+++ The future seems exciting for the BMW M2 . The Munich-based company is currently working on the hotter CS version of the model and it seems that a variant with an all-wheel drive could be also under development. There’s no evidence in the form of test prototypes yet but BMW will soon make the final decision on the M2 xDrive and that the chances for a production green light are high at the moment. Solid demand for the M3 and M4 xDrive models works in favour of the potential M2 xDrive. There’s no final decision made yet and BMW is reportedly expected to give its final verdict very soon before a potential 2026 launch. There are downsides to the project, like the added weight to the already heavy hot coupe (1,730–1,754 kilograms, depending on the configuration), but it seems that the performance vehicle market doesn’t really care about weight these days as long as the power and traction are there. The M2 xDrive is most likely going to drop the 6-speed manual transmission and instead be offered only with the 8-speed automatic. That makes sense considering the upcoming M2 CS is expected to have only two pedals, too. The automaker might even decide to ditch the 3-pedal configuration altogether with the facelift of the M2, but this hasn’t been confirmed. The M2 xDrive could get the same output as the M2 CS. Word on the street is the latter will get the 3.0-litre S58 inline-6 engine with a power of up to 520 hp, which will be a healthy boost over the standard car’s 460 hp. With the increased traction of the all-wheel-drive version, the same output could be also found under the bonnet of the M2 xDrive. The M2 CS is coming before the M2 xDrive, though. It is a more hardcore version of the existing M2 with better aerodynamics, more power, and other hardware upgrades. It will likely be unveiled in the second half of next year and go on sale as a 2025 model in limited numbers. +++
+++ Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd, or CATL , is a giant battery supplier from China that works with Tesla, Ford and other American brands. Today, it announced a new battery called the Shenxing cell which can charge to a range of 400 km in 10 minutes. It goes into production late this year and joins a number of rival products that charge at similar rates. Shenxing means “god-like movement”, which seems like it’s a bit too aspirational, but for electric vehicle owners that need a quick charge, it might feel like an answer from the heavens. EV ownership has long been chided as simply not as convenient when it comes to refueling. Having the ability to add nearly 400 km of range in just 10 minutes diminishes the gap between fuel types. “We hope through continuous efforts to improve technology and reduce costs, Shenxing will become a standard product available for every electric vehicle”, said Gao Han, chief technology officer of CATL’s E-Car Business. Tesla, the clear leader in electric vehicles, is CATL’s largest client but it’s not alone. Ford made waves early this year when it made a deal with CATL for a battery production plant in Michigan. That facility will build lithium iron phosphate batteries with technology licensed from CATL. That’s the same type of battery chemistry in the Shenxing though there’s no word on if the Ford plant will build anything close to it. It’s worth noting that the charging speed of the Shenxing might not be as ground-breaking as it sounds, at least when compared to other options. Some Tesla models already charge up to 322 km in as little as 15 minutes and Bloomberg reports that Chinese company GAC Aion already has a battery that adds 500 km of range in 15 minutes. Combine this news with Toyota’s claims from earlier in the year that it’s successfully created a solid-state battery and it looks like we’re on the verge of a major step forward for EV ownership. +++
+++ You could hardly call Adrian Mardell’s rise to the top at JLR meteoric. “It’s been 32 years, 9 months and 4 days”, he says, with the warm smile that’s become his trademark around the business. It’s fair to say his appointment as CEO was as much a surprise as the departure of his predecessor Thierry Bolloré after just 2 years and 4 months in November 2022. Mardell slipped into the interim CEO role (“I literally moved 2 desks from where I’d been”, he tells me), which was then confirmed last month. In a short space of time, he’s had a big impact on staff, with one senior insider telling us “He’s really united the company and the workforce” and another saying, “He’s one of us and is giving us all a clear vision about what’s expected to get where we need to go”. Bolloré’s Reimagine plan (which Mardell had a hand in) isn’t itself being reimagined, the board (with a few tweaks) has remained the same, and stability is leading to growth; there’s black on the balance sheet for the first time in a while. JLR has plenty of challenges ahead, not least to earn the money to reinvest back in the business, but also with supply issues only just starting to ease, the long-awaited Jaguar reinvention still work in progress, overlap amongst the product range and a reputation for poor quality that just won’t go away. So how does Mardell plan to do it? Teamwork seems to be the key, empowering those around him to do the very best they can. His strong, yet calm, approach, particularly the way Mardell presented the financials to