Tesla Model S Set to Challenge Porsche at the Fabled Nürburgring Racetrack

The announcement follows Porsche Taycan’s record-setting run on the course

Tesla Model S
A Tesla Model S is headed to one of the world's most complex race courses.
FotoSleuth/Creative Commons

Located in Germany, the Nürburgring Nordschleife is considered one of the most complex test tracks in the world. (It’s also known by another name: “the green hell.”) Late last month the Taycan, Porsche’s forthcoming electric vehicle, set a record for electric cars at the course. “The company said Monday the Porsche Taycan, which will debut September 4, completed the 12.8-mile course in 7 minutes and 42 seconds,” wrote TechCrunch in their report on the race.

It’s a high mark for high-performance electric vehicles — and now, a challenger has arisen to see if the Taycan’s record can be broken.

Elon Musk announced on Twitter that Tesla’s Model S will race on Nürburgring next week. At Ars Technica, Jonathan M. Gitlin hailed the move as a huge leap forward for Tesla:

I’ve been dying to see Tesla engage with motorsport for at least five years now, and this is as close as the company—which builds ludicrously quick cars, lest we forget—has gotten. But it’s going to be a tough challenge for the car.

Gitlin also observed that the Nürburgring is a particularly harsh course for electric vehicles: in the past, cars from numerous manufacturers have encountered cooling issues on the complex track which have resulted in slower-than-expected times.

Will Tesla rising to Porsche’s implicit challenge usher in a new golden age of high-performance electric vehicles? News out of Germany next week may herald a seismic shift in the automotive world.

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