News
Tesla Model 3 with ‘Track Mode’ squares off against Jaguar I-PACE and MotorTrend’s top rated sports sedan
While the Model S and the Model X are monsters on the drag strip, the premium electric cars have developed a reputation for being ineffective during extended track driving. Tesla aims to shatter this perception with the Model 3 Performance, as the vehicle is designed to be the first of the company’s electric cars that is competitive on the racecourse. Tesla is even preparing a specific and aptly-named mode for the vehicle to achieve this goal — “Track Mode.”
The Tesla Model 3 Performance has been getting universally positive reviews from numerous publications, from the Wall Street Journal to Car & Driver. Reviewers have praised the vehicle for its handling and quickness, as well as its sheer fun factor when driven hard. Auto publication Road & Track even sampled the Model 3 Performance’s upcoming “Track Mode” feature, which allows the vehicle to perform impressive high-speed maneuvers on a racecourse.
Tesla’s Track Mode for the Model 3 Performance was recently put to the test by auto publication MotorTrend, which held comparative tests pitting the electric sedan against the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, as well as another all-electric car, the Jaguar I-PACE EV400. The tests, which involved track testing all three vehicles by veteran race driver Randy Franklin Pobst, allowed the publication to analyze how the Model 3 Performance stacks up against a fellow track-capable EV and the best fossil fuel-powered sports sedan available today.
Needless to say, the results of the tests were very compelling.
It was easy to determine that among the three, the Jaguar I-PACE EV400 was at a disadvantage, particularly due to its 4,946-pound mass and its substantial ride height. The I-PACE’s electric motors, which produce a combined 394 horsepower, are also 22% less than the Giulia Quadrifoglio. These disadvantages were evident when the veteran driver took the electric crossover around the “Streets” of Willow Springs International Raceway in CA, as the I-PACE took 1:27.00 to complete a lap.
The difference between the track capabilities of the Model 3 Performance and the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio was far more difficult to call. With Track Mode enabled, the Model 3 Performance set a new record for production electric cars on the racecourse, completing the run at 1:23.90. That’s 0.07 seconds faster than one of Ford’s best track vehicles, the Mustang GT Performance Pack 2. That said, Pobst, who was driving the Model 3 Performance, noted that the vehicle was easy to understeer, and that “there’s something weird happening when I lift off the brake.” The sensation that the race driver was referring to was the Model 3 Performance’s regenerative braking, which is emphasized even more when Track Mode is enabled.
True to its reputation as the best sports sedan in the market today, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio completed the lap in 1:22.78, 1.12 seconds faster than the Model 3 Performance. Pobst noted that the turbocharged V6-powered vehicle “does exactly what you expect. No surprises. Always predictable.” After two sets of hard laps, though, half of the Alfa Romeo’s Pirelli P Zero Corsa AR Asimmetrico front tires were all but gone. The Model 3 Performance’s Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, on the other hand, were at worst scuffed. A Tesla engineer remarked to the publication that the Model 3 Performance could match the Giulia Quadrifoglio’s time if they were willing to compromise the vehicle’s tires as well.
-
Ultimately, MotorTrend‘s track tests show that the Model 3 Performance, at its current state, is still not quite enough to topple the auto market’s best sports sedan. That said, Track Mode, despite being a work in progress, is a very strong baseline. The publication noted that for now, it would be wise to look at Tesla’s Track Mode for the Model 3 Performance as Version 1.0 of the feature. Once Version 2.0 is ready, then vehicles such as the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio would also be wise to fear Tesla’s first track-capable vehicle.
Even without Track Mode, the Tesla Model 3 Performance is already starting to win over veteran auto enthusiasts, including longtime enthusiasts of legacy carmakers like BMW. Moshen Chan, an indie app developer who has been a BMW fan for ~20 years, noted that Tesla’s electric car “absolutely outperforms anything BMW has to offer today.”
The Model 3 Performance’s Track Mode is one of the electric sedan’s most compelling features. Describing the feature in an interview with YouTube tech host Marques Brownlee, Musk likened Track Mode as an “Expert User Mode” for drivers.
“Track Mode will open up a lot of settings. You can adjust settings, and it’s kinda like an ‘Expert User Mode.’ You can sort of adjust traction control, adjust battery temperature. You can basically configure a bunch of things, and it will tell you, like ‘Hey, you know if you do this, it’s a bit risky. You’re gonna wear out your brakes sooner; you might blow a circuit.’ But like, it’ll be clear — like, you know, this is the risk you’re taking. It’s kinda like if you have a graphics card in a computer. You can go in there and change the settings, and you can overclock things,” Musk said.
Elon Musk continues to tease the unveiling event for the Tesla Roadster, a continuing trend that has grown into a bigger game of “When” for fans who have been waiting years for the car to finally enter production.
A video shared on X of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that Musk appeared on last year, teasing the Roadster unveiling, was shared once again on the social media platform. The poster said the Roadster event will be “unforgettable.”
