Porsche employee calls Tesla's Ludicrous mode a 'facade,' report says

Tesla's Ludicrous mode is a facade? Those, my friends, are fighting words.

Porsche is working on a Porsche-punching, all-electric luxury sport sedan of its own. It's called the Mission E, and it was unveiled in Frankfurt in September of last year.

Turns out, though, the German automaker is going after Tesla with more than just its designs. It's also launching a verbal attack.

“The thing about [Tesla’s] Ludicrous mode is that it’s a facade," a Porsche product manager told Automobile magazine, adding, "Two launches saps the whole battery."

By comparison, drivers will "be able to run [the Mission E] hard, over and over; the battery will not overheat," the Porsche rep bragged. "The power control module will not overheat, and the seats will not suck.”

Though it's a bit unprofessional for a brand rep to make such derogatory statements about a competitor's car, the unnamed Porsche rep isn't too far from the truth.

When I drove the Model S P90D in Palo Alto last October, I experienced many of these issues. Though I didn't notice the battery overheat, I did discover that stomping the throttle in Ludicrous acceleration mode definitely zapped its battery range.

And those seats, yeah, they aren't the most supportive.

As for how the Porsche actually compares, we will have to wait and see — likely until 2019. However, that same Porsche employee said the Mission E will be “something special.