A really fast German car has gone really fast around a really scary German racetrack. Welcome to 2024! Step right in, the water’s...toasty.
Principally because Porsche has set a blistering time of 7min 07.55sec around the Nürburgring Nordschleife in its upcoming new Porsche Taycan, eclipsing not just its own benchmark but that of its archrival Tesla.
For those who haven’t been following the ping-pong battle of EV lap times betwixt Porsche and Tesla, there’s a really simple takeaway: The new Taycan’s lap is only two seconds slower than that of a fully-blown 1,888hp quad-motor electric hypercar, and thus only two seconds off the quickest EV at the ’Ring.
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The Rimac Nevera holds the current EV lap record with a time of 7min 05.298sec, putting Lars Kern’s latest effort into context. More context arrives in the fact that it’s 26sec quicker than the lap time the outgoing Taycan Turbo S Sport managed back in 2022, and 18sec faster than what the Tesla Model S Plaid hit back with in 2023.
And Porsche has illustrated just how much quicker the new car is compared to the old one: The new Taycan crossed the finish line 1.29km ahead of the old car’s August 2022 attempt. Sheesh.
“Twenty-six seconds is half an eternity in motorsport,” said Taycan model line boss Kevin Giek. “Lars’s lap time of 7min 07.55sec on the Nordschleife is sensational, putting the Taycan in the same league as electric hypercars.
“And the impressive thing about it is that over several laps, Lars clocked almost exactly the same time.”
Must be tired, poor bloke. “I pushed as hard as I could, but that was really all I could do,” the Porsche hot shoe said. The new Taycan had the entire place to itself for the attempt, wearing only a roll cage and bucket seats.
How soon before Tesla hits back, and Porsche finds another two seconds to beat the Nevera?
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
