A regular production Tesla Model S Plaid has lapped the Nurburgring in a blistering 7:30.909, Elon Musk has revealed.
Tesla first started testing the Model S Plaid at the famed German circuit two years ago and has now published official lap times for it. A picture shared by Musk to Twitter shows times of 7:30.909 and 7:35.579.
It seems likely that the 7:30.909 lap was set on the 20.6 km (12.8 mile) configuration of the circuit while the 7:35.579 was set on the longer 20.832 km (12.94 mile) course that has been more commonly used since 2019. It is usual for lap times on the longer circuit to be 4-6 seconds slower.
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A time of 7:30.909 around the shorter Nurburgring course snatches away the EV sedan record from the Porsche Taycan Turbo that ran a 7:42.3 on the 20.6 km course in 2019. We wouldn’t be surprised if Porsche went back with the more powerful Taycan Turbo S to attempt to gain its crown.
There are a handful of ICE sedans that have lapped the ‘Ring faster than the Tesla Model S Plaid, however, including the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S with a 7:23.009 around the 20.6 km course and the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 that ran a 7:18.361 around the shorter configuration. The Porsche Panamera Turbo also lapped the 20.8 km course in 7:29.81 last year.
Tesla Model S Plaid just set official world speed record for a production electric car at Nurburgring. Completely unmodified, directly from factory. pic.twitter.com/AaiFtfW5Ht
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 9, 2021
The two fastest EVs to ever lap the circuit are the Volkswagen ID.R with a time of 6:05.336 (20.8 km) course and the NIO EP9 with a 6:45.90 (20.8 km).
According to Musk, the Model S Plaid used for the record run was completely unmodified and sourced directly from the factory. He added that a Model S Plaid modified with new “aero surfaces, carbon brakes & track tires” will soon set a lap time. Tesla has yet to release a video of the record run.
Note: Images and video used are not from the record-setting run.