Tesla Model S Plaid and Plaid +, the restyling brings 