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Tesla Model S Plaid Is "a Waste of Money" According to Edmunds Review. Hypocritical Much?

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Tesla Model S Plaid Edmunds review 9 photos
Photo: Edmunds / YouTube thumbnail
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We've openly criticized everything we feel the company and its CEO are doing wrong, and we will continue to do so (especially since it seems like their antics are set to continue). We don't think it's OK to release a so-called self-driving software in beta phase to the public and expect the owners to do the testing for you on public roads. Yes, the company can hide behind a disclaimer so it's legally safe from any repercussions when something goes wrong, placing all the blame on the driver, but that's a bit too cynical even by corporate standards.

We're not too crazy about Tesla's shady marketing tactics that are often borderline deceitful either. They are literally too many to list here, but we can just focus on one of the most basic: the way it displays its vehicles' acceleration figures. For the performance models, it subtracts the one-foot rollout. That's OK, that's how pretty much everyone calculates the 0-60 mph time in the U.S. However, for the non-performance models, Tesla leaves it there to make the gap between the two types of vehicles greater than it really is, but it forgets to mention anything about it. After all, other brands are understating the capabilities of their cars and nobody's complaining. Well, yes, but they do it consistently and without any hidden reasons.

What we're trying to say here is that the last thing we thought we'd be doing today when we got up in the morning was to turn into Tesla's defense attorney. Well, life can be weird sometimes and it looks like this is one of the days that make people say that.

It all starts with Edmunds' video review of the Tesla Model S Plaid. The title is pretty tame and rather informative: "2021 Tesla Model S Plaid Review | Our Full Instrumented Test | Price, Range, 0-60 & More". However, the clip's thumbnail is an entirely different story. The words over imposed on the image of a Model S Plaid read as follows: "Why the Tesla Plaid's a waste of money".

We don't know about you, but we feel like that's a pretty controversial claim to make. Even the most hardcore motorheads that have the roar of a V8 engine as a ringtone must take their hats off in front of the EV's undeniable performance. One-foot rollout and prepped surface or not, the Model S Plaid is still the quickest production car you can currently get your hands on.

If you don't find the fact a four-door sedan that's technically a hatchback is quicker than all of this world's hypercars terribly ironic, then you should see a doctor because you might be dead inside. The guys at Edmunds actually claim there is no need for such a vehicle and that the only place the Model S Plaid is relevant is at the drag strip.

Is there a need for a BMW M3, or could most owners live with a 330i and be perfectly happy with it? Is there a need for any of the quick SUVs? Is there really a need for hypercars? What does "need" mean? Do you need the smartphone you have, or could you do everything you use it for on one that costs half as much?

The fact people are buying all of the above shows there is demand, and whether anyone actually needs that stuff is not for us or anyone else to judge. The days when people only bought the things they needed are long gone, and we think we can all agree that, even though we can definitely be wasteful with our decision, it is still, generally speaking, a good thing.

Now, despite all of its shortcomings (that terrible yoke, the still shoddy build quality), calling the Model S Plaid a "waste of money" is just ridiculous. It's even more ridiculous than the fact that people now have access to this kind of performance (straight-line performance, yes) for just $140,000. Waste of money? More like the opposite.

It's not for everyone, sure, because we don't all put acceleration on the top of our list but reducing the Plaid to this one-trick-pony image is just plain wrong. And the funny thing is you only need to watch the Edmunds review to see why. The car offers tons of practicality and features, and it even meets its official EPA range in the real-world test.

When the competition offers cars that cost more and the only area where they are vastly superior is the quality of the interior (while trailing in many others), you can't possibly call the Plaid a "waste of money" while keeping a straight face. And yet they just did.

One of the main arguments against the Plaid laid out by the Edmunds reviewer was that the EV is only really just a marketing tool meant to keep the aging Model S relevant with only minor tweaks and, more importantly, generate buzz over the Internet. Wait a minute, isn't that exactly what you've done with the thumbnail of this video?

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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