Photo: Tesla
As of the final months of last year, the word “plaid” no longer means a chequered piece of cloth covering the shoulders of Scotsmen, but courtesy of Elon Musk, an insanely-fast drive mode for Tesla cars.
Plaid used this way first came into the spotlight in late summer 2019, when Tesla began testing a souped-up version of the Model S at the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Supposedly faster than the already available Ludicrous mode, Plaid makes use of three electric motors, one located at the front, spinning the axle there, and an extra two at the rear, moving each of the wheels.
The prototype Tesla spun around the German track last year managed to complete the lap in 7:23 minutes, and even if has not been made official, the time is still 20 seconds faster than the most recent sports electric car, the Porsche Taycan in simple Turbo configuration.
It is uncertain for now when the Plaid powertrain will become available, considering all that’s going on in the world, but it’s likely once it hits the market, it will be available in other Teslas as well, including on the upcoming production Cybertruck.
We learned that much this week, when Elon Musk himself tweeted Plaid Cybertruck is what he’ll drive.
Giving the Cybertruck a Plaid mode would make sense and it would be easier than on the Model S (that as stock only comes with one or two electric motors), considering the fact the pickup truck has already been announced with a tri-motor configuration.
And it really should be an insane upgrade. After all, the stock tri-motor Cybertruck was specced with an acceleration time of just 2.9 seconds, so any improvements in this department, as well as top speed, would probably take the pickup truck into hypercar territory.
With that in mind, get ready to wait a while before such a build really arrives, as the Cybertruck itself should not be here sooner than 2021.
The prototype Tesla spun around the German track last year managed to complete the lap in 7:23 minutes, and even if has not been made official, the time is still 20 seconds faster than the most recent sports electric car, the Porsche Taycan in simple Turbo configuration.
It is uncertain for now when the Plaid powertrain will become available, considering all that’s going on in the world, but it’s likely once it hits the market, it will be available in other Teslas as well, including on the upcoming production Cybertruck.
We learned that much this week, when Elon Musk himself tweeted Plaid Cybertruck is what he’ll drive.
Giving the Cybertruck a Plaid mode would make sense and it would be easier than on the Model S (that as stock only comes with one or two electric motors), considering the fact the pickup truck has already been announced with a tri-motor configuration.
And it really should be an insane upgrade. After all, the stock tri-motor Cybertruck was specced with an acceleration time of just 2.9 seconds, so any improvements in this department, as well as top speed, would probably take the pickup truck into hypercar territory.
With that in mind, get ready to wait a while before such a build really arrives, as the Cybertruck itself should not be here sooner than 2021.
Plaid Cybertruck is what I will drive
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2020
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