VIDEO: Tesla versus Tango on the drag strip
We've seen electric cars race against "gassers" before, but although we've seen some fast electrics hanging out together, we hadn't seen them square off. Until now. A few days ago the Tango belonging to a guy named Jorg (which we've seen driven previously) and the Tesla Roadster Signature 100 series #9 met on the drag strip portion of Infineon Raceway for a little one-on-one action. Now, this particular track has seen a Roadster scoot down the measured quarter mile before in 12.757 seconds hitting 104.74 mph but that car had the newer 1.5 drivetrain and, presumably, freshly charged batteries. This Tesla lacked those advantages.
Spoiler alert! So, how did they stack up? Well, the Tango was quicker, crossing the line in 14.480 seconds at 92.15 mph. However, because of the nature of bracket racing, it also lost. The Tesla, just a smidge slower, covered the distance in 14.666 seconds and was cruising at 101.23 mph when it crossed the finish line. Hopefully we'll be seeing some more of this sort of gas-free competition in the near future. Hit the jump for some electric drag racing video action.
UPDATE: Whoops. Gotta fix a few errors in this post. These corrections come directly from Jorg:
Actually the Tango was owned by Nat Simons in Berkeley, not me, which was only 35 miles away from the drag strip; Iive 70 miles away and so the 45-mile range of the Tango makes getting there problematic.
The Tesla is the one I own, and in this video, drive, and that's why it does so slow; the guy in the other car weighs about 80 pounds less than I do. When we leveled the playing field and let him drive the Tesla on a later run, it got 14.498, which is only 18 thousands of a second slower than the Tango.
Also, please note, the reason we were there that day was to set a NEDRA record for fastest production electric car on a drag strip; indeed, we got it. See http://nedra.com/record_holders.html
Thanks, Jorg!
[Source: YouTube]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ha HA 2:55PM (12/04/2008)
Tesla = EPIC FAIL!
Reply
Nixon 2:31PM (12/08/2008)
ummm.. Duh? Everybody already knows that version 1.0 of the drive-train was an epic fail. That's old news. Where have you been?
That's why Tesla delayed production and developed drivetrain 1.5. The Tesla in this drag race has the epic fail 2-speed transmission locked in top gear. So of course it is a dog off the line, just like we see in the video. It would be like putting a Corvette in 5th gear and seeing how well it ran the 1/4 mile. It wouldn't do well either.
It is actually an epic SUCCESS to have the version 1.0 drive-train even run as well as a 14.666 @ 101.23 mph with the darn thing locked in top gear!
The top speed of the Tesla was actually nearly 10 mph faster than the 92.15 mph top speed of the Tango, even after suffering with a slow start due to the gearing. That's pretty impressive too, considering the circumstances with the transmission.
Ignatius 3:41PM (12/04/2008)
That's pretty funny. I like the nice, quiet nature of these drag races.
Reply
Jorg Brown 4:32PM (12/04/2008)
Actually the Tango was owned by Nat Simons in Berkeley, not me, which was only 35 miles away from the drag strip; Iive 70 miles away and so the 45-mile range of the Tango makes getting there problematic.
The Tesla is the one I own, and in this video, drive, and that's why it does so slow; the guy in the other car weighs about 80 pounds less than I do. When we leveled the playing field and let him drive the Tesla on a later run, it got 14.498, which is only 18 thousands of a second slower than the Tango.
Also, please note, the reason we were there that day was to set a NEDRA record for fastest production electric car on a drag strip; indeed, we got it. See http://nedra.com/record_holders.html
Reply
TopaZ 8:01PM (12/04/2008)
Actually, the most epic fail is NO F***ING CAMERA AT THE FINISH LINE.
Bush league.
Reply
Jorg 12:41PM (12/05/2008)
TopaZ -
Dude, do you know hard it was just getting drivers and the cars? I'm just a guy with a wife and 2 kids and I had to get up at 7AM just to get everything to the track by noon - and I only barely made it! I was very lucky to run into this woman KO at the track who took this video and knew enough to capture both the initial wheels turning as well as the final times (though you need hidef for YouTube to really show you the times)
If you live in the Bay Area and you want to be there at the finish line next time taking video, and you've got a videocamera to bring along... then by all means let me know, I could use you!
Ghen 10:24AM (6/23/2009)
Jorg, this is the internets. There is no logic here. Produce professional quality results that blow minds or get heckled into oblivion.