It is said that getting behind the wheel of a Tesla is the best way to become a believer in the power and capabilities of electric cars. This is something that a former electric car skeptic experienced after he raced the Tesla Model S P100D against three of Germany’s best high-performance sedans.
Celebrity car customizer Yianni Charalambous has been featured several times in auto-themed YouTube channel carwow, racing some of his personal vehicles like his Lamborghini Urus and Aventador S against the Tesla Model X P100D. In his previous races against the American-made electric SUV, Yianni is known to banter with carwow host Mat Watson about how vehicles like the Model X were “boring.” He has also poked fun at how electric cars need to heat up their batteries before they can perform their best.
In a recent four-way race involving the Tesla Model S P100D, the Mercedes-AMG GT, the Porsche Panamera Turbo S e-hybrid, and the BMW M5 Competition, the electric car skeptic asked the YouTube channel’s host if he could go behind the wheel of the electric sedan, just so he could experience the vehicle for himself.
Power-wise, the four cars were evenly matched. The Tesla Model S P100D features dual electric motors that propel the vehicle from 0-60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds. The Porsche Panamera Turbo S e-hybrid is equipped with a 4-liter twin-turbo V8 with an electric motor with a combined 680 horsepower. The BMW M5 Competition, on the other hand, features a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 with 625 horsepower. Lastly, the Mercedes-AMG GT is equipped with a 4-liter V8 with 640 brake horsepower.
The celebrity car customizer went through a brief learning curve with the Model S P100D’s Ludicrous Mode settings, but once the race began, the electric car skeptic immediately realized why some of his vehicles like the Lamborghini Urus lost against a Tesla. In the 10.8 seconds it took the Model S P100D to finish the quarter mile, Yianni found himself becoming a full believer in electric cars.
The Tesla Model S P100D dominated in the quarter mile, followed by the Mercedes-AMG GT, which completed the race in 11.1 seconds, the Porsche Panamera Turbo S e-hybrid, which crossed the quarter-mile mark in 11.2 seconds, and the BMW M5 Competition, which finished the race in 12.4 seconds.
Following a rolling race and a brake test, Yianni became even more impressed with the electric sedan. So impressed was he that by the end of the races, the celebrity car customizer actually pulled the trigger and ordered his very own Tesla Model S P100D.
It’s quite fascinating to see the P100D, which was initially released in August 2016, is still capable of toppling some of the best high-performance sedans that Germany has to offer today. In a way, the performance of the Model S P100D with Ludicrous Mode is proof that Tesla succeeded in making not just a good electric car; the young carmaker succeeded in creating one of the world’s best-selling cars, period.
Watch the Tesla Model S P100D battle the Mercedes-AMG GT, the Porsche Panamera Turbo S e-hybrid, and the BMW M5 Competition in the video below.