investors, was said to be one of the reasons his paymasters at JLR owner Tata gave him the job. “I definitely feel comfortable not being a technical expert in the boardroom”, he admits. “You don’t need people exactly like you. You do need complimentary skills. You need to make sure that people recognize themselves as the leader or the expert in certain ways. We’ve got 3 people on the board who are technical engineering experts, and I’m not one of them, but I’m a business expert. It’s also about understanding what consumers want from a vehicle and fulfilling that. And that’s why we’ve gone to 4 brands, because that will enable us to curate 4 different answers rather than 2 different answers. It’s as simple as that”. Let’s start with one of those challenges: are supply issues still affecting JLR? “There are still supply challenges, no doubt about that”, he says. “For the moment at least, but it’s less about semiconductors; that’s because we’ve gone and put contracts in place. “We’re still supply constrained, but with the break even point down to 300.000, we are now becoming very profitable even at constraints of supply”. Supply clearly isn’t proving to be a barrier to Defender production with the plant in Nitra, Slovakia moving to 3 shifts and waiting lists dropping to manageable levels. Securing a strong supply of batteries is key to JLR’s future and Mardell is clearly delighted with the deal parent company Tata has struck with the UK government for a Gigafactory in Somerset. “That really is brilliant”, says Mardell, knowing how important it is to have battery supply, as with steel, available “within the broader family”. The first batteries will arrive in three years, he tells us. Mardell refutes suggestions that JLR is behind the curve on electrification, reminding us that the company will launch 6 new battery electric vehicles before 2026, with the all-electric Range Rover going on sale later this year and the first deliveries in 2024. Similarly on technology, JLR’s relationship with software giant Nvidia will start to come to fruition with the next generation of platforms, JEA (Jaguar Electrified Architecture) and EMA (Electrified Modular Architecture). JEA, obviously, will be used for the 3 all-new Jaguars we’ll see from next year, while EMA will be used across the SUV family (no longer think Land Rover, instead it’s Range Rover, Defender and Discovery, all part of the House of Brands). The MLA ‘flex’ architecture comprises ICE, PHEV and BEV powertrains, currently only in Range Rover models, but that will be expanded. “We have to electrify Defender of course, and we will be looking to electrify the existing Defender off MLA later this decade”. That’s not all for the Defender family, as Mardell reveals. “We are looking at creating other vehicles within the Defender family. I would’ve thought by this time next Global Media Day we’ll be clear on what we are comfortable with producing off EMA and when. Even though I won’t confirm, because you can guess the ones that we’ve got coming at us initially?” Autointernationaal.nl understands that will be a smaller all-electric Defender, potentially badged Defender Sport. But while the Range Rover family is going great guns (with future Velar and Evoque models also expected to make use of the all-electric EMA platform), the future for Discovery is less clear. JLR execs have admitted that the success and appeal of Defender has caused problems for the Discovery, with sales of the latter struggling compared to its newer sibling. And there is no firm plan for how to reinvent Discovery yet. “We haven’t yet done enough thinking on Discovery”, Mardell tells. “It’s not because we can’t, it’s because we just haven’t got to it. We know it’ll be the later products out of the architectures. We know it’s not going to come off MLA, because we just won’t be able to get an affordable proposition off MLA. We know it has to come off EMA because that’s the only other one for Land Rover”. Mardell confirmed that EMA is flexible enough to accommodate a 3-row, 7-seat family vehicle, but the platform switch could possibly lead to a hiatus for the Discovery name plate. The Discovery currently shares its D7 platform with Defender, with the 2 built alongside each other at the Nitra plant. But with Mardell confirming Defender’s switch to the MLA platform (and production likely to stay at Nitra) that could mean a pause for Discovery until a new all-electric model is launched on EMA, with other EMA models expected to be built at JLR’s plant at Halewood on Merseyside. It’s not impossible for cars on different platforms to be made in the same plant but that’s unlikely in this case, especially given the success of Defender and how it currently dominates Nitra production. Mardell was keen to stress, however, that Discovery was still very much part of the House of Brands. “We haven’t found the solution yet, but nobody’s going to lightly give up on the word Discovery”. Mardell’s predecessor was less than certain about the future of the Discovery Sport, though, and it seems that any replacement for that vehicle would be some way off, if at all. “I think I need to see the design intent for the Discovery before we talk about how many we get to”, says Mardell. The future for Jaguar is clear though, with Mardell revealing the brief given to the team. “Thierry set the team off and asked them to come back with just 4 words to explain the emotion and what that brand actually stands for, and they were exuberant, unique, fearless and progressive. That took me back to when I was a 9-year-old boy and my first experience with Jaguar. My dad was a painter and decorator, and he worked for a builder and the builder owned an E-Type. So as a 9-year-old boy, I spent an hour in a beautiful, sky-blue E-Type doing all the things 9 year old boys would do, noises and switches and all that good stuff. 