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Supercharged Jeep Drag Races Tesla Model S and It Doesn't Go as Expected

The thing with Teslas on the drag strip is that everyone knows pretty much what to expect from them. Unlike internal combustion engines, you can't really add stuff to Tesla's electric motors to make them spin faster, so the EVs are extremely constant and predictable in their performance.
Tesla vs. Jeep drag race 63 photos
Photo: YouTube screenshot
It's not just that performance tuning for electric vehicles hasn't picked up yet, but even if it did, not a lot of people would be willing to go through with it. That's because Tesla - and other manufacturers alike - would waste no time to suspend its warranty for any modified car. Worse than that, it could also block its access to the Supercharger network, canceling one of the brand's most important perks compared to its competition.

It sounds like retaliatory action, but it's not the case. Tesla would simply try to prevent any potential incidents caused by those modifications while charging. After all, Superchargers are designed for cars with very specific parameters, parameters that may change once third parties start to get their hands on the EVs' software and hardware.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee in this clip didn't have any similar problems. The gas station had no problem letting it refuel and even if Jeep itself was to deny it service, there are plenty of other shops around where it could get the attention it needs. Which is why its engine develops far more hp than the value written in the catalog when it was purchased.

The Tesla owner says the Grand Cherokee didn't start life as a Trackhawk, but did get the 392ci (6.4-liter) V8. That means it couldn't have developed more than 470 hp when it was new (and stock). The run you're about to see shows just how much of an impact adding a supercharger can have on a vehicle's performance. We don't get any info on the Jeep's modifications, but the Tesla owner says he suspects somewhere in the region of 900 hp for the behemoth. Anyway, it's definitely the Grand Cherokee we need to thank for the great 1/8-mile race down below.

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Editor's note: Most videos on this channel are shot using the rear-facing camera. Not this one, though.

About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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