[ilovecars2]

What I find odd is how does a car with 400PS and almost 700NM of torque max out at 124mph? In comparison a Jaguar F-Pace 3.0, which has 375PS and 430NM torque will max out at (limited) top speed of 155MPH.

The iPace weights just 300KG more than the F-Pace, so it’s not down to extra weight alone.

[jgibson]

Gearing. 99.9% of driving happens below 100kph, so you optimize for that. You start reaching the mechanical and electrical limits if you spin up the motors that fast. You could certainly get a lot faster, but you'd lose out on low-end torque. Either that or you put a gearbox in, but that adds complexity + weight.

[ilovecars2]

Does a P100D have a gearbox? I thought it was single speed. It also has a mountain of torque and power.

[danesparza]

I believe it's a single gear. There are differentials for the axles, but no mention of gearing for the motor itself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Model_S#Powertrain

[rockinghigh]

I expect freeway driving to represent more than 0.1% of all driving.

[brandmeyer]

124 mph is 200 kph, corresponding to 'U' speed-rated tires. So its probably about less-expensive long-life tires, rather than a fundamental power limit.

[Retra]

There could be a number of things limiting the speed of an electric motor aside from limited torque/mass. The motors could be speed limited because of high material failure rates above a certain threshold or because the circuits can't be driven that fast for whatever reason.