20 years later, I started working for Jaguar, and that was 32 years, 9 months and 4 days ago! “The designers went away. They produced 18 full-sized clay models in 3 groups. Gerry McGovern (JLR’s chief creative officer) asked 20 people to review those models and 19 of us chose 1 particular design. That was the design from Massimo Frascella (JLR design director). That design language is set to be used across the three different Jaguar models, as Mardell reveals, “It’ll be a family. It’s really important that there’s an association, a family look for it. But to actually meet the design intent here, because there’s going to have to be a wider wheelbase to meet the exuberance, that’s why Jaguar needs its own architecture. Making what would be a compromise to get Jaguars off the EMA platform, we are not going to be able to meet that without a discreet and a dedicated Jaguar architecture”. Jaguar’s present hasn’t been helped by words from Gerry McGovern at a recent investor conference. JLR’s chief creative officer said the brand today has “no equity whatsoever” and the current strategy had led to “mediocrity”. Jaguar owners have been up in arms over McGovern’s comments. “I would never make those comments”, says Mardell, citing recent brand studies in the US putting Jaguar at the top of the premium pile for appeal. For the new cars, insiders have spoken of a truly groundbreaking design, but everything (including a new Jaguar logo) will be kept tightly under wraps until next year when we’ll see a concept, probably around April/May time at the start of a new fiscal year. “Yeah, you’ll see a version of how the vehicle’s going to look. Call it a concept if you like”, says Mardell. The first production car, a 4-door GT, is still scheduled for a reveal in 2024 and on sale in 2025, with 2 other crossovers to follow. The new Jaguars will be built at Solihull, but where will that leave Jaguar’s traditional home at Castle Bromwich? “We’ve actually made it super-clear to the people at Castle Brom that we won’t be building production units there going forward”, says Mardell. “The intention is to use it for stamping facilities. At some point we’re probably going to have some form of recycling within the facility there. We may use it for SVO (JLR’s Special Vehicle Operations performance arm). We may use it for a pilot plant. We just reassured people that their jobs are not under threat. They may need training, but you know we’re retraining 29.000 people for electrification, so join the group. I’m getting retrained on a day-to-day basis in this job. Great people want to continue to develop and train and we want our people to continue to develop”. Another challenge to JLR comes from the far east with a host of new brands coming from China alone, but Mardell us up for the fight. “It’s a wake-up call, but it’s not an existential threat. It’s a great opportunity for us to think through where we go with our house of brands and curate the answer for us. And I think we’ll gain more clients, not fewer clients off the back of that”. However, the elephant in the showroom for JLR has always been reliability, with survey after survey putting the company’s brands towards the bottom of the pile – although it doesn’t seem to be hurting sales. Mardell has given board member Nigel Blenkinsop an ‘enhanced’ role as Executive Director, Enterprise Performance & Quality to ensure the improvements JLR is seeing in reliability data continues. “The first public appearance I had on the board in 2019 I was really clear: our quality and our warranty claims off the back of it was unacceptable”, says Mardell. “Sometimes you’ve got to put your hand up and say it’s just not good enough”. “Over the last 3 launches, we’ve delayed the point of introduction to the product because we’ve wanted that product to mature. Enabling the engineers to finish to make sure that the vehicle’s ready for the customer is a big thing. And it doesn’t give anybody a mandate to be late either, by the way. But if we are just not ready, we have to do the right thing and we have to be brave enough to give people more time. As the chief executive, I will do that. “Let’s go to the data. You’ve seen the latest study in the US, for both Jaguar and Land Rover we’re better than the average in premium. We’ve been second in terms of the vehicle dependability study in China for the last 2 years. “We are moving, and the intensity and the work that Nigel and the team have done, actually beyond 3 years, but mostly from the last 3 years, it’s starting to show. It’s hard yards: we know this. “People don’t forget that stuff and it takes time: we are not where we need to be. We need to keep improving. I used to spend two days a week on supply issues. I spend more time on quality issues than supply issues today, and we’ll continue. It’s just making sure that the teams are given every opportunity that they can to keep getting this right. And the engineers, the gold medal is the engineers get it right before release. We’re getting better and the data shows that”. And getting better is what JLR is all about, from the top down. And with Mardell in charge and the team really rallying behind him, you really do feel that the best is yet to come for these great British brands. +++
