Skip to main content

Yes, there are still cars that can beat the Tesla Model S P85D in a drag race

Yes, there are still cars that can beat the Tesla Model S P85D in a drag race

Share this story

Having been in the driver's seat of a P85D, I can attest to the fact that it feels supernatural and invincible — but it's not the quickest thing on the road. Take this matchup between Tesla's king of the road and a Ferrari F12berlinetta, an absolute beast of a car with a 731hp V12 under the hood and a rated 0-100 km/h time of 3.1 seconds. The P85D is rated at 3.4 seconds for the 0-100 km/h sprint, so when you take driver reaction times into account, it should make for a good matchup.

Indeed, as you can see in DragTimes' video, the Tesla actually gets the jump — but it's eventually outdone by the fastest non-hypercar in Ferrari's stable. The P85D isn't exactly blown out, though: the F12 ends up winning by about half a second in the quarter mile.

Internal combustion still wins. Once in a while... and probably not for long. (Even Ferrari's own LaFerrari is a hybrid.)

Verge Video: The craziest cars in the 2015 Geneva Auto Show