Grand test: Which is the fastest EV?

Electric cars are efficient, quiet, comfortable and technologically advanced, but there’s also the undeniable appeal of a powertrain with instant torque and an enormous amount of power. A team from China set off to find, which is the fastest among the current mass-market EVs pinning the top 10 models against each other to see which one will hit the 62 mph mark first. And they followed that up with a braking test to make sure no corners were cut.

Since the test is performed in China, a couple of the cars featured aren’t that well known to the wider audience. The ten EVs lined up for the drag race: Neo ET7, XPeng P7 (known in China as P7i), Arcfox Alpha S, Tesla Model 3 Performance, Porsche Taycan Turbo, Audi RS e-tron GT, Tesla Model S Plaid, Zeekr 001 FR, Lotus Eletre R+ and the newest Zeekr 007. Before the test, all cars were charged to 80% and tires were inflated according to manufacturer recommendations.

The air temperature hovered around 32°F, which doesn’t matter much for the comparison at hand since it was the same for all cars. Each car was equipped with a measuring device to ensure accurate results.

We’ll start with an overview of the participants, along with their power outputs and 0-62 mph times as quoted by their manufacturers.

In the actual tests the Zeekr 001 FR had a much bigger advantage from the Tesla Model S Plaid than the official numbers suggest, even though neither quite managed their advertised times.

The Zeekr 007 ranked third, two tenths behind the Model S and the Lotus Eletre R+ came in just behind it.

Audi RS e-tron GT was one of only two cars in the test to actually achieve its claimed acceleration time despite the cold weather. That meant it beat the Porsche Taycan Turbo, which is faster on paper and opened a four tenths gap to the Model 3 Performance, which promises identical acceleration.

Nio ET7 was the other car to deliver on its promised 0-62 mph time, which helped it came in eight, beating the ArcFox Alfa S. The Nio also turned the one tenth gap to the tenth-placed XPeng P7 into six tenths on the road.

In the braking test the Zeekr 001 FR annihilated the competition beating the second-placed Audi RS e-tron GT by 2.5m, which is an enormous difference. The FR clearly has some serious sports car credentials and has braking performance unlike any other in this otherwise elite group.

The Xpeng P7, Lotus Eletre R+ and Zeekr 007 were closely behind the e-tron GT, forming what we’d call the competent group. That kind of stopping distance, while impressive considering the weight of cars involved and temperature is not really track material.

Tesla Model 3 Performance, Porsche Taycan Turbo and ArcFox Alfa S all took above 39 meters to come to a halt, which is a rather disappointing result, considering their performance claims.

Tesla Model S Plaid’s brake testing took a shocking turn, if you’d excuse the pun. The Tesla, equipped with a Track Package with ceramic brakes, experienced a malfunction during the test. It locked all 4 brakes forcing the driver to veer off course and while thankfully, there were no accidents, the tires were severely damaged.

Source (Chinese)