The new kid on the block in California is definitely the Tesla Model S P85D. It’s the fastest car the American manufacturer has ever put in production and even though it’s an EV, it smokes a lot of conventional cars straight up with its performance.
Some might say that using the ‘EV’ term pejoratively might be a bit too much and that some electric cars are and have always been better than ICE ones but the truth of the matter is, no matter how efficient and green they are, people seem to be looking at them the wrong way.
Of course, things will change in the future but in the meantime, they are still considered the losing choice, despite blatant opposite proof being shown everywhere each day.
The P85D for example has all-wheel drive and a total power output of 691 HP with 687 lb-ft (931 Nm) of twist available from 0 (zero) RPM. Imagine how hard this car pulls from a standstill...
However, to feed those electric motors (because there are two of them aboard the Tesla), big batteries are needed and that increase the weight of the car considerably. Overall, the Model S weighs 4,900 lbs (2,222 kg) which is a lot but not as high a number as expected from an EV.
On the other hand, the BMW M4 it’s racing today is a convertible and tips the scale at 4,140 lbs (1,877 kg), which is more than 200 kg (440 lbs) over the weight of the Coupe, for example.
At the same time, the power output remained the same and with 431 HP and 550 Nm (406 lb-ft) of torque, it’s hard to keep up with the Tesla that has a lot more to dispose of in the power/torque department. To top everything off, the race is also done from a standstill and the M4 is RWD...
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