Tesla Model S Performance is the quickest electric car…in the world

A Tesla Model S Performance has set a world record as the fastest production electric car with a 1/4 mile run of just 12.371 seconds.

Yes, we still believe – certainly with the current and prospective battery technology – that the only real use an electric car has is as a small urban runaround or a local deliver vehicle. But that doesn’t stop us being impressed by the Tesla Model S.

With its electric motor producing something north of 400bhp – and mountains of torque – we knew the Model S was quick, but according to Drag Times, the Tesla Model S Performance is the quickest electric car in the world.

Drag Times took a production Model S Performance with 21″ tyres and stuck it on the track at the Palm Beach International Raceway. They had a couple of blats and recorded quarter mile times of 12.678 seconds, but after plugging the model S in for three hours to top the battery up to full they recorded times of 12.371 seconds.

At the end of the 1/4 mile run the Model S hit a speed of 110.84mph, with 60mph arriving in a scant 3.9 seconds. That’s 911 S territory.

Drag Times videoed the Model S doing its drag run against a Viper SRT10 (below) which was demolished by the four-door saloon that is the Model S. It obviously happened, but we have to ask how good the driver of the Viper was?

Still, an impressive performance from the Tesla.