We know the Tesla Model S Plaid is a fast car, having already broken the 9 second quarter-mile barrier and having set EV lap records at race tracks.
The family-friendly electric sedan has proven its mettle yet again, this time becoming the first electric vehicle (EV) to win a round at the One Lap of America event this past weekend.
The One Lap of America is an annual racing event which takes participants to more than a dozen different race tracks across the United States. Drivers are timed at each track, and your combined best lap time determines the overall winner.
Making it interesting is that the cars must drive between each track overnight, meaning they have to be street legal.
Entered in this year’s competition is a Model S Plaid from Mountain Pass Performance (MPP).
On Sunday the EV tackled the Roval Course at Nashville Superspeedway, going up against purpose-built and modified race cars like a McLaren 720S, Toyota Supra and more.
Even though it weighs over 5,000lbs, the Model S was the fastest car on Sunday, lapping the course in a time of 3:13.950. That time was more than one full second ahead of the second place car, a turbo Honda S2000.
Ironically, the Plaid was awarded 420 points for the win.
MPP announced the victory on their Facebook page, saying no one had predicted the Plaid would be able to win one of the events.
[The driver] beat out every single car at One Lap today in Nashville – including modified top-flight sports cars driven by hired professional drivers. We couldn’t be more proud, and to be honest, never expected the car to be able to outright win a single event.
No matter what happens from here on out, this is a major achievement and the first time an EV has won a round of One Lap Of America. I don’t think anyone had it on their radar that this was possible.
With the victory, the Plaid is currently sitting in ninth place overall with 1360 points through 4 events, just 215 points behind the leader, a 2019 Chevrolet ZR1 with 1575 points.
