OK, we’re impressed.
If you’ve ever heard a presentation about electric cars vs. internal combustion, you’ll have no doubt heard the presenter/narrator say at least once that electric motors have a huge torque advantage over ICEs (right before they tell you all that torque is available instantly, with no lag or buildup).
But before you start sizing up one to use as a tow-car, it’s worth bearing in mind that increasing the load on those motors will simply drain the battery faster. So you may find that your impressively long-legged EV suddenly becomes far less impressive should you hook your Jayco Starcraft onto the back.
However, the torque on offer can sometimes come in rather handy, particularly in emergency situations where a shitload of torque is demanded. We’ve seen Tesla’s crossover, the Model X, perform rather staggering emergency rescues of 43-tonne heavy-goods vehicles left stranded in snow, which definitely left us jaw-dropped.
The thing about Tesla’s outspoken, media-happy CEO, Elon Musk, is that it’s always a game of one-up. After having tweeted an Electrek article about a Tesla Model X pulling an HGV after it got stuck in snow, he proceeded to put the Model X’s towing capabilities on display after he employed one to pull tunnel muck out of a Boring Company tunnel outside the Space X headquarters.
Musk claims that the total weight of the four rail cars, filled to the brim with tunnel muck, was 250,000 lbs (or 113.4-tonnes to the rest of us). With 9,500Nm of torque available at the wheel, we’re not really that surprised that the Model X can do it, but it’s still staggering to see nonetheless.
However, if you’re not in the tunnelling business and would like to know if the Model X can handle more pedestrian things, like carrying people and things and driving on motorways without over 100-tonnes worth of crap trailing behind it, you can read our review of the Model X here.
For more information on Tesla, check out our Showroom.
