Porsche's new Taycan Turbo GT just broke a record to become the fastest production four-door to lap the famed Nurburgring Nordschleife—and the second-fastest production EV. Porsche accomplished that feat in 7:07.55, making it quicker around the Green Hell than a vast majority of cars on sale today, gas or electric.
But it's not the reigning EV champion. One production car and a few electric race cars and concepts have done it faster. Since 2010, automakers have been taking their performance EVs to the track in hopes of capturing a lap record. And as more performance EVs enter the market, expect more record-breaking laps in the months and years to come.
In the meantime, we've put together a list of the 15 fastest electric vehicles to ever do it. These cars all have a spot in the Nurburgring record books for their fast laps, and some of them won't see their records broken anytime soon.
Volkswagen ID.R Concept
6:05.3
Before the ID.4, the ID.Buzz, and the rest of Volkswagen's electric vehicle lineup, the mad scientists in Wolfsburg cooked an EV concept the world had never seen. The ID.R was a no-holds-barred, battery-powered race car with 671 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque thanks to two electric motors—oh, and it only weighed 2,500 pounds.
In 2019, VW unleashed the ID.R on the Nurburgring Nordschleife with French racing driver Romain Dumas behind the wheel. The epic run resulted in a record-breaking lap time of 6:05.336, making it the fastest EV—and one of the fastest cars ever—around the historic track. There isn't a single production car that's faster, and only the Porsche 919 Hybrid EVO race car had a better lap time (5:19.546).
Nio EP9
6:45.9
The Nio EP9 isn't technically a production car, even though the company built and sold 10 of them between 2016 and 2019 for a cool $3 million each. The track-only hypercar had four electric motors mounted on each wheel for a total output of 1,341 horsepower and 1,091 pound-feet of torque, good for a 0-60 mph time of around 2.6 seconds and a top speed of 194 mph.
In 2017, Nio let the EP9 loose on the Nurburgring Nordschleife with British racing driver Peter Dumbreck behind the wheel. Dumbreck set a lap time of 6:45.90—beating the Nio's former record 7:05.12 set in 2016 (this time with race tires), and second only to the McLaren P1 XP1 LM Prototype at the time, which did it in 6:43.22. The EV9 is currently fifth on the list of non-production cars and second only in EVs to the VW ID.R.
Rimac Nevera
7:05.2
The first real, actual production car on this list is the Rimac Nevera—even if it is a $2.2-million hypercar. Powered by four permanent-magnet synchronous electric motors, the Nevera has 1,888 horsepower and a 0-60 mph time of 1.7 seconds. It is, by definition, the quickest car on sale today.
It's no slouch on the track, either. Late in 2023, Rimac set a production EV record with the Nevera on the Nurburgring Nordschleife with a lap time of 7:05.29. Croatian racing driver Martin Kodric was behind the wheel.
Porsche Taycan Turbo GT
7:07.5
The newest entrant on this list (as mentioned earlier) is the Taycan Turbo GT—the quickest, most powerful production Porsche ever. With up to 1,092 horsepower courtesy of two electric motors, this Taycan races to 60 miles per hour in 2.1 seconds and on to a top speed of 190. And with the Wiessach package (the first four-door Porsche to get the option), this Taycan ditches the rear seats and adds carbon fiber to keep the hefty EV under 5,000 pounds.
Back in January, Porsche took a Taycan Turbo GT prototype with the Weissach package to the Nurburgring and recorded a lap time of 7:07.55. With seasoned racing driver Lars Kern behind the wheel, the Turbo GT became the fastest four-door EV on the ‘Ring and the fastest of any four-door production sedan, beating out the Jaguar XE Project 8.
Toyota TMG EV P002
7:22.3
In case the name didn't give it away, this is no production Toyota. The TMG EV P002 was an electric race car prototype produced by Toyota in 2012 with 469 horsepower and 885 pound-feet of torque. With Jochen Krumbach behind the wheel, Toyota took to the Nurburgring that same year and recorded a fast lap of 7:22.32. At that time Toyota did break the EV lap record, but it was short-lived.
Tesla Model S Plaid W/ Track Pack
7:25.2
The Porsche/Tesla rivalry escalated in 2023. Tesla returned to the Nordschleife two years after its first run with another Model S Plaid, this time fitted with an optional Track package. The Track pack added better brakes a higher top-speed limiter, as well as controversial tires. While legal in the US, the tires didn't meet European requirements for road use, leading some to call the lap null and void for a street-legal vehicle.
However you view it, the hefty sedan still covered the north loop in 7:25.2. It easily topped the Taycan Turbo S to claim the EV production record once again, but it was short-lived. A few months later, the Rimac Nevera would sail in to effectively shut down the Porsche/Tesla rivalry.
Porsche Taycan Turbo S
7:33.3
The second Taycan record attempt at the Nurburgring came in 2022. Whether or not Tesla's 2021 record with the Model S Plaid had anything to do with it is unknown, but Porsche managed to lop off nearly 10 seconds compared to the lap laid down by the Taycan Turbo.
