A Tesla Model S has set a new record for a production electric vehicle at Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, completing the run in 11min 48sec.
Breaking the previous record for an electric vehicle by more than a minute, the lightly modified Tesla Model S P90D was stripped of airbags and some of its interior and equipped with a bolt-in roll cage.
Driver Blake Fuller, who is boss of Go Puck, a battery technology firm, made the modifications, which include cutting around 360kg from the overall weight.
To cool the battery, the Go Puck team used an unconventional method: giving the Model S an ice bath with ice stuffed beneath its underbody.
Fuller drove the 12.42-mile hillclimb with its 156 turns in 11min 48.264sec, beating the Zero electric motorcycle 13-minute record set two years ago. Overall, the Model S was placed 65th in the rankings.
It is the first time that a Tesla Model S has competed in the Pikes Peak run; a Tesla Roadster participated two years ago.
The two Honda NSX supercars competing, which we reported on earlier this month, came 20th and 75th respectively.
The overall winner of the race was Romain Dumas – one week after winning the LMP1 category at Le Mans with Porsche. Driving his Honda-powered Norma M20 RD Limited, he completed the course in 8min 51.445sec. Sébastien Loeb, who drove a Peugeot 208 T16 up the hill in 8min 13.878sec in 2013, holds the all-time record.
Tesla has recently introduced new entry-level versions of the Model S, the 60 and all-wheel-drive 60D, which use a 60kWh battery pack.
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Tesla. Smash!
No they don't.