Photo: The Kilowatts on Twitter.com
If you don't know what Plaid is, at least one of the following statements applies to you: you're not Scottish; you never watched the 1987 Mel Brooks Star Wars parody called Space Balls; you did watch it, but you didn't find it too entertaining and forgot most of the things in it; you have no interest in Tesla, EVs, drag racing, or perhaps even cars in general; you do know what is it, but you're in denial about it.
Whether you like it or not, Musk's geeky little reference to the 1980s cult movie "Plaid Mode" has become synonymous with blistering quick acceleration in the car world. You can bet no Hellcat owner feels like laughing whenever they line up against a Model S Plaid at the drag strip, as they'll only be wasting fuel since it's a guaranteed L.
Released just over two years ago, the Model S Plaid was always meant to represent the pinnacle of Tesla engineering, the best car from the former Californian, now Texan company money can buy. Owning a Plaid tells everyone you won't settle for anything other than the best, so it's just as much a status symbol car as it is a very rapidly accelerating one.
With that in mind, Musk always said the Plaid moniker would be restricted to the two models sitting at the top of the Tesla tree: the S and the X. Allowing the second-tier models like the 3 and the Y to get the same nameplate would only dilute its essence and eliminate one of the most important differentiators of the two older models, apart from their grater size.
From a business stand point, it seems like a sensible decision. Besides, it's not as if the Model 3 Performance can be described as slow, so even though Tesla could technically shave off a few tenths of a second on its 0-60 time, it doesn't make financial sense. And even though a lot of the company's decisions appear to be made based on Musk's preferences and whims, at the end of the day, it's still a profit-driven enterprise, so money has to prevail.
Well, a tweet published yesterday by The Kilowatts showing an excerpt from Tesla's Parts Catalog suggested this sensible approach might had been coming to an end. The images and information didn't say anything specifically, but they did show the drawing of a new Model 3's rear end sporting what looked like a Plaid badge right above the usual "Dual Motor" lettering.
There were a few ways this could have been interpreted, and none was particularly good news for Tesla. On the one hand, it could have been nothing more than a re-branding of the Performance version - little to no technological changes, just a new name for the most potent iteration of the electric sedan. To be fair, this would have probably been the least flattering option for Tesla as it would seriously hurt the weight of the Plaid badge.
On the other hand, Tesla could have expanded its range of Plaid cars to the 3 and Y, and that's because they are by far its most successful models. Besides, markets such as the European ones will always find it hard to fully embrace the S and the X due to their size, so offering them a more convenient access to the Plaid range does make some sense.
Finally, you have to look at the timing of this leak and remember Tesla doesn't leak information but allows it to drip out whenever it is of help to the company instead. Following the somewhat bleak earnings call from earlier this week that led to the stock value falling by just over 9%, you could argue this would be a good time to get people talking about the company on a positive tone. And what better way to do that than with what is arguably still Tesla's biggest selling argument: its vehicles' sheer stupid levels of performance.
As it turns out, upon closer inspection and after watching Space Balls again (any excuse will do), the badge we're looking at does not seem to represent plaid speed, but ludicrous. This name has been part of Tesla lingo for even longer than Plaid, it just never had a badge before. Well, until now, apparently.
If proven to be true, this sounds like a clever decision on Tesla's part. On the one hand, it steers clear of dragging the Plaid name down the model range pecking order, and on the other, it does offer the Model 3 a bit of extra kink. The only question remaining in this case is whether the Ludicrous is meant to replace the Performance (slightly less exciting since it would indicate the actual figures might remain the same) or sit just above it, adding more power and, you know, making it go quicker.
However, since this is a parts catalog we're talking about, it could just as well all end in disappointment. This could be nothing more than a sticker you can buy to paste on the back of your standard Model 3, just like 2.0-liter diesel BMW owners have been doing with ///M badges for ages. Now, if only I could think of a joke to end on a positive note...
Released just over two years ago, the Model S Plaid was always meant to represent the pinnacle of Tesla engineering, the best car from the former Californian, now Texan company money can buy. Owning a Plaid tells everyone you won't settle for anything other than the best, so it's just as much a status symbol car as it is a very rapidly accelerating one.
With that in mind, Musk always said the Plaid moniker would be restricted to the two models sitting at the top of the Tesla tree: the S and the X. Allowing the second-tier models like the 3 and the Y to get the same nameplate would only dilute its essence and eliminate one of the most important differentiators of the two older models, apart from their grater size.
From a business stand point, it seems like a sensible decision. Besides, it's not as if the Model 3 Performance can be described as slow, so even though Tesla could technically shave off a few tenths of a second on its 0-60 time, it doesn't make financial sense. And even though a lot of the company's decisions appear to be made based on Musk's preferences and whims, at the end of the day, it's still a profit-driven enterprise, so money has to prevail.
Well, a tweet published yesterday by The Kilowatts showing an excerpt from Tesla's Parts Catalog suggested this sensible approach might had been coming to an end. The images and information didn't say anything specifically, but they did show the drawing of a new Model 3's rear end sporting what looked like a Plaid badge right above the usual "Dual Motor" lettering.
There were a few ways this could have been interpreted, and none was particularly good news for Tesla. On the one hand, it could have been nothing more than a re-branding of the Performance version - little to no technological changes, just a new name for the most potent iteration of the electric sedan. To be fair, this would have probably been the least flattering option for Tesla as it would seriously hurt the weight of the Plaid badge.
On the other hand, Tesla could have expanded its range of Plaid cars to the 3 and Y, and that's because they are by far its most successful models. Besides, markets such as the European ones will always find it hard to fully embrace the S and the X due to their size, so offering them a more convenient access to the Plaid range does make some sense.
Finally, you have to look at the timing of this leak and remember Tesla doesn't leak information but allows it to drip out whenever it is of help to the company instead. Following the somewhat bleak earnings call from earlier this week that led to the stock value falling by just over 9%, you could argue this would be a good time to get people talking about the company on a positive tone. And what better way to do that than with what is arguably still Tesla's biggest selling argument: its vehicles' sheer stupid levels of performance.
As it turns out, upon closer inspection and after watching Space Balls again (any excuse will do), the badge we're looking at does not seem to represent plaid speed, but ludicrous. This name has been part of Tesla lingo for even longer than Plaid, it just never had a badge before. Well, until now, apparently.
If proven to be true, this sounds like a clever decision on Tesla's part. On the one hand, it steers clear of dragging the Plaid name down the model range pecking order, and on the other, it does offer the Model 3 a bit of extra kink. The only question remaining in this case is whether the Ludicrous is meant to replace the Performance (slightly less exciting since it would indicate the actual figures might remain the same) or sit just above it, adding more power and, you know, making it go quicker.
However, since this is a parts catalog we're talking about, it could just as well all end in disappointment. This could be nothing more than a sticker you can buy to paste on the back of your standard Model 3, just like 2.0-liter diesel BMW owners have been doing with ///M badges for ages. Now, if only I could think of a joke to end on a positive note...
Tesla’s Parts Catalog confirms Tesla is working on a Performance version of the new Model 3, potentially PLAID!! pic.twitter.com/N7qxt0LUqM
— The Kilowatts ?????? (@klwtts) October 19, 2023
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