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Let’s get a couple of things out of the way here.
First, we know electric cars are fast, Tesla fans haven’t stopped talking about this since the mid-2010s and there have been countless videos with evidence of the Model S leaving supercharged V8s in the dust at drag strips.
Even ‘slow’ EVs feel quick due to their instant application of torque from stand-still. An electric car with a 0-100km/h time of 6 seconds can feel fast because of it.
And since I’ve mentioned 0-100km/h, that’s the method we’ll be using to rank which of the electric cars available in Australia is fastest - not their top speed, given you’ll almost never be able to do anything with that.
Finally, we are talking about production cars currently available through manufacturers in Australia, so hypercars like the YangWang U9 or anything Rimac is cooking up are off the list.
Some of you will be happy to know this means you’re not seeing a photo of the Ferrari Luce here.
Conveniently, this means we have five electric cars with a claimed 0-100km/h acceleration figure in under three seconds.
Porsche Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package - 2.2sec
Porsche’s frontiering Taycan might soon be on the chopping block according to rumours of an incoming VW model cull, but for now you can still get to 100km/h in a couple of smidgeons over two seconds. That’s if you have almost $300K to spare, given you’ll probably tick one or two boxes on the options list over its $419,000 before on-roads asking price.
The Taycan draws power from a 93kWh battery, making 815kW and 1340Nm for all four of its wheels, and even without the Weissach pack removing some weight it’ll manage the run to the tonne in 2.3 seconds.
Audi RS e-tron GT Performance - 2.5sec
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Only second on this list because of alphabetisation, the top-spec Audi e-tron (the Audi RS e-tron GT Performance to give it the proper name) hits 100km/h in a claimed 2.5 seconds, on par with another Porsche.
You won’t be surprised to know the e-tron shares a platform with the Taycan, though its most powerful version isn’t quite as vicious - 680kW and 1027Nm draw from a larger 105kWh battery, and it’s not quite as pricey either. A relative bargain at $309,900 before on-roads, in fact.
Porsche Cayenne Turbo Electric - 2.5sec
Tied for second place is this absolute unit, two-and-a-half tonnes of Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen (built in Bratislava, Slovakia, though) capable of hitting 100km/h in 2.5sec thanks to some frankly silly numbers.
Its 850kW and 1500Nm outputs are available from even less than the two cars preceding it on this list, $272,100 before on-roads, and the 113kWh battery means the family SUV can travel up to 623km on a single charge, Porsche says.
An oil-cooled rear motor, active aero, a drag coefficient of 0.25 and even the ability to tow 3500kg make the Cayenne Turbo a one-of-a-kind family car.
Lotus Emeya R - 2.75sec
England’s Lotus has ruffled feathers by ‘going electric’, likely something that would indeed upset founder Colin Chapman, but staying relevant in the 2020s probably required moving on from popping superchargers on Toyota engines and using them to power (extremely dynamic) cars about the size of shopping trolleys.
Lotus claims the top-spec version of the Emeya, a $259,990 four-door grand-tourer with 675kW and 985Nm up its sleeve, can hit 100km/h in a very specific 2.75 seconds. It does weigh around 2.5 tonnes, so imagine how quick it would be if you took the classic quote often attributed to Chapman “simplify and add lightness” to the Emeya.
Lotus Eletre R 2.95sec
Apologies to anyone hoping for variety in this list - we’ve got three Volkswagen Group cars and two Lotuses with essentially the same specifications.
The Lotus Eletre R is two tenths slower to 100km/h according to the manufacturer, but the SUV uses the same 675kW/985Nm dual-motor drivetrain and 112kWh battery, it’s just a little heavier thanks to its SUV shape.
It’s also a little more expensive, asking $20,000 more at $279,990 before on-roads.
