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Tesla Model S Plaid: Everything we know – performance, features, versions and more
Elon Musk remarked during the recently-held third-quarter earnings call that Tesla is continuing the production of the Model S more for “sentimental reasons.” The vehicle, after all, is a niche product compared to the best-selling, reasonably-priced Model 3. Yet, the Model S remains Tesla’s flagship car, and it will remain so, if Musk’s statements are any indication.
“The Model S literally won Motor Trend‘s best car ever in history by the way. It’s incredible, especially the new one with variable damping suspension, hospital operating room HEPA filter for air purification, the raven powertrain. It’s the fastest car in the world, and it’s just so easy to drive. It makes you feel like Superman driving that car. It’s incredibly safe. It’s just an amazing vehicle,” Musk said.
The Model S is Tesla’s first car that it designed from the ground up, and thus, is already about seven years old. As such, it appears that the time is right for Tesla to look into updating the Model S for the Model 3 and Model Y era.
Enter the “Plaid” Model S. The aggressively styled vehicles were brought to the Nurburgring seemingly as part of Tesla’s efforts at establishing its own record at the track, which just so happens to be the location where the Porsche Taycan — a car long expected to be a Model S rival — was tempered as it was refined for release.
Based on images and videos of the Model S Plaid, the vehicle seems to be every bit of a monster as intended by the electric car maker. Here’s what you need to know about Tesla’s Model S with Plaid Powertrain.
It will look slightly different
While the vehicles retain the classic general Model S look, Tesla’s Plaid prototypes in the Nurburgring today feature a widebody kit to accommodate wider tires. The vehicles are also optimized for track use, as could be seen in various aero improvements to the all-electric sedan. Among these are a larger front air intake, a front lip spoiler, large air vents behind the front wheels, a diffuser at the rear, and a new spoiler.
Being test units, it remains uncertain if the Plaid Model S production version will retain these aero enhancements.
It will have three motors
Taking a page from the next-generation Tesla Roadster’s playbook, the Plaid Model S will have a three-motor configuration. Tesla has not announced details about this setup, though one can infer that it involves placing two motors at the rear and one motor at the front, just like the company’s upcoming all-electric supercar.
It will be track-capable
The Model S, even at its P100D trim, was notoriously prone to throttling issues on the track. Not so with the Plaid version. The Plaid Model S is made to attack corners at incredibly high speeds and complete multiple laps around a track without losing performance. So far, comments from eyewitnesses at the Nurburging have remarked that the Plaid vehicles Tesla brought over are almost disturbingly fast, and even at their initial iterations, each vehicle was reportedly finishing five or six laps a day around the nearly 13-mile Nurburgring with optimum performance.
It will likely have at least two trims
Tesla’s Plaid Powertrain appears to be a direct reference to the three electric motors in the vehicle. But it appears that the electric car maker will be releasing more than one variant of its tri-motor Model S. During its initial excursion to the Nurburging, it was reported that the blue Plaid Model S unit was able to complete a 7:40 lap, close to the results of the Taycan Turbo. The red Model S Plaid prototype, on the other hand, achieved a hand-stopped time of 7:23.
This certainly seems to be an indication that the two prototypes correspond to different versions of the vehicle. It might be cliche or Elon Musk’s classic meme lord-worthy humor, but it appears that its red Plaid Model S is the faster of its two prototypes. This is quite interesting, as spy shots of the blue Plaid Model S seem to suggest that the car was stripped down, while the seemingly faster red Model S is attacking the track with all its door panels and extra seats.
Its price will be expensive but cheaper than the Taycan Turbo
Elon Musk has noted on Twitter that the Plaid Model S will be priced higher than the Raven Performance version that is on sale today, though he also noted that the vehicle will cost “less than our competitors.” With this in mind, it appears that a Plaid Model S will start between the $100k-$150k range. This seems to be the case considering that Porsche priced its Taycan Turbo variant at just over $150k before options.
It will enter production in less than a year
Elon Musk has stated that the Tesla Model S Plaid units are set for production around Summer 2020, which is also around the same time that the company will start manufacturing the Model Y crossover. This is quite in line with previous leaks from the Fremont plant, which pointed to the electric car maker tooling the facility for the production of the Model Y and an updated Model S.
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Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Tesla highlights the Megapack site replacing Hawaii’s last coal plant
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
