Tesla officially announced its US$131,000-worth ultra fast Model S Plaid on Thursday June 10th and this is the latest from the company which is able to do 0 – 60mph under just 2 seconds. The design of the vehicle also offer some premium look and feel that makes the vehicle interesting.
This will in fact be the fastest Tesla production vehicle according to the company’s CEO Elon Musk who made this known that no production vehicle is able to do 0 – 60mps under just two seconds.
While that is a big claim from the company, the result is there for everyone to see. The new Tesla Model S Plaid has been dubbed “speed demon” thanks to its aerodynamic design which allows the vehicle to achieve this with ease.
Aside being super fast, the vehicle is also able to complete a quarter mile with a time of 9.23-seconds according to a new speed record which the vehicle has broken. This means it’s the fastest production vehicle and not just that, a commercially available vehicle.
The car comes with three electric motors which is able to generate a whopping 1,020hp giving the car a top speed of 200mph.
The car is also able to reach up to 390 miles which makes it one of the best EVs on the market to reach that range. With that said, the Model S Plaid can reach 187 miles of range in just 15 minutes.
The car isn’t only about speed as there have been some pretty decent improvements such as cold weather performance. The car comes with a new heat pump and an improved thermal performance which gives it a 430% better range in cold weather while using 50% less energy to heat up the cabin.
It’s safer than Volvo, faster than Porsche
“We’ve got to show that an electric car is the best car, hands down.” Elon Musk said during the presentation of the car on Thursday.
“Sustainable energy cars can be the fastest cars, the safest cars, can be the most kick-ass cars in every way, and that’s why we did the Plaid. Just to show, hands down, this is the way to go.”
There isn’t any official safety ratings as of yet but the company thinks it will get the lowest probability of injury of any car ever tested because of the design of the chassis and the body of the vehicle. However it might be diligent to wait to see the official crash tests and ratings in order to find out if it can live up to the claims made by the CEO.
Musk went on to make the bold claim the Plaid is “faster than any Porsche, safer than any Volvo.”
New tech on the inside
As we all know that Elon Musk often refer to the company as a software company sometimes and that is one aspect that makes the Tesla cars superior to many on the EV market. The technology built with the Model S Plaid gives the vehicle some improvement over other Tesla vehicles.
There is a new large touch-screen 17-inch 2200 x 1300 display which now sits in a landscape orientation unlike other Tesla models. With the new orientation, watching movies can easily be done with ease.
The user interface of the display has also being improved while there are some customization options as well as gesture controls.
There are two smartphone wireless charging pads sitting under the display and a 36W USB-C port which is able to charge up a laptop. The car also includes ventilated front seats option which is meant to help a better driving experience during hot summer.
But one thing I’ve not yet mentioned is the yoke steering wheel which brings a new design to the car. Unlike the traditional circular steering wheels found in many cars, Tesla decided to go the other way round making the Model S Plaid’s steering wheel appear like an F1 car.
With the new design, you get a better overview of the digital instrument display much easily but it’s practicality is still being questioned by many.
And one thing Tesla vehicles are known for is the fact that you don’t always need to press a button or carry dangling keys along with you. The Model S Plaid is a smart car which can be controlled using your smartphone.
As you approach the vehicle, it senses your presence via your smartphone and the door gets unlocked and when you’re in, there is no start/stop buttons just start driving – just like that.
Rear seat passengers haven’t been forgotten either, with a smaller display between the two front seats for them, plus another two smartphone wireless charging pads in the fold-down center arm rest.
The Model S Plaid also features a powerful 22-speaker, 920 Watts sound system and special acoustic glass to keep outside noise to a minimum inside the cabin.
The starting price of the vehicle is about US$129,990 for the base model while there are options that could jack up the price to as much as US$148,990 when you add features like a premium paint, wheels, interior finish and full self-driving mode.