This Week in Tesla: Records Get Shattered, Tesla Looks to Invest in Australian Battery Minerals

Model S Plaid Records New Quarter-Mile Record Time -

Jay Leno, one of the few members of the media that Tesla engages with claims that he witnessed a prototype of the Model S Plaid record a quarter-mile time of 9.247 seconds at a speed of 152 miles per hour, a new record for a production car. Although the time is neither publicized by Tesla nor certified, Leno did mention that an official from the National Hotrod Association was there to certify the time. A quarter-mile time of less than ten seconds is ridiculous for any production car to break, let alone a seven seat sedan. The production car that comes closest to this time is the Bugatti Chiron Sport, a multi-million dollar car that was limited to 500 units produced. The Bugatti managed to accomplish a time of 9.4 seconds at 158 mph, excluding a rollout of one foot. The fact that the Tesla was not only faster, but came in at a very close speed says a lot. In the past, Teslas have been able to beat the supercars to 60 mph, but have fallen behind at higher speeds. For reference, the Porsche 918 Spyder, one of the fastest cars ever built came in at a speed of 148 mph, slower than the Model S. Although this time is not yet official, it is extremely promising that Tesla plans on maintaining the lead that they have in regards to straight-line performance.

Tesla Looks to Spend $1 Billion a Year on Australian Battery Minerals -

Through its chairwoman, Robyn Delholm, Tesla announced that it is looking to secure $1 billion a year in battery minerals from Australia. Most of these minerals will be in the form of lithium and nickel, two minerals key to mass battery production. Tesla already gets around 75% of their lithium from Australia, and according to Delholm:

“Australian mining companies do have a good reputation, great expertise, professionalism and are preferred by manufacturers increasingly concerned about meeting both today’s and the future’s ESG requirements”

It is definitely a good thing that Tesla is planning ahead as far as their mineral acquisition goes because as more companies look to make EVs, the demand will only increase.

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