Porsche announces the “fastest electric car from Zuffenhausen” for the new year. What is meant is a pre-production model of the Porsche Taycan, which the manufacturer has apparently generously reworked – although it is not yet known in detail how. Accordingly, test driver Lars Kern managed to circumnavigate the Nordschleife in 7 minutes and 7 seconds. This means that the new edition of the electric car is already 26 seconds faster than the previous model.
“The distance between the pre-production car and the current Turbo S is over 1.3 kilometers,” says the company in a press release. But Porsche didn’t just beat itself: with the current time, Porsche also beat the Tesla Model S Plaid, which initially set the previous lap record for four-door cars with 7:35 minutes in September 2021, thereby making the competition look old.
Even back then, Tesla boss Elon Musk announced that this could be done better if the Tesla Model S were aerodynamically modified, the tires were changed and the brakes were replaced. The company then upgraded in June 2023 and achieved a lap time of 7 minutes and 25.23 seconds. In contrast to the previous Model S Plaid, the vehicle was equipped with the “Track Package”, which is theoretically available from Tesla for 18,435 euros, but is currently not in stock.
With the new time, Porsche is still many times faster – and even rivals the performance of electric hypercars like the Rimac Nevera, which covered the route in 7:05.298. Porsche plans to provide a video of the record run in mid-March.
Even though car enthusiasts are currently piling on the fact that Porsche has dethroned Tesla, the new record is hardly surprising. The sports car manufacturer from Zuffenhausen has been optimizing its vehicles for lap times and the best possible race track performance for decades. Porsche’s experience in this area is just as great as its ambition to achieve ever better results.
The Tesla Model S Plaid, on the other hand, was not even modified for the first record, but corresponded to the standard car ex works. It was only in the second attempt that some new parts were added. Of course, Tesla was happy to take advantage of the marketing effect of the good lap times, but did not pursue comprehensive vehicle optimization for even better results.
The Taycan, which has now set the record, is a pre-production vehicle in which Porsche has not only learned from its experiences with the current model, but has also optimized its development to achieve such racetrack times. The comparison, even if it can certainly be drawn for better illustration, is a bit flawed. This could also be the reason why Porsche doesn’t mention other manufacturers in the press release.
Incidentally, Porsche also holds the record for the fastest lap on the Nürburgring to date: With a Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo, it managed to complete the Nordschleife in 5 minutes and 19 seconds. However, this is a thoroughbred racing car.
The fastest electric car on the Nordschleife comes from VW. Racer Romain Dumas completed the lap in an ID.R in 6:05.336.
When it comes to road-legal vehicles, Porsche was ahead for a long time with the Porsche 911 GT2 RS and was only replaced by the Mercedes-AMG One in 2022. The record here is currently 6:35.18 minutes. Porsche can currently also claim the top position for the “SUV” category, as it completed the circuit in a Cayenne Turbo GT in 7:39.9 minutes.
Sources: Porsche, Tesla
