Tesla recruits Nico Rosberg to take on Porsche Taycan at Nürburgring

Two weeks ago Porsche set a new record for the odd category of four-door, all-electric sports cars at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife with a track time of seven minutes and 42 seconds in their new all-electric Porsche Taycan.

The feat was not performed idly but was to demonstrate the Taycan’s ability to sustain high speeds over an extended period, a well-known deficit of electric cars in general and the high-performance Tesla Model S in particular, which famously failed to deliver a competitive time at Nürburgring in 2014.

True to form, Elon Musk took this as a challenge and threw down the gauntlet, tweeting that he was sending a Model S to Nürburgring next week.

Model S on Nürburgring next week

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 5, 2019

Given that the Taycan was built specifically for performance and the Model S is really just a hopped-up family sedan most commentators are not giving Tesla much odds, but a recent intervention may have improved Elon Musk’s chances.

Famous German-Finnish Formula 1 racing driver Nico Rosberg has offered to steer the Model S, tweeting:

Thanks for offering! Sure, that would be great.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 7, 2019

The addition does even the playing field somewhat, given that the Porsche Taycan was driven by Lars Kern, who while being Porsche’s official test driver is also a professional racer.

The odds are unfortunately still heavily stacked against Tesla, with the Model S not having the sophisticated battery and motor cooling system the Taycan has.  The Model S is however believed to be the latest “Raven” iteration of the car (vs the stalled 2014 attempt) with engine management and cooling improvements brought over from the Model 3 and improved active suspension.

The Model S will be taking on the track tomorrow but unfortunately, no official time will be generated from the event, as Tesla will be part of the Industry Pool testing rather than having reserved the track for an unimpeded run. Given that the Model S will be competing against a Porsche that may suite Elon Musk to a T.

via Teslarati