Advertisement

Elon Musk: New Tesla Electric Car Is 'World's Fastest'

Tesla has unveiled new electric car models that can travel 300 miles on one charge and accelerate from 0-60mph in 2.5 seconds.

The company's founder Elon Musk claimed the Model S P100D with "Ludicrous mode" is the fastest production car on the market today - and the third quickest ever made.

Only the LaFerrari and Porsche Spyder two-seaters are faster, Musk said - but both are limited edition supercars costing £1m and £640,000 respectively.

Musk said: "The fastest car in the world, of any kind, is electric.

"In the future, people are really going to look at gasoline cars in the same way we look at steam engines today: They're quaint, but it's not really how you get around."

:: Tesla Unveils Mass Market Electric Car Model

:: Tesla Driver In First Self-Drive Fatal Crash

Although at the top of the Tesla price range, the new "Ludicrous" Tesla cars are available from £91,000 and the Model S P100D has room for five adults, two children and some luggage.

A new 100 kilowatt battery has increased the vehicle's range to an estimated 315 miles - the first time an electric car has broken the 300-mile barrier, according to Tesla.

The larger battery pack is also available on the Tesla Model X, making the world's fastest SUV even quicker and giving it a range of up to 289 miles on a charge.

Earlier in August, Tesla Motors (Frankfurt: TL0.F - news) reported a larger second-quarter loss than expected as it worked to speed up production in the face of strong demand for its electric cars.

The company is promoting the new models as it faces a wave of bad publicity about the self-driving capabilities of electric cars.

A fatal accident in the United States and other less serious incidents in China have sparked concerns about the safety of autonomous driving systems, but Tesla has maintained it will continue to work on improving the technology.