Tesla Launches Electric Race Car

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Jan 13, 2:53AM EST · Published Oct 2, 9:35AM EDT

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Tesla Launches Electric Race Car — © Thinkstock

Electric GT, which modifies cars, many of them electric, will produce a Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) race car, according to Green Car Reports. They will hit the road in seven races next year. The plan may not help sell any cars, but it will be a reminder of how fast a Tesla can be.

Green Car Reports editors wrote about the new vehicle:

It’s based on the Model S P85+, the highest-performance version of the Model S before the advent of the dual-motor all-wheel drive “D” variants.

It may not be the most powerful or fastest Model S variant, but organizers say they prefer the P85+ because its rear-wheel drive is better suited to track driving than all-wheel drive.

They also believe the mechanically-simpler rear-wheel drive setup will make repairs and maintenance easier.

The Model Tesla Model S P85D is much faster, with a speed of 0 to 60 in 3.2 seconds. That is a full second faster that the P85+.

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Also:

The powertrain remains stock, but modifications were made elsewhere.

The body now sports flared wheel arches (likely to accommodate wider tires), as well as aerodynamic aids like a large rear spoiler.

The interior was completely gutted to save weight, although Electric GT retained the 17-inch central touchscreen display.

Tesla makes self-driving cars, and now there will be a version with no seats.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.