Electric cars: they’re slow, they save gas, they help the environment… right? That’s the reputation that most have focused on. Bubbly econo-cars with long acceleration build up. Not a lot of discussion about fun, or racing or speed off the line. But just watch this video of a Tesla Model S racing a Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG and you might have some assumptions overturned:

The amazing thing about electric cars is that electric car makers have often been focusing on things like saving the planet, or saving money on gas. But advertising has known for a long time that excitement is just as much a fueler of sales and interest in cars as anything else. There’s a reason they say ‘sex sells’ and in the US, that’s a fast and powerful car.

Seeing a Tesla Model S leap off the line as the Mercedes roars and growls, struggling to keep up, is about as sexy as you can get. An electric car can give 100% of all available torque to the wheels instantly. It’s off and on, versus a car that has to pump gas from the fuel tank, bring up to the engine, explode it, then harness the explosion with a whir of complex machinery that turns that explosion into movement.

Speed is natural to an electric car. And it’s this exciting feature that needs shown off more.

That being said, any gearhead is going to find it odd to be in the Tesla. In the second half of the video the perspective of the Tesla is shown. And unlike the experience in the Mercedes, there’s no growling and shifting. Inside the Tesla, it’s just the quiet rush of air buffeting past as it takes the lead.