Tesla time trial event to launch at Sydney’s Luddenham Raceway

Teslas are claimed to be some of the fastest cars on the planet, and a new race series will allow Aussies to put that claim to the test.

Tesla owners, start your motors.

A world-first electric car TT racing series has just been announced in Australia, with the first meet to happen this weekend at Sydney’s Luddenham raceway.

The race series will be in time trial format and is open to regular Tesla owners.

The series is being brought to life by the Tesla Owners Club of Australia and Stake, which is a digital stock trading platform.

Named The Stake x Tesla Owners’ EV TT Series, it has whipped Tesla’s cult following up into a frenzy in preparation.

The Tesla Model S is one of the fastest production cars on the planet.

Mark Tipping, President of the Tesla Owners Club of Australia, said: “The Stake x Tesla Owners’ EV TT Series is testament to the rise of electric vehicles around the

world and right here at home.”

“Our national members are excited to showcase the true power of these astounding vehicles

which represent the future of motor vehicle innovation, speed, precision and design,” he said.

So far the race series is only locked into one event, but the plan is to make it an annual fixture on the Australian motorsport calendar.

A new time trial for Teslas has been announced in Australia.

Despite Tesla’s environmentally friendly image they are also impressively fast machines.

A Model S Performance is capable of sprinting form 0-100km/h in a claimed 2.5 seconds.

But a new tri-motor Plaid version of the Model S due late next year can hit 100km/h in less than 2.1 seconds, which would make it one of the fastest production cars ever built.

Teslas are extremely fast in part because, unlike petrol engines they do not have to build up revs to deliver power and torque.

Torque is delivered instantly, leading to blindingly fast acceleration.

But just like petrol-powered versions, the harder you drive the car the quicker it depletes the battery.

The race series is the first of its kind in the world.

Tesla has recently come under fire after it raised the price of its Supercharger network, which in turn made it more expensive to charge a Model 3 than some of its petrol powered rivals.

Analysis by electric car experts at EVCentral.com.au shows it would cost $9.78 per 100km to run a Tesla Model 3 if it was charged exclusively on the brand’s Supercharger network.

This compares poorly to petrol powered machines such as the BMW 330i at $8.00 per 100km and the hybrid-powered Lexus IS350h at $6.76.

EVCentral says that despite the price rise, Tesla is still misleading visitors to its website by claiming you can travel “at a fraction of the cost of gasoline”.

According to EVcentral, these claims are based on the old Supercharger fees of 42 cents per kW and a petrol price of $1.75 per litre — a price it has never hit in Australia. The average current cost of unleaded petrol is $1.22 per litre.

There has also been controversy over the brand charging customers thousands of dollars for future “Full Self-Driving” mode, which hasn’t been developed yet and isn’t legal to use.

Some Australian buyers paid thousands of dollars extra for full self-driving as early as 2013.

Originally published as Tesla time trial event to launch at Sydney’s Luddenham Raceway