[PietdeVries]

To my knowledge the essence of an electric engine is that is has max traction almost independent of the rpm. Where a petrol engine has an optimal rpm (4000 for instance) where it provides most power, the electric car does not. Consequence is that a petrol car needs a gearbox to keep the engine around this optimal RPM (and thus most power) while the electric engine does not need one - it accelerates and keeps on accelerating... So the Tesla is so fast because it is electric, not because it has other features.

[jackmott]

Max torque, not traction. That, and being able to do all wheel drive efficiently and with less weight penalty and with less risk to drivetrain parts helps the quick acceleration.

But you still have to make tons of power and not be too heavy of course.

[usrusr]

Yes and no. While the grandparent post was clearly confusing traction and torque quite a bit, the answer is still mostly about traction.

At the supercar level, you can basically assume infinite power when looking at acceleration in the lower speed ranges. The limit is traction, not torque. A sufficiently strong EEV can continuously max out traction. An ICE supercar does the same, but with a few tiny gaps for shifting that add to the total time. The ICE supercars do not need a stronger engine to come closer to the Tesla, they need faster transmissions to minimize shifting gaps. I think that this is also the prime reason why manual transmissions are disappearing/have disappeared from supercar territory, dual clutch automatics provide shorter gaps.

[PinguTS]

Which is only partly right. Also electric drives have a dependency of torque to rpm(1). But it is much more easy to control than an ICE.

(1): http://lancet.mit.edu/motors/motors3.html