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Watch Tesla Model X Outrun Audi SQ5
22 H BY DOMENICK YONEY 17
Bjorn to be wild!
A few days ago we brought you video of electric vehicle YouTuber Bjorn Nyland literally flying in a sweet battery-powered machine from Slovenian outfit Pipistrel. Now, we’ve found footage of the Asian-Norwegian flying in a more down to earth manner.
Bjorn again
Parked in his Tesla Model X, we find our protagonist next to the German Autobahn where he says he will attempt to see how long it takes for the electric SUV to overheat to the point where it cuts back power. This means, of course, putting pedal to metal and hoping traffic doesn’t get in the way. As we are to learn, though. Even in Germany, some people enjoy cruising in the fast lane despite not being especially fast.
After a short introductory session, Nyland gets the motors running and heads out on the highway. While looking for adventure, an Audi SQ5 comes his way around the 7-minute mark. He first notices the array of exhaust pipes on the German SUV and soon figures out the make and model. Though trying to maintain a speed of 200 kph (124 miles per hour), a slow-moving, extra-wide vehicle with lights flashing forces him and the Audi just ahead to slow briefly.
With the road finally clear of slower moving vehicles, the Audi scoots over to the right lane as Nyland continues to accelerate up to cruising speed. The gas burner, however, appears to want to play, nailing the throttle and continuing to accelerate. Nyland and his Model X are up to the challenge though, and he zips past him. Now, both vehicles have a top speed of 249 kph (155 mph), but clearly, the battery-powered beast can get there quicker.
With that bit of excitement in the rearview mirror, Nyland continues his journey and succeeds in his quest for power cutback as the Tesla exceeds heat levels it’s comfortable with. According to our guide, the source of the overheating is the stator in the electric motor, which is an element that can also cool quickly.
Overall, it’s a nice jaunt down the Autobahn and accompanied by Nyland constant commentary, the video seems shorter than its 18 minutes. Here’s his description of the footage:
I did a speed test in summer temperatures to see how fast my Model X overheated. It took just a few minutes of hammering to overheat the stators. The battery didn’t have time to overheat during the short run.
On my way, I also ran into an Audi SQ5. According to online sources, SQ5 does 0-200 km/h in about 25 seconds whereas my P90DL does it in 12 seconds. That explains why I was still able to outrun it despite having power limit.
Source: YouTube.
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17 Comments on "Watch Tesla Model X Outrun Audi SQ5"
Audi SQ5: 64900 Euro
Model X P90DL: 114980 Euro
+1
Maybe the Audi driver had $50k in the trunk…
That actually doesn’t look like an SQ5, it has 2 exhausts, SQ5 has 4, probably the regular popular 3.0 tdi, they’re surprisingly quick
German autobahn is no racetrack (even more if you are a foreigner, who does not know how to behave) and you dont use your lights to get other people to change lanes, its not very polite. You can use them to warn other people.
Agree! This has no place on this website. They need to take it down.
NO RACING ON PUBLIC ROADS!!!
No one is racing, it’s simply the way to drive on the auto-ban. It’s a good example of behavior where the slow ones respect the others who drive faster.
And it’s show the limits of electric cars (risk of overheating for example) when comparing with the petrol engine.
I loved the video! 🙂
I drive on the autobahn a lot and this is not the way, how you should do it!
I really hate that so many foreigners come here and behave like they just entered a racetrack, where they can do what they want. You are not superior to slower cars on the autobahn.
overheating isn’t specifically a limit of EV’s. It’s a limit of a massive heavy family crossover being driven extremely fast for prolonged time. Bjorn’s driving here is hardly indicative of the majority of driving situations, so it’s not really a downside.
I live in Germany so don’t tell me about the Autobahn.
People who drive 250 km/h and flash people on the left lane are a danger for everybody. They should be arrested.
I don’t want to have some madmen crashing into my trunk with 250 km/h.
It has happened and whole families in standard cars have been killed.
The recommended speed is 130 km/h even if there is no limit.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with driving fast for fun on unlimited sections of the Autobahn as long as you don’t put anyone in danger. Even though speed is not restricted, there are clear rules. Over 130 km/h the “half the speed in meter” rule applies, so at speeds of 250 km/h you have to keep a distance of 125 m, which feels unintuitively far, but is absolutely necessary. The only reference to flashing of the lights in the traffic regulations is actually a signal of overtaking someone. I think it has a bad reputation because it’s commonly used by pushy drivers already dangerously close.
Well yeah, he comes up pretty hard behind people who move into his lane, but Germans also have a terrible habit of pulling into the overtaking lane and forcing much faster vehicles to slow down hard. Sometimes this is necessary at rush hour, but the road hardly looked busy in this clip.
meh
The thing about street racing is that you don’t really know what the other guy is doing. You think “he nailed the throttle and I still blew him away”, but he’s thinking “I was just barely accelerating and that guy had to floor it to even get ahead of me”. In this particular case, the Audi might have simply hit RESUME on his cruise control as traffic cleared and the car was accelerating at a controlled pace.
Unless you know each other or are ACTUALLY RACING (on a track), then leave the stories at home.
You make a good point, but I know the SQ5. That’s definitely not ‘controlled’ acceleration for it to go 180+ kph. Flooring it will give the sort of acceleration I saw it do in this video.
No need to be a spoil sport. I’d hardly call this actual racing. Good grip, visibility, clear road, a bit of hard acceleration within legal limits. No biggie.
I don’t even think it’s an SQ5, it looks like it only has 2 exhaust pipes
Interesting; I didn’t realize that it was the electric motor in a Model S/X which overheated when the car is run at max speed for several minutes, causing the car to go into reduced power mode; I thought it was an overheating battery pack.
Learn something new every day! 🙂