ELECTRIC DREAMS
ON streetmachine.com.au we recently ran a yarn about our mates at Wheels who put an all-electric Tesla Model S P100D on a flash Maha dyno. Despite its whisper-quiet performance, this thing is the quickest-accelerating production car available in the world today, capable of the 0-100km/h sprint in 2.7 seconds. The best of the dyno runs resulted in 394kw (528hp) at the treads and a staggering 1394Nm (1028lb-ft) of torque. So what do you reckon – would you forgo the sound and fury of a bent-eight in favour of a near-silent electric car with this much grunt?
Russ Jb – I would bloody love a Tesla; they are tough in their own right. Yes you don’t get the sound and rawness, but you do get a completely different torque curve. Tye Rowan – I’ll never own one. Brad Gavin – It’s the not-too-distant future, people. Whether you like it or not. Andrew Tolcher – Electric cars are for slotcar tracks.
Gundawindy Ricketts – I love it. It’s so hard to compare to internal combustion but the bit you need to remember is the amount of work done in the area under the curve. Some cars produce higher peak power but the area under the curve on the Tesla is massive. Who can argue with 1400Nm? 500km range too.
Mark Standen – So power, torque, speed but no noise, plus it looks cool – so noise is the deal-breaker? I’d have one. Not as my only car, but certainly as part of my fleet.
Matthew Lowe – Yet it can’t travel any great distance and takes hours to ‘re-fill’.
Ben Crockett – This is incorrect – up to 500km range on a P100D and recharge is not slow if you use a Tesla Supercharger, which are already available and being installed all around Australia. Jared Barndon – And it takes me three minutes to fill my 62L tank. Mitch Edwards – Keep the electrics on the Kmart toys; I can’t handle no sound. Paul Borg – These things are a scourge. Tom Lavender – Don’t do it for me either; no soul. George Hall – Burn it! Brett Bresnan – I said that until I went for a ride.
George Hall – No chance I’ll change my mind; it’s a glorified golf cart!
Brett Bresnan – I said that too! Mark Daley – Teslas never used to do it for me. Until I drove one. They are seriously that good. You’d need a Superbike or V8 Supercar to keep up with it. It’s so quick that the lack of engine or exhaust noise is quickly forgotten and would be drowned out anyway by the laughing from those on board trying to get their heads around it.
Luke Nieuwhof – Agreed Mark. I only got to drive one of the slower models but it was still extremely quick. Just like there are people who are into V8s, or into straight-sixes, or rotaries, there will be people into electrics and that is just fine – because they can all go bloody fast!