The Tesla Model S Plaid still promises to be the most wickedly fast version yet.
Head over to Tesla’s configurator page for the Model S sedan, and you’ll notice the ‘Plaid+’ version is now grayed out. CEO Elon Musk tweeted over the weekend that the standard Plaid is coming this week, making good on an earlier statement that the launch would be pushed out a week. In omitting the Plaid+ from the lineup, though, he said the $119,990 car is “just so good” that apparently charging an extra $30,000 for the trim promising 520+ miles of range is not necessary.
Still, the upcoming Tesla Model S Plaid lays down numbers sure to impress most performance enthusiasts. Headlining Tesla’s claimed figures is the 1,020 horsepower output, followed by the ‘1.99 second’ 0-60 time and 200 mph top speed. That’s significantly faster than the only other version of the Model S available — the Long Range — while still managing 390 miles on a charge, according to Tesla’s estimates.
Hopeful or disappointed?
Tesla’s website does still physically show the Plaid+ button, even if it is grayed out at the moment. It still also says “Plaid+ coming in mid-2022”, despite Musk’s tweet. That could be a left over detail as Tesla removes the Plaid+ from its roadmap, but there’s always a possibility we’ll see longer-range or even more powerful versions down the road.
From the responses, plenty of enthusiasts and would-be buyers are wondering how Tesla will tackle its 520-mile range promise originally made by the Model S Plaid+. For some, not having that extra range is a dealbreaker, while others are keen to get a supercar-smashing EV (a test Plaid did set a 1 minute, 36 second lap time at Laguna Seca) without needing to spend nearly $150,000.
Here’s our original discussion on the Plaid below, bearing in mind the “plus” information is now largely irrelevant:
