A Tesla Model S sat on a tow truck at the Nurburgring as a Porsche Taycan drove past it

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A Tesla Model S sat on a tow truck at the Nurburgring as a Porsche Taycan drove past it

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Tesla towed Nürburgring
  • Tesla's upgraded Model S "Plaid" sat behind a tow truck on the Nürburgring this week. Video shows its rival, a new Porsche Taycan, driving past it.
  • Tesla handily topped a lap time set by Porsche's new electric vehicle at the famous German track. 
  • "Plaid," the latest powertrain refresh to any Tesla model, should be in production in about a year, CEO Elon Musk said. 
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Tesla didn't want to just top a lap time set by Porsche's new electric vehicle at Germany's iconic Nürburgring race track, it wanted to demolish it.

Then things apparently hit the skids.

Video posted online Wednesday shows a Tesla's Model S "Plaid" prototype sitting on a tow truck on the track, shortly after setting a Porsche-topping time of 7:20. A Porsche Taycan can be seen driving past the stationary Model S at one point.

With improvements, the company says it hopes to hit an even faster time of 7:05. For context, Porsche holds the sports car record for the track at 6:44 with its GT2 RS, achieved on October 25, 2018, but there are no standings published yet for electric vehicles at the famous circuit.

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Tesla didn't immediately respond to questions about why the Plaid prototype, a heavily modified Model S, was stopped on the track. CEO Elon Musk said last week that a production version of the powertrain option would arrive in about a year for Models S, X, and Roadster, but not the Model 3 or Model Y.

The Nurburgring has been a point of contention between Tesla and Porsche ever since the German automaker unveiled its all-electric Taycan Turbo and Turbo S earlier this month. Musk first poked fun at the car's name, telling Porche that "this word Turbo does not mean what you think it does" before heading to the Nurburgring.

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