Tesla Model S Drag Racing Energy Usage and Cost

June 13th, 2013

tesla-model-s-energy-graphWe’ve had a few questions and interesting comments on our posts and videos about just how much all out racing could be done with a Tesla Model S along with how much that racing might cost.   We did some testing with a 2013 Tesla Model S Performance and took some video of the runs to address these questions in the real world.

The Tesla Model S we tested was equipped with the 85 kWh battery and the Performance Package which makes it the most powerful and highest capacity car that Tesla currently offers.  Power output for this Model S is 416 HP and 443 ft-lbs of torque and the car weighs in at 4,700 pounds.

The state of charge for the Tesla’s battery at the beginning of the test was about 82% full showing 253 miles of ideal range .   We reset the trip computer and set regenerative braking to it’s max setting before the run so we could monitor the Tesla’s energy usage as well as the regenerative braking to determine an approximate net energy usage during the 1/4 mile run.

After coming to a complete stop and turning off traction control we launched the Model S and ran the 1/4 mile under full throttle.   We held down the power just past the 1/4 mile hitting 114 MPH and then let off the accelerator allowing the regenerative braking to bring the car down to almost a complete stop without touching the actual brakes.

As you can see in the video below the Tesla’s total energy consumption was 1.1 kWh at 114 MPH and after the car slowed down using the regenerative braking .6 kWh was put back into the battery.   This results in a net energy usage of .5 kWh for the 1/4 mile pass.  Pretty amazing that the car can recover just over half of energy used and put it back into the battery using it’s regenerative braking.

Using the Tesla’s 85 kWh battery specification we divided 85 kWh by .5 kWh and came up with an estimated 170 all out races before needing to charge back up.  Using our electricity rates here in South Florida @ ~12 cents per kWh from FPL, each race costs just 6 cents!

For those interested in the performance data, the VBOX measured 0-60 MPH in 3.9 seconds and the 1/4 mile at 12.4 @ 111.3 MPH.   Also take a look this Tesla Model S setting the world record for the quickest production electric car.

Take a look at the video below and also check out our other Tesla Model S articles and videos.

Our Other Tesla Videos

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