Michael Ballaban, writing for Jalopnik, on the Model S’s new “Ludicrous Mode”:
Rocketing from 0-60 in 2.8 seconds, the new 762 horsepower (SEVEN HUNDRED SIXTY-TWO HORSEPOWER!) Tesla Model S P90D is just 0.1 seconds of a second slower to highway speed than a Koenigsegg Agera R. It’ll do the quarter mile in 10.9 seconds, which may even make it good enough for Dom Toretto.
The way it works, Elon says, is that the system basically works the way it would in the previous craziness, Insane Mode, up until 30 miles per hour. After that, it steps up the game to Ludicrous Mode. It can’t really do Ludicrous all the way from zero miles per hour, simply because there’s no way to surmount the laws of physics and traction.
And most wonderfully, Ballaban reported Musk saying that a new Tesla Roadster is in the works. Although the first Roadster wasn’t very popular, it was a technological precursor to the monstrously fast models Tesla current sells.
The next decade is going to be an important one for the automotive industry.