The Tesla Model S Performance ended up running a best time of 12.371 @ 110.84 MPH with 0-60 MPH coming up in just 3.9 seconds. The National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA) was on site running their Winter EV Nationals and verified the Tesla runs to have set a new world record for the quickest production electric vehicle in the 1/4 mile.
After 3 hours the car was fully charged and we made another pass running 12.371 @ 110.84 MPH which was backed up by a few 12.4x passes. We’re not sure if the increase in performance is due a full battery or having the car cooled down, comments from electron buffs on this?
Our test car was equipped with the 21″ wheel and tire package which weigh more than the standard 19″ wheels. We’re going to try and get our hands on some of the 19″ wheels to do some more testing to see what kind of performance gain they might have. We also put the Model S on the scales where it weighed in at 4,690 pounds.
We have a lot of video to go through, but here is a teaser of the Tesla Model S racing heads up against a 2005 Dodge Viper SRT10 with exhaust and air filters.
Tesla Model S Performance Drag Racing 1/4 Mile Timeslips
Tesla Model S Performance 0-60 MPH in 3.9 Seconds (VBOX)
Video: Tesla Model S Performance vs Dodge Viper SRT10
Video: Tesla Model S Performance: 12.3 @ 110.8 MPH
Video: Tesla Model S Performance vs Chevrolet Volt
Tesla Model S owner here. It's not surprising that you saw slightly better times with a full battery. Lithium ion batteries like the Model S's have a (slight) decrease in instantaneous energy as the state-of-charge declines. The effect isn't noticeable in ordinary driving. btw, the Model S is a superbly mannered street car, too!