In a first-of-its-kind EV race, the Tesla Model S Plaid took on the all-electric Harley Davidson Livewire. Now, this has never been staged before and I for one was definitely curious to see what happens. A glimpse into the future of the sport? Maybe there could be a separate EV class.

Overview

Now the I frequently feature content from the Tesla Plaid channel. Andrew and has Plaid have previously taken on stuff a big tire Camaro Cop car and the Kawasaki ZX14. This time around, he took on yet another EV in the form of the Harley Davidson Livewire. Lets’ look at some numbers shall we?

Tesla Model S Plaid

In the blue corner, we have Andrew’s Tesla Model S Plaid, an EV that has been tearing up dragsters across the country ever since it went on sale last year. With 1020 horsepower from its tri-motor setup, that really isn’t surprising. Now the one modification on this particular Plaid is the Nitto NT01 tires, which should help it run better on track.

Harley Davidson Livewire

In the black corner, we have Harley Davidson’s very first all-electric motorcycle, the Livewire. Now no one really saw Harley of all manufacturers plunging into the EV world this early on, but here we are. The Livewire has also been on some pretty well-documented expeditions like Long Way Up since it went on sale. Its 55 kW oil-cooled three-phase motor produces 105 horsepower, which doesn’t sound like much, but hey at 549 lbs, it also weighs much lesser than the Plaid's 4766 lbs. This particular Livewire is also wearing fatter rubber on the rear tire.

EV Face-off: Car vs Bike

With the blessing of the track officials, since this was a car vs bike duel, the pair burn up some rubber in absolute silence, before lining up for the launch. Andrew decides to give Harley the hit. The lights go out and moments after the Harley is let go, the Tesla takes off behind it. It was strange watching these two vehicles, get off the line. No drama whatsoever.

Anyway, back to the race. The Harley’s lead was short-lived and the Tesla just blitzed past it completing the standing quarter in 6.10 seconds at 119 mph, while the Livewire took 7.27 seconds at 97 mph, to cover 1/8 of a mile. These are two blisteringly quick times regardless.

Final Thoughts

With the kind of performance that these latest electric vehicles offer, don’t be surprised to see more EV’s show up at the track. The Plaid took on the Rimac Nevera last year and it was a lot of fun to watch. What’s next? Plaid vs Lucid anyone? Well, I’m sure there are people out there who want to know which one is quicker. Watch this space.

You can watch these two EV's go head to head in the video below