IT'S TEV TIME

EVs are now common on our roads but remain rare in motorsport. Steve Cropley meets Tevo, the Tesla modifiers working to change that

- Steve Cropley

Elon Musk was E undoubtedly right when he declared at the launch of his Model 3 compact saloon back in July 2017 that Tesla would never build a slow car. Even then, most people were already convinced. Those who had never clapped eyes on a Tesla had heard (or watched YouTube videos) of the Insane modes of the Model S and the Model X and were preparing themselves for the Model 3's Ludicrous mode.

As far as keen drivers were concerned, the Model 3 was a BMW 3 Series rival in its dimensions, if not in its endurance, which was good news. Although hardly a lightweight, at 1860kg, the Model 3 was more than 600kg slimmer than the Model S, 340mm shorter, 150mm narrower and 90mm smaller in the wheelbase.

It sat low, with an impressively rigid monocoque and had a well-designed all-independent suspension underneath. It stopped and steered far better than its predecessors and was a lot more agile.

On this side of the pond, Berkshire businessman, saloon racer and lifelong motorsport lover John Chambers ordered one of the first right-hand-drive Performance models and settled in to wait the promised several years for delivery.

"I've never waited so long for a car," he says, "but I had already tried a Tesla in the US and knew it had the kind of performance that I wanted." The car Chambers ordered in March 2016 finally turned up in September 2019. "I drove it and I was hooked," he says. "I could immediately see how far ahead Tesla was.

But it was also clear, pretty soon, that it needed some improvements if I wanted to drive it hard. Not to the powertrain, but to stuff like the running gear, suspension and brakes. I started looking around and soon saw that a market had already developed for this stuff among American owners, because they had had their Model 3s several years longer than us."