At 7:33.3, the Turbo S also beat the Model S Plaid by a few seconds to reclaim the EV record. In addition to the extra power available from the Turbo S, the car had a new performance kit and the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control system. These aren't aftermarket upgrades, meaning the lap time is official for a series production vehicle.
Tesla Model S Plaid
7:35.5
It wasn't long after Tesla announced the upgraded Model S Plaid that rumors of a Nurburgring record attempt surfaced. The rumors were fueled by Model S sightings at the track in 2021, putting its tri-motor powertrain with 1,020 horsepower to the test.
And the rumors were ultimately true. The sizable sedan recorded an official lap time of 7:35.5—falling short of expectations for a low 7-minute run but still enough to beat the Taycan Turbo. For a little while, anyway.
Porsche Taycan Turbo
7:42.3
Launching in 2019 for the 2020 model year, the Taycan Turbo is Porsche's first modern EV. And it's an impressive debut, wielding 616 horsepower in normal operation or 671 ponies with overboost activated. Porsche lists a 0-60 mph time of 3.0 seconds flat. And this is the "base" model Taycan.
While technically the slowest Porsche Taycan at the Nurburgring, it's still plenty fast. The automaker clocked an official time of 7:42.3 with a preproduction model back in 2019, matching the previous-generation BMW M4 CS. That's not bad for a beefy electric four-door sedan.
Electric RaceAbout
7:44.8
In the early 2010s, this one-off electric sports car was making waves. Developed and built in Finland by the Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, it first attacked the Nurburgring in 2011, but couldn’t quite break the 8-minute barrier. The group wasn’t done trying.
Pumping out 400 horsepower through a quad-motor powertrain, the team returned in 2015 and Sport Auto drove it for a properly quick 7:44.8 lap. At the time it was an EV record for a street-legal car, though being a one-off, it obviously couldn’t claim production status.
Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
7:45.5
We haven't seen much of Kia or Hyundai at the Nurburgring, at least with regards to lap times. The South Korean conglomerate has a plethora of EVs on sale now or coming soon, and the Ioniq 5 N is decidedly aimed at fans of performance. With up to 641 horsepower available in short spurts with the N Grin Boost function (N for Nurburgring, obviously), there's plenty of power to go fast.
The N treatment doesn't simply add power, as the folks from the German publication Sport Auto—who accomplished the lap—found out. Bigger brakes, lower suspension, and sticky tires contributed to an impressive 7:45.5 lap time with driver Christian Gebhardt behind the wheel.
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric
7:56.2
Long before the letters EQ were synonymous with electric Mercedes vehicles, there was the SLS AMG Electric Drive. With gullwing doors and a day-glo paint job, the supercar was impossible to miss. And when it debuted in 2012, it backed up those good looks with 738 horsepower. A 60.0-kilowatt-hour battery powered four electric motors, sending the 4,700-pound car to 60 mph in less than four seconds.
A timed lap around the Nordschleife followed in 2013, sending the electric SLS under the eight-minute mark. Unfortunately, the battery only had enough power to make one full-power lap, and under normal driving conditions, the range was barely 120 miles. Around 100 were initially planned for production, but only nine were made.
Audi R8 E-Tron
8:09.0
It's hard to believe the Audi R8 E-Tron debuted 15 years ago. Back then, it was a pre-production supercar known best for its appearance in the Iron Man movie franchise. But it wasn't just a pretty face, utilizing a dual-motor powertrain with a 49.0-kilowatt-hour battery generating 376 horsepower and 605 pound-feet of torque. It doesn't sound like much these days, but in 2012, that was enough to give the R8 E-Tron the EV Nordschleife record with a lap time of 8:09.
The R8 E-Tron became a proper production car in 2015, but the run was short-lived. Less that 100 were ultimately built before Audi pulled the plug just one year later, leaving space for other E-Tron models to follow. Ironically, none of those have made official Nurburgring lap attempts.
Peugeot EX1 Concept
9:01.34
Peugeot was a player in the early days of the modern EV era with the EX1 concept. Unlike concepts from Audi or Porsche, Peugeot had no illusion about sending this to production. A tiny two-seater with an open cockpit, it relied on a lightweight design with a dual-motor powertrain generating just 335 horsepower.
In 2011, that was enough for Peugeot to claim a Nurburgring record for EVs. The lap time of 9:01.34 was far from competitive in the combustion segment, but it outclassed the Mini E's 2010 lap by nearly a full minute.
Mini E
9:52.0
In the infancy of electrification, Mini debuted the E prototype—a gas-converted Cooper with a modest 201 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque. The skunkworks project eventually led to the production BMW i3, but not before a go ‘round the ‘Ring.
In 2010, Thomas Jagr completed a lap of the Nordschleife behind the wheel of the Mini E Racer in 9:52. It was the first EV ever to complete a timed lap of the Nurburgring, and while it isn’t holding on to any records these days, a sub-10-minute time for a fledgling technology was impressive nonetheless.
