The Tesla Model 3 goes drag racing

The Tesla Model 3 isn’t expected to become as popular on the drag strips as the Model S has become, but it’s still a fairly quick vehicle and apparently quicker than Tesla advertises.

Now early owners are already testing it against other vehicles.

As we reported last weekend, Tesla advertises the 0 to 60 mph acceleration of the Model 3 with Long Range battery pack at 5.1 seconds on its website, but DragTimes achieved a time of 4.6 seconds with an early production vehicle.

It’s getting dangerously close to the base version of the Model S, which can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds with a 75 kWh battery pack and dual motor.

A new Model 3 owner put their vehicle against a Model S 75D and Model S P100D (with the interior stripped down) at the race track to see the difference:

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The result is as expected, but it could also be interesting to see the vehicle against a Model S 75 – even though the vehicle has been discontinued last autumn – since it has a very similar powertrain capacity as the current version of the Model 3.

In the meantime, they started pinning the Model 3 against other cars, like the Ford Mustang Ecoboost:

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We will probably see more of those as Tesla increases deliveries of the Model 3, but it’s not likely going to get too interesting until Tesla starts producing the dual motor version of the Model 3 and potentially also a “performance version.”

When the Model 3 entered production in July 2017, CEO Elon Musk said that a performance version would be coming “probably in the middle of next year,” but that was before several production delays.

Based on Tesla’s previous vehicles, a performance version means the highest battery pack capacity combined with dual motors, but the rear motor is different and more powerful than the base version. Musk even said that it should also have a ‘Ludicrous mode.’

How quick do you think a Model 3 P75D could be? Let us know in the comment section below.

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