Former Tesla Fremont factory worker creates mock electric drag race between P90D and Hellcat
Here it is, folks. The drag race of the century. The main event. The smackdown everyone has been lusting for. A Tesla P90D going up against the mighty Dodge Hellcat. The cars are staged. The lights are on. Cue the dramatic music. This is going to be epic!
Thanks go out to committed Tesla fans Shaun and D-Wizz. Together, they worked more than 6 hours putting this video together in dedication to Elon Musk’s vision of the future. Shaun told me in an exclusive interview that he has been a Tesla fanboi since he worked at the Fremont assembly plant as a PLC programmer during a factory upgrade. He says, “The more I learned and the more I saw of how this car was built, I realized that the Model S and Tesla are really like no other car manufacturer.
“When Elon Musk announced the P90D, he used the phrase ‘faster than falling.’ This reminded me of an old saying, ‘Your car would only be faster than mine if you dropped it off a cliff,’ which no longer applies to anyone with Ludicrous mode. That’s what gave me the idea for this video.
“The Hellcat was chosen as it was a favorite to battle the P85D in real life and I find the Dodge Challenger the best looking modern muscle car. I took this idea to my mate D-Wizz and it grew from there. The video features Matchbox and Hot Wheels 1/64 scale cars, and some old Scalextric race track I had lying around. Had lots of fun and crashes making it.”
D-Wizz adds, “I’ve loved the Tesla concept since the beginning. I was a fan when everybody thought it was a joke or another electric car fad. As far as I’m concerned, its the future of transport and I can’t wait to see every new model – even the “Maximum Plaid” mode in the announced roadster. Shaun came to me with the idea for the video and, off course, we had had to find a few hours in our busy schedules to crash some toy cars in slow motion!”
Putting the video together was not a “one and done” proposition. Shaun says, “Engineering the Tesla to win by the margin we estimated took a lot of trial and error. We can’t give away all the secrets, but at the end of the day, even at 1/64th scale, I think every one knows why the Tesla won — Ludicrous speed!”
We can tell you the smoke at the starting line came from D-Wizz burning matches underneath the track. The sounds of the Hellcat revving its engine came from his audio library. And a 5 year old was enlisted to insure that no Matchbox or Hot Wheels cars were harmed during the filming.
A total of 3 beers were consumed by each of the intrepid photographers during the filming. But once the race was “in the can”, as they say in Hollywood, Shaun informed me that “a glass or two of Lost Spirits Ouroboros Peated California Single Malt” was consumed by each. He calls it “an excellent drop, if you can find it.”
Well done, guys. Maybe you will even get a tweet from Elon for this.
