute and 41.28 seconds that put the Model 3 on the top of the list in the production EV category.
In all fairness, his car isn’t entirely stock. While the Model 3 Performance is, in fact, a production vehicle, this example featured a suspension upgrade from Mountain Pass Performance. That’s obviously a great thing to have when attempting to set a lap record on a technical road course like Laguna Seca, but it doesn’t make the performance any less impressive.
Also watch: Watch A Tesla Model 3 Owner Complete A Track Day At Laguna Seca
Rogers even beat some track-tuned BMW M3s the day he claimed the record. “It was faster than a number of track-prepared BMW M3’s, some of which came on a trailer and aren’t street vehicles. Our Model 3 is 100% street-comfortable, and of course passes smog,” he told Electrek.
For reference, the outright Laguna Seca EV lap record is 1:39.3, but it was set by a Lucid Air prototype with roll cage and race tires and cannot be considered a production vehicle. Next comes Cameron’s 1:41.28 time, and then a bunch of other electric vehicles. The list includes a Model S P100D driven by a Tesla’s development team (1:43.0), and a Jaguar I-Pace driven by Randy Pobst (1:48.1).
Now that we’ve set the mood, take a look at Cameron Rogers’ full onboard record lap. It sure looks fast but also eerie, given the lack of an accompanying combustion engine soundtrack so deeply embedded in our petrolhead genes.