Q&A article offers great insight . As does this interview of Sandy Munro of Munro and Associates -
Check out this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDr4L6BzpP8 With the i3, BMW showed how to take mass out of a traction motor and minimise material wastage.
The performance experienced by people in a Tesla is very much determined by the algorithms in the EV software informed by the position of the accelerator and brake pedals. With the MS and MX Tesla has optimised high initial acceleration and long cruise range. With the lower priced M3, one assumes it will offer a lower acceleration (0-60 mph in 8 seconds?), surely lower top speed (90 mph??) using just one gear. MS and MX motors have a top speed of 18,000 rpm. M3 nay only use 10,000 rpm of the possible range to avoid the low acceleration at high revs. As induction motors are cheaper than permanent magnet motors, its possible to use a larger motor and use algorithms to get the desired performance profile across the entire speed range, but not more performance. This keeps down the cost of other drivetrain components and motor cooling components. In effect, algorithms take on the role of gears on other vehicles.
