More than twenty years ago, the E39 M5 was the fastest sedan in the world. Its 400 horsepower 4.9 liter naturally ambitious V8 has made it the king of the super sedan world. It was paired with a six-speed manual transmission and only powered its rear wheels. At the time, it was as high-tech as a super sedan, but, by today’s standards, it’s an ancient thing. That’s why Jason Camisa uses it twenty years later, to prove just how fast the new electric super sedans are.
In this new video from Hager, Camisa features a brand new Lucid Air Dream version for a drag race, a Tesla Model S Plaid and an E39 M5 lineup. Obviously, both electric sedans are much faster than the E39 M5 but it is How much? They are shocked that fast. The M5 was offered especially when you consider the benefits.
When Lucid Air and Tesla Plaid sat on the start line, the E39 was moving towards the M5 at 70 mph. So the E39 M5 started flying at a highway speed, when the two electric sedans had to start from a standstill. Even with that insane advantage, Tesla was still able to win the drag race in one go. Lucid wasn’t too far behind either, and would eventually outperform BMW by a quarter of a second after a quarter-mile.
As Camisa mentions in this video, the Lucid is so efficient that it uses less power than a Nissan leaf and uses only eight times the power of the E39 M5, while producing three times more power. The future of performance is definitely electric.
Of course, EV haters will claim that the E39 M5 is more attractive, more charismatic and more enjoyable to drive and in many situations they are probably right. But there is no denying the engineering brilliance of these new electric sedans, which proves how far we have come.