The Idea And Mission

Chevrolet's Vince Piggins, during the greater part of America's muscle car era, was far more than a product promoter; indeed he was one of the founding father's of the automaker's street and track performance legacy. Truthfully, Chevy's legendary COPO supercar program would have never been possible, were it not for the engineering and marketing savvy of Piggins and his tightly-knit network of Bowtie dealerships.

It wasn't a matter of "who's bigger" or "who makes the most money;" what inevitably set Chevy's COPO operation apart from every other performance movement of the era was that it was geared toward nothing but performance, and there was no increase or lack of funding from General Motors that could've diminished Piggins or his unique sense of muscle car "spirituality." That spirit made "COPO," big-block performance and development into a Chevy reality.

From the late 1970s all throughout that decade of style and outlandishness that was the '80s, Buick tried with a certain degree of passion to rise above their dull and boring reputation. Under the umbrella of all things GM, Buick in particular was notoriously known as the corporation's "family car" manufacturer, and so their "T-Type" campaign became the way that the automaker established for themselves a "sex appeal," one typically associated with the era's most exotic, European flagships.

"T-Type," along with Chevy's "Super Sport" and other GM performance insignia have become, at least for General Motors, gateways into a performance market for car companies that traditionally were associated with family and utility usage. What T-Type did for Buick, SVT also did for Ford and the Mustang nameplate, and each of these departments or programs left their inventors with a new sense of road and track dignity.

When Tesla Motors first introduced their Lotus Elise-based Roadster, it became clear to all of us that something radical had truly been crafted. Then with time we found that we were wrong even still; Tesla had not only invented the all-electric sports car, but they had perfected it. The electric Elise was Tesla's greatest automotive achievement, but in hindsight it's also a car that demanded further research and development.

Many electric vehicle enthusiasts may argue that Tesla Motors has established for itself a flagship car with their fast and nimble Roadster; on this point, however, we disagree. I don't feel that Tesla as a car company has even begun to develop a flagship vehicle, and this is where a new performance-oriented program comes in.

Introducing to the Tesla Motors Company a department and a lineup that brings high-performance for the future to the Tesla vehicle family. If Buick had "T-Type" and Ford the Special Vehicle Team, then where exactly does Tesla fit into the racing and street/road performance game? Like Buick, the answer lies in one letter only.

That letter is none other than "T," and that department that brings high-performance excellence to Tesla is none other than "Section T." Welcome to Section T, a motoring subdivision that brings a product to the Tesla vehicle family that no other formal motoring program can. Why? Simply for the fact that Section T will work with Formulec and others to work in accordance with Tesla's technological vision, rather than trying to obstruct it with high-octane fuels and noisy supercharger assemblies.

Here's the idea: we develop a high-performance program that does-away with all of the high-compression pistons, snow-capped racing cams and other moving assemblies typically associated with the performance craft and industry. How? Well the name does say it all, doesn't it? With Section T, we develop vehicles and products that revolve around racing while using the very best in Tesla's DC motor technology.

What does it mean for the competitive race car or the street-legal flagship sportster? Simple: using the bottom-end torque of Tesla's motor technology, we can build a flagship that reaches even closer to the 300 mile-per-hour barrier. Why is reaching a top speed of 300 miles per hour such a preoccupation for this department? Because trying to set that kind of a speed barrier as a tangible goal can actually help us to develop all-electric racing technology, while also helping to develop DC-based performance platforms that can be used for normal/everyday driving.

Why is it so important to build an EV that equals the road and track performance of a 458 Italia or a conventional F1? While we realize that Formula 1 racing is not exactly at the top of everyone's agenda, we also see the potential to develop electric running gears that are specific to the motor enthusiast market, while also making these systems sustainable for reliable, everyday usage. That's the mission behind France's Formulec and their "EF01" race car, and so Section T, proposed to be Tesla Motors' first ever race and performance nameplate, shares in that ground-breaking vision.

"XK-1," Tesla's Very First Flagship Model

Nobody likes to be a "copy-cat," but in the case of Tesla's very first flagship, we would do things a little differently. Instead, we combine the visions of Nikola Tesla and Carroll Shelby to bring to the table a new kind of supercar. Introducing to the Tesla family the all-new, "XK-1," a supercar classic that follows in the Tesla Roadster spirit by using DC motor know-how to improve on a pre-existing platform.

In the same way that Lotus' Elise served as the foundation for the Roadster, Koenigsegg's Agera R, possibly the fastest flagship on the globe, is Sweden's best, and so it will become the "suit" that is "worn" by Tesla Motors' very first supercar sensation. Exactly like our mission states, Tesla's XK-1 will soon prove the be the scariest thing on the supercar market.

Welcome to a new age of performance technology. Welcome to a world where it's actually "cool" to drive a smart car. Welcome to Tesla's "Section T," and welcome to the future...