Tesla is confident it can beat Porsche's Nurburgring time — but not this month

The rumors claiming Tesla would try setting a Nürburgring record for production electric cars on Sept. 21 were false. Posting on its official Twitter account, the company confirmed its team has gone back to California in order to return to the drawing board and set an even better time in October.

Tesla wrote that data from its tests suggests the Model S is capable of lapping the 'Ring in 7 minutes and 20 seconds. That's 22 seconds quicker than the Porsche Taycan Turbo, which is impressive, especially for a company that doesn't have decades of track experience to lean upon. It's also not official, because it hasn't been certified by the track. Instead of getting its time verified and calling it a day, the carmaker noted it might be able to shave another 15 seconds after making improvements to the S, and beating Porsche by nearly 40 seconds on its home turf is well worth the wait.

Data from our track tests indicates that Model S Plaid can achieve 7:20 at the Nürburgring.

With some improvements, 7:05 may be possible when Model S returns next month.

— Tesla (@Tesla) September 19, 2019

Lapping the Green Hell in 7 minutes and 5 seconds would put the Model S on par with the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. It's not a run-of-the-mill Model S, though. The version Tesla is testing in Germany is believed to be a prototype of an upcoming, range-topping variant named Plaid. It gains a triple-motor powertrain that delivers a massive amount of power. Spy shots also suggest the cars Tesla is using to attempt setting a record wear super-sticky Michelin tires, and have been stripped of everything deemed superfluous in the cabin in order to shed weight.

Tesla didn't explain why it's not able to set a record in September. We know it sent two prototypes to the 'Ring, and we saw footage of one of them getting lapped twice by a Taycan while broken down, waiting for a tow truck on the left side of the track. It might have experienced a powertrain failure, or might simply be out of electricity; driving flat-out saps range at an incredible pace.