+++ The KIA EV5 electric compact SUV, the brand’s third electric vehicle based on the E-GMP architecture, has been leaked in China. The photos published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) fully reveal the EV5’s exterior design, though it has to be said that the vehicle you see in the photos is for the Chinese market. Still, the Kia EV5 should look largely the same in other markets. Remarkably, the production model looks very similar to the Concept EV5 unveiled in March, with only minor changes such as the adoption of traditional side mirrors, flush door handles (the concept had no visible handles) smaller wheels, and slightly revised headlights and taillights. Speaking of the rims, while they retain the same design seen on the concept, they are 18 or 19 inches in size compared to 21 inches on the study. From a design standpoint, the EV5 is closer to the Kia EV9 than the EV6, adopting an upright SUV body style instead of a raised hatchback look like the EV6. It looks like a downsized version of the EV9, which in many ways, it is. Both models use the E-GMP EV-dedicated platform, but the EV5 is smaller, accommodating 5 passengers on 2 rows of seats instead of 7 on 3 rows. According to information shared on MIIT’s website, the Kia EV5 is 4.615 mm long, 1.875 mm wide and 1.715 mm high, with a wheelbase of 2.750 mm. This makes it roughly just as long and wide as the EV6, although it’s significantly higher and it has a 405 mm shorter wheelbase. The photos do not show the interior, but the production model’s cabin is likely less futuristic than what we saw on the concept. The MIIT filing also reveals that the Kia EV5 features an LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) Blade battery from BYD subsidiary Xiangyang Fudi Battery Co (FinDreams), which powers a rear-mounted electric motor rated at 218 hp and 310 Nm of torque. No details about a dual-motor AWD variant have been released, but it’s difficult to imagine Kia wouldn’t offer it later on. It’s worth noting that the overseas version of the Kia EV5 may not feature an LFP battery, but instead an 82 kWh NMC pack, which would enable up to 600 km. The EV5 will be produced in China by the Kia-Yueda joint venture at its plant in Yancheng. Vehicles made there will be sold in China and exported to some markets, as Kia-Yueda previously said the EV5 is its first China-made global EV. The EV5 will officially debut on 25 August at the Chengdu Motor Show, but pre-sales will kick off in November. +++
+++ LAMBORGHINI LANZADOR concept, which previews the firm’s first fully electric car, has been revealed early after images leaked on social media ahead of its debut at Monterey Car Week. The images confirm that the machine will be a high-riding 2+2, blending styling elements of the Lamborghini Urus and Sián with a similar silhouette to 2008’s Estoque, which did not yield a production car. Inside, the Lanzandor features a pair of digital displays: an instrument panel in front of the driver and a matching infotainment screen for the front passenger. Switchgear, including the fighter-jet-esque starter button, is distributed along the length of the centre console. Each occupant sits in a thin, frame-like bucket seat, with the rear pair capable of folding over their bases (albeit not flat) to increase cargo space. Practicality appears to have been a key element of the Lanzandor’s brief: the leaked images appear to show an ample space beneath the hatchback boot, as well as a frunk capable of swallowing a specially-made set of overnight bags. A limited number of Lanzandors will be sold, in similar fashion to the Sián which previewed the design and technology of the upcoming Revuleto hypercar. When it announced that it would unveil the concept at Monterey, Lamborghini said: “Ever since its foundation in 1963, Automobili Lamborghini has made one-off models that signal the technical and stylistic direction the company will take in the immediate future. These are design or technical prototypes or experimentation with new concepts to help develop the Lamborghinis to come. In the 1960s, these one-offs were very often show cars bound for motor show parades. In more recent years, the designation changed from “one-off” to a category created specially by Lamborghini: “few-offs”, essentially a limited run of cars for the most loyal customers that pre-empt or enhance the most advanced technical solutions that will be used on production cars in later years. The same formula will be repeated in just a few days at Monterey Car Week in California, where Automobili Lamborghini will present the prototype of its first 100% electric car”. Further details, including technical specifications, are expected to be revealed when the Lanzandor makes its official debut. As previously reported by Autointernationaal.nl, the production Lanzandor will be followed in 2029 by an electric successor to the Urus, giving Lamborghini a 4-strong line-up of electrified sports cars by 2030. The Aventador-replacing Revuelto PHEV has now entered production in Sant’Agata, and the hybrid successor to the Huracán will be launched towards the end of next year. Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann previously confirmed that the strategy to launch the 2+2 and then the new Lamborghini Urus was a result of family-oriented customers being more open to going electric. “For now, electrification suits these kinds of vehicles”, he said. “That will develop, but we must plan for what we know will work best today. There are definitions that I think no electric car in our sector has yet resolved sufficiently: not just acceleration and handling behaviour but also responsiveness, braking feel and multiple acceleration protocols. These are unproven in high-performance EVs and things we must spend the next years working out”. The revelations from Winkelmann provide the first details to support Lamborghini’s stated electrification plan, announced in 2021. Called Direzione Cor Tauri, referring prosaically to the Latin name for a bull’s heart and the brightest star of the constellation of Taurus, the plan lays out a 3-step strategy towards electrification. The initial stage, a celebration of pure-ICE specials, concluded last year, ahead of the launch of Lamborghini’s first plug-in hybrid, the Revuelto, which is now sold out until 2026. By the end of 2024, all 3 of Lamborghini’s models (the Aventador, Huracán and Urus) will be sold as plug-in hybrids. That will allow the company to record official CO2 outputs at half of its 2022 levels by 2025, the pair of EVs then providing a further significant reduction. “What’s clear is that customer perceptions have shifted”, said Winkelmann. “They are aware of the legislation and interested in the technology so long as it marries sustainability with enhanced performance from what has gone before. “That’s why Lamborghini’s hybridisation phase is coming first: that has been digested and accepted by the customer base. Even the majority of petrolheads say that they have accepted our vision on that. And in turn, that opens the door for a new breed of customer to look at full electrification”. +++
+++ Indian auto giant MAHINDRA revealed its futuristic Vision Thar.e concept at an event in South Africa. The unwrapping was part of its broad electrification roadmap and expansion into overseas markets like Europe. The automaker already sells the petrol-powered Mahindra Thar in the Indian market, and the new concept envisages the future of its off-road electric SUV. The Thar.e concept is built on the Inglo platform, which combines the words India and global. The platform is the result of a collaboration between the Volkswagen Group and Mahindra and uses several components from the German automaker’s MEB architecture. It will underpin its upcoming “Born Electric” cars. The EV departs from the Jeep Wrangler-like looks of its gas-powered counterpart, and its design evokes several styling cues from the new Land Cruiser and the Land Rover Defender. Although it manages to carve out its own personality. It looks like a boxy off-roader, although the futuristic bits are embedded into the details. It’s running on chunky off-road tyres, and there are several cube-shaped elements: the LED headlamp design, front and rear door hinges, wheel alloy cutouts, and the taillamp. The rear quarter glass and windscreen design is reminiscent of the Land Rover Defender. The interior, Mahindra claims, “blends minimalism with functionality”. The concept features a central pivoting screen, grab handles and a layout that the brand claims would emphasise the Thar.e’s practicality for both urban and off-road use cases. The Indian brand terms its future powertrains as “high-performance electric engines.” The Volkswagen-supplied rear electric motor will deliver up to 286 hp of peak power and 550 Nm of peak torque. The front motor would deliver 109 hp and 135 Nm. The platform also supports battery capacities between 60-80 kilowatt hours. The 60 kWh battery will have prismatic cells, while the larger unit will use BYD’s Blade technology. The peak charge rate is 175 kW, and the brand claims a maximum range of up to 450 kilometres on the WLTP cycle. Mahindra is considering entering Europe by the end of the decade. The brand also has a US presence. It sells farming equipment stateside, including tractors, and a UTV named Roxor. +++
+++ Trying to pick the right time to buy an EV is increasingly like trying to time the market: a losing game. Tesla started the trend, changing prices on the Model 3 and Model Y based on whim and whimsy. Lately, the electrified side of Ford’s house has been following suit, with prices on the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E rising and falling to match a demand curve that’s proven fickle at best. Don’t expect MERCEDES to be the next player in the meandering RRP game. “You always look at the operating point, demand and supply, in any one market. But, drastic moves for a brand like Mercedes usually is not the right way forward”, CEO Ola Källenius told. Mercedes-Benz is on a mission to electrify its full portfolio, aggressively launching new cars like the all-electric EQE and EQS, while making more traditional ones, like its new E-Class, available only as hybrids. It’s all part of the company’s Ambition 2039. “For us”, Källenius said, “the