If you drive a Tesla Model S P1000D and think you secretly own a supercar, the CEO of Ferrari, Sergio Marchionne, won’t let you have your fun. After he spoke with analysts on a conference call about the entirely-electric P1000D and it’s already famous “Ludicrous Mode”, he scoffed at the idea that Tesla could make a supercar. He made it very clear that if anyone was going to make an all-electric supercar, Ferrari would be first to do so.
In Ludicrous Mode, the Tesla Model S P1000D, an all-electric, four-door family sedan, can reach 60mph in 2.3-seconds. We have seen this car absolutely demolish the ZL1 Camaro, as well as many other supercars, especially off the line. Even though this car kills anything some of the world’s top supercars can do, the Ferrari CEO isn’t impressed.
“If there is an electric supercar to be built, then Ferrari will be the first,” Sergio Marchionne while addressing rumors of an all-electric Ferrari.
It’s pretty clear that Marchionne doesn’t consider the Tesla to be a real supercar. He went on to point out that the Tesla has poor handling characteristics, and that it’s a straight-line car. Ouch.
The implication is that the P1000D is a muscle car, not an elite supercar like the flashy euro models like the Ferraris. Even if that were the case, we hope Marchionne got the memo about the upcoming Tesla Roadster in the works. Once it reaches the roads, it will the fastest thing around, coming in with a 1.9-second 0-60mph time. Ferrari is going to have to carve a lot of curves to catch that beast.
We don’t know who to side with here. When Ferrari nixed the manual transmission, it was a bit of a middle finger to curve carving drivers. Then again, Tesla, since it’s all-electric, never had one. That’s beside the point, but Marchionne wants to call the P1000D a musclecar, we’ll give it an honorary title.