Musk agreed:
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2026
The timing is interesting because just yesterday, Musk said that we will be getting flying cars, and for years, Tesla has hinted that it could develop a SpaceX cold gas thruster package that would help the car float or fly for a short period of time.
It would be reasonable to assume Tesla’s major delays with this unveiling event are likely caused by the company’s need to break the rules and push the envelope on nearly everything. Last July, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, said:
-
“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind blowing. We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on and he got a little excited.”
The latest updates that Tesla has given us are that the Roadster is in design development, and it did have several potential dates for an unveiling event this year, including April. It was then pushed to August.
However, there are no clues as to when Tesla will be ready, and fans are certainly getting frustrated with the delays.
For what it is worth, Franz von Holzhausen told Jay Leno this week that the event would be “very soon.”
We sure hope.
Lifestyle
Tesla’s driverless Cybercab just passed a big test with State Governor
Florida’s governor rode Tesla’s Cybercab at a closed test track and called the experience impressive.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rode in a Tesla Cybercab on a closed test track this week and came away impressed, posting on X that the vehicle “successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.” He called the ride “impressive.”
The stop was part of a broader event Monday at SunTrax, a 775 acre state owned proving ground in Auburndale that Florida built specifically to test autonomous and connected vehicles before they reach public roads. Standing next to a gold Cybercab, DeSantis described the car in plain terms: “You go in there and you just sit. You have a screen. There’s no steering wheel, no pedals. Clearly these things could be very beneficial.”
We took a ride on a robotaxi on the Suntrax course and it successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.
Impressive! https://t.co/FVAkzFLz3r
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 11, 2026
DeSantis paired the praise with a caveat that has followed autonomous vehicles since the category existed. “You don’t want to be in an autonomous vehicle and it drives you into a ditch. That would not be good,” he said, framing safety validation as the gate before wider deployment.
SunTrax, the 2.25 mile oval which the state calls the only high speed autonomous vehicle test track in the Southeast, can simulate rain, pedestrian crossings, hills and crowded urban conditions at highway speeds, letting companies push a car past what an early public rollout would risk. Tesla, Waymo and Beep all use the facility, and Florida’s regulatory approach, among the most permissive for autonomous vehicles in the country, doesn’t require a human operator inside a fully autonomous car.
-
Tesla has reason to want the blessing of Florida and states beyond, as the Cybercab entered volume production at Gigafactory Texas this spring and has since self certified as SAE Level 4 under Texas law. Public road testing so far has kept a safety monitor in the passenger seat, and Florida is where Tesla has been expanding its existing Model Y based Robotaxi service instead, adding Miami in July and then Orlando and Tampa two weeks later. A closed track endorsement from a sitting governor doesn’t change any of that, but it does put Tesla’s newest hardware in front of a state that has already shown it will move fast on rules.
Sweden’s IF Metall union has announced that it is ending all protests against Tesla, effective immediately.
The union said in a statement this morning:
“There seems to be no limits to the length Tesla would go to keep unions out of their operations. Unfortunately, they have managed to pay their way out in Sweden. At least that has given the former IF Metall members more money in their pocket, but the insecurity of not having a union or a collective agreement still remains.”
IF Metall has been after Tesla in Sweden for the past three years, attempting to push unionized operations into its factories. Tesla, on the other hand, has given its employees the chance to unionize in various markets. However, the organization says that Tesla has “bought out all of its striking members.”
🚨 NEW: IF Metall has decided to end all industrial action against Tesla in Sweden, effective immediately.
“IF Metall has decided to end all industrial action against Tesla’s Swedish operations, after the company bought out all of its striking members. With no members remaining… pic.twitter.com/blne8iC6hV
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 13, 2026
-
“Today, we end our industrial action against Tesla. We do so because it can no longer have an effect – not because our principles have changed,” a written statement said.
Over the past three years, IF Metall has definitely been a thorn in the side of Tesla and its operations in Sweden. The primary strike started in October 2023, when IF Metall members at Tesla’s Swedish Service Centers refused to work.
IF Metall chair to Elon Musk: “Give us a chance” as Tesla Sweden strike hits 2 years
Strikes extended to blockades and work stoppages at non-Tesla-owned repair shops that service Teslas. This limited and stopped anything related to warranties, transport damage, and other work on Teslas ending, eliminating work arounds for customers.
Sympathy strikes followed, as postal workers, dock workers, electricians, and other tradesmen stopped working. Add in lawsuits and other pressures, and you get the full scope of what strategies the union has used against Tesla over the past several years.
But now, it’s all over.
“We will continue to defend the right of workers to organize. We will continue to fight for collective bargaining. And we will continue to stand in solidarity with workers and trade unions facing similar challenges elsewhere – just as you have stood with us,” IF Metall said.
-
Elon Musk teases Tesla Roadster unveiling once again
Tesla’s driverless Cybercab just passed a big test with State Governor