destination’s clear: Mobility has got to go zero emission. There are no ifs or buts”. However, the current state of the global economy isn’t exactly making that shift easy. Källenius says that inflation in the world’s major economies, followed by rate hikes, has created a situation “where you can experience a macro-economic cooling down”. An economy that is “cooling down” is not ideal when launching a corporate re-boot like the one Mercedes-Benz is undergoing now, a shift that comes with significant cost. “We are putting billions, tens of billions into this, not just the electrification obviously, everything else that is going on in the car industry”, Källenius said. “The destination’s clear: Mobility has got to go zero emission. There are no ifs or buts”. Launching new products into growing economies would help pay back some of that investment, but that’s been a bit of a challenge of late. China was meant to be a key part. “Many watchers, economic analysts, professors, etc. thought that China would immediately jump up again, post-COVID”, Källenius said. How is China’s market now? “A little bit flat”, Källenius said. “You have to, as a car producer, decide how are you going to play the market in that context?” he continued. For Mercedes-Benz, he says, price stability is key: “Making sure that these beautiful machines that we build, that they have longevity, residual value, and so-on, is for us the highest priority”. Driving stability on the pricing side requires flexibility elsewhere. Mercedes-Benz’s ability to meet demand, shifting from EV to ICE on the same production lines, is key. “Take our big operations in the southeast and Alabama… we can build both”. Källenius said. “So, we can go with the market. Same thing goes in Germany. Same thing goes in China and in other locations around the world. So yes, we have production flexibility, but we’re gearing ourselves up for a future with significantly more electrification”. So, no, Mercedes will not be following Tesla’s lead in modifying MSRPs based on market demand. It is, however, taking another cue from the newly Texan start-up: NACS. Mercedes announced in July that it would adopt the standard put forth in the U.S. by Tesla, shifting away from the current global standard of CCS. Some have feared that this migration will create short-term confusion in the market from buyers who surely won’t want to be left holding the wrong cord. Källenius, though, is confident that won’t be a problem. “I don’t believe so”, he said, “because we are going to take care of our customers in all situations”. That decision, to sidle up with Tesla, wasn’t made lightly: “We said, as Mercedes, what do we think is the most likely scenario in terms of which is going to be the dominant plug in North America? And, upon careful analysis, we came to the judgement that the mid- to longer-term solution will rather be the NACS than the CCS”, Källenius said. Källenius continued that, for at least the short term, there will be “coexistence” between CCS and NACS on the North American market, and as part of that, Mercedes-Benz has pledged to support both in its upcoming, luxury-minded charging network. Each charger will have two cables, so no adapters required – for now, anyway. “We believe this is a move that actually takes away doubt, and creates certainty for the customer. And that’s why we did it”, Källenius said. +++
+++ The TESLA MODEL S PLAID , recently introduced in Europe, achieved an exceptionally good result in a “moose test”. The top-of-the-line Tesla Model S was equipped with a yoke (instead of a typical steering wheel) and 21-inch wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S 265/35 ZR21 101Y XL (front) and 295/30 ZR21 102Y XL (rear). The car was able to successfully pass the test (without hitting any cons) at an initial speed of roughly 82 km/h, which is one of the best results ever. Only the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y (which are smaller and lighter), were able to pass the test at a slightly higher speed (84 km/h). Interestingly, the Tesla Model S Plaid noted a better result than any of the previously tested Porsche Taycans (GTS, Turbo S and Turbo S Cross Turismo; all 3 achieved roughly 48 78 km/h). However, there is one important thing that requires a comment. The Tesla Model S’ great result might be related to relatively strong regenerative braking, which quickly reduces the speed once the driver releases the accelerator pedal. This shines some additional light on the moose testing of all-electric cars, because on top of the handling, also regenerative braking may significantly affect the results. For reference, the regenerative braking in the Porsche Taycan is considered less powerful, which translates into a slower speed reduction during the test. Specifically, the recently tested Porsche Taycan GTS noted a best result of 78 km/h. Nonetheless, from the user perspective, when driving in default settings (or the lowest out of the available ones), the results are as they are. The Tesla has a very good chassis, electronics, and more optimal settings. The other part of the video is about the slalom test, which proved that the Model S Plaid has exceptionally good handling. The car completed the test in 21.8 seconds, which is only 0.3 seconds behind the Porsche Taycan GTS, and faster than any other BEV tested so far. +++
