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Tesla Model S Plaid Teardown Shows Complex Suspension, Changes Made From Model S

The teardown of a Tesla Model S Plaid has continued in Sandy Munro's workshop. As expected, the team is taking the American sedan apart, and all the components that matter have been analyzed. The teardown focuses on the technical solutions chosen by the manufacturer and the implications of those decisions.
Tesla Model S Plaid teardown 6 photos
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube video by Munro Live
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In previous episodes, Sandy Munro and his team have focused on the interior of the Model S Plaid, its frunk, and details of its front suspension. From there, the team focused on its thermal management system, which goes to show the complexity of an electric vehicle is underrated.

This time, the teardown involves removing most of the front suspension and the front cradle. The team also checks out the rear suspension without the wheels fitted to the vehicle. With everything on the table, some of the Plaid's secrets are revealed.

Evidently, most of what can be seen in the teardown video has been shown in one way or another, but this time it is analyzed by engineers who are focused on vehicle manufacturing.

They provide insight as to why the automaker has selected some materials or technical solutions instead of others, as well as the benefits and caveats of those choices.

If you have seen a few dismantled vehicles in your day, as well as a few suspension components. In that case, you will notice that Tesla Motors has gone for a few interesting solutions here and there. Some of the decisions made are clearly a result of a clean-sheet design process, which brings an entirely new set of challenges.

The Plaid version of the Tesla Model S comes with many track-ready elements, and the manufacturer even included a dedicated Track Mode with a recent update.

This vehicle has an impressive top speed of 174 mph (280 kph), which is a lot for an electric vehicle. It is even more stunning when acceleration is concerned, but you have already seen it in action in drag racing videos.

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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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