Yahoo Autos Between a Watt and a Hot Place: We Lap the Tesla Model S P85D at VIR!
Lap time: 3:17.4
Last year, online editor Alex Stoklosa made a round-trip visit to Lightning Lap IX in our long-term 2015 Tesla Model S P85D. The internet declared us negligent because we didn’t lap the 463-horse electric surrey. To make amends, we had Stoklosa redo his road trip this year, with one alteration—a hot lap in the middle. The results were as expected.
Knowing that the car would perform best with a max battery charge, we started full and didn’t mash the accelerator until we were coming into Hog Pen on our out lap. We had one shot to get a good lap time without having to recharge.
Slamming the brakes after hitting 137.3 mph on the front straight resulted in the pedal—and our hearts—sinking to the floor. Fortunately the car decelerated enough to make the turn at 0.89 g, the same skidpad result the Model S got in our initial long-term test.
By the time the NASCAR bend came up, the brake pedal returned slightly, but by the exit of Snake, about 40 seconds into the lap, the 5010-pound P85D entered a reduced power mode (roughly half of the max). Up to that point, it was on pace with the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat’s 3:03.5 lap but ended up with a 3:17.4, matching the heaviest vehicle we’ve ever driven here, the 5317-pound 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.
We expected a slowish overall lap because of our experience with the car during acceleration testing. Electric wiring resistance and losses converting maximum DC-battery watts to AC-motor horses generate a lot of heat. And too much heat can permanently damage the battery, so the car protects itself by limiting current flow.
We could have asked Tesla to turn off the battery protections, but that would break our rules of engagement for production cars. It would have been the same as asking Subaru to give us a BRZ with a WRX STI’s turbo engine to represent the bone-stock model. But don’t fret: Stoklosa is planning his third EV venture to Alton, Virginia, next year in anticipation of yet more internet rage.
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