Tesla Model S reportedly laps Nürburgring faster than Porsche Taycan

Tesla's Model S might be on its way of becoming the electric king of the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife racetrack.

An upgraded version of the Model S is currently being tested at the Nürburgring, weeks after Porsche's upcoming electric car, the Taycan, set the lap record for a production electric vehicle with a 7:42 time.

And while there's still no official time for the Tesla, German outlet Auto Motor und Sport (via Clean Technica) claims the Model S has been informally measured doing a 7:23 time at the Nordschleife.

An official time will be needed for a fair comparison, but that 19-second difference is nothing to be sniffed at. If the Model S manages to achieve a similar result officially, it would place it far above any production electric car, and roughly among such cars as the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS and the Ferrari 488 GTB.

The news comes days after the Tesla Model S set a four-door record at the Laguna Seca racetrack in California.

Commenting on the alleged informal lap time, Musk called it "a start," and said the company expects "these track times to be beaten by the actual production 7 seat Model S Plaid variant that goes into production around Oct/Nov next year."

The "Plaid" moniker refers to a new drivetrain that will be used in Tesla Model S, X and Roadster.

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Even if Tesla manages to beat the Taycan at Nürburgring, the rivalry might remain unsettled, as the Model S used at the Nürburgring is technically not a production vehicle yet, while the Taycan that raced the lap was a pre-production model. Furthermore, the Tesla is reported to have used racing tires, whereas the Taycan used regular road tires.

Still, it sounds like Tesla is about to ruffle some feathers at the famous track. Note that the fastest time for any mid-range saloon, electric or not, is held by the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 at 7:23:164 — and Tesla appears to be quite close to that result.