5 Electric Cars More Powerful Than The Tesla Model S – BGR

If you’re looking to buy an electric car that packs power and offers a solid driving range, the Tesla Model S, from one of the most reliable electric vehicle (EV) makers, is a strong contender. While not much has changed for the 2026 model year compared to its predecessor, one of the key defining features of the Model S is the power that it outputs. The 2026 Model S comes in two trims: A base 670-a horsepower (hp) trim, which is more than enough for a daily driver, and, for performance freaks, the Model S Plaid offers 1,020 hp and can sprint to 60 mph from a stop in just under 2 seconds. 

No matter the trim that you go for, the Model S sends power to all four wheels, and multiple reviewers have found it snappy when accelerating. In fact, in their 2026 Tesla Model S review, Edmunds says the Model S is one of the quickest cars that they have ever driven, which is a remarkable achievement for the EV, as the team independently reviews more than 300 cars every year. 

But if you feel the Tesla Model S’s 1,020 hp and 1.99 seconds sprint from 0 to 60 mph isn’t enough, you shouldn’t settle for it. More powerful EVs exist that best the Model S Plaid in terms of raw hp, and some can even sprint from 0 to 60 mph faster. We’ve selected these models using horsepower as the guiding metric for EV power, but you can read more about our selection process in the methodology section at the end of the article.

As a direct competitor to the Model S, the 2026 Lucid Air offers even more power than Tesla’s model, wrapped in a package that is leading the way for other electric sedans in terms of luxury. The 2026 version is available in four trims: Air Pure, Air Touring, Air Grand Touring, and Air Sapphire. Fully equipped, the Air Sapphire packs all the goodies available in the 2026 model year and offers the most power among the four trims. 

The Air Sapphire trim boasts 1,234 hp, over 254 more hp than the Model S, and it has a top speed of 205 mph. The pricey trim of the Air can go from 0 to 60 mph in 1.89 seconds, a tenth of a second faster than Tesla’s most powerful Model S Plaid, which means the Air should be quicker in acceleration. 

Apart from its powerful powertrain, the 2026 Lucid Air also offers one of the longest ranges in the class with an EPA-estimated range of 427 miles in the high-end Sapphire trim. But to get a full-specced Sapphire model of the Air, you’ll need to dig deeper into your pockets, as it goes for $249,000. It isn’t cheap, and the Lucid Air isn’t as reliable as other EVs, but if you’re solely focused on power, it delivers more than the Model S.

Unlike the Lucid Air or the Tesla Model S, the Rimac Nevera is a different kind of car. This is an electric hypercar, and as befitting its focus category, it packs both speed and power in a sporty-looking package. As a hypercar, the Rimac Nevera is a powerful electric car that offers up to 2,107 hp, more than double what you get on the Model S Plaid. The Nevera sells in two trims, with the base entry-level Nevera developing up to 1,914 hp and 2,340 Newton-meters (Nm) of torque, almost twice the hp of the Model S. 

The most powerful trim is the Nevera R, which offers 2,107 hp and 2,340 Nm of torque from a quad-motor electric powertrain. With such impressive horsepower figures, the Rimac Nevera can do 0 to 60 mph in 1.74 seconds in the base trim and 1.66 seconds in the top-end R trim. With a top speed of 267 mph for the Nevera R, the 2026 Rimac Nevera dwarfs the Model S in speed and ranks as one of the quickest electric cars on the market. 

Hypercars like the Nevera are meant for those who prioritize performance over everything else. So while it might not be as practical for a daily driver like the Model S with a good amount of cargo space, it delivers on power. However, with all that power and the company’s plans to produce a few units, the Nevera won’t come cheap. The company is yet to announce the price, but it’s estimated to start at over $2 million.

If you’ve never heard of the Yangwang U9 Xtreme, you’re certainly not alone, as this vehicle is produced by the luxury brand of Chinese EV maker BYD. The Yangwang U9 Xtreme is an electric hypercar that produces almost three times as much horsepower as the Tesla Model S Plaid. Four electric motors power the U9 Xtreme, which can rotate at over 30,000 rpm, enabling the car to develop more than 3,000 hp. 

With a claimed output of over 3,000 hp, the U9 Xtreme is also quick, and it even shattered the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport’s top speed of 304.8 mph set in 2019, by achieving a speed of 308.4 mph at the Automotive Testing Papenburg test track in Germany. That record alone makes the U9 Xtreme the fastest electric car on the market and, by extension, the fastest production car in the world as of this writing. 

Another top record that the U9 Xtreme holds as of this writing is for setting the fastest time of a production car (6 minutes and 59 seconds) at the Nürburgring. But chances of getting this EV are extremely low as BYD plans to make only 30 units.

Founded in Japan in 2005, Aspark has been in the EV game for a while, and at one point, it held the crown of the fastest electric production car on the market. While that isn’t true anymore, the Owl Roadster still outputs way more power than you can find in the most potent version of the Tesla Model S. 

The Owl Roadster is an open-roof hypercar that is powered by four motors and outputs a maximum of 1,953 hp and 1,920 Nm of torque. With nearly twice the horsepower offered by the Model S, the Aspark Owl Roadster claims a 0 to 60 mph time of just 1.72 seconds. Like other hypercars on this list, the Aspark Owl Roadster also offers a higher top speed than the Model S — the company claims a top speed of 256 mph. 

It’s powered by a 69 kWh battery pack, and it can charge from 20% to 80% in 45 minutes when using a 100 kW charger. The company debuted the Owl Roadster in October 2025 at an auto show in France and plans to make only 20 units.

The Lotus Evija is also a hypercar that delivers more power than the Model S. It only entered production last year, and the 2026 model year boasts impressive horsepower figures when compared to Tesla’s electric sedan. The Evija has four electric motors, which output a total of 2,011 hp, nearly twice as much as the Tesla, and 1,704 Nm of torque. 

Lotus claims the Evija can sprint to 60 mph from 0 in under 2 seconds, which is more in line with the Model S. The Evija still holds Lotus’ driver-first philosophy, which prioritizes engaging the person behind the wheel by including both a hydraulic-assisted steering wheel and brakes. Production of the Evija will be limited to just 130 units, which is meant to symbolize the car’s Type 130 project code, according to Lotus. 

Unfortunately, while the Evija is legal to drive on the road in Europe, the same doesn’t apply in the U.S. If you decide to get it in the U.S., you can only get behind the wheel on a racetrack. The Evija is not cheap either, as one unit will set you back by $2.4 million.

For this list of EVs that are more powerful than the Model S, we used horsepower as the guiding factor. We first determined the maximum hp that the latest Model S offers, which is 1,020 hp, then scoured the internet to find models that are fully electric but offer better figures, even if so slightly. And while the Model S is a practical car for daily driving with enough cargo space, impressive driving range, and five seats, we didn’t factor that into our search. 

That’s why some cars on this list aren’t even legal to drive on the road — and most are hypercars optimized for speed and performance while sacrificing space and practicality. We’ve arranged the EVs in no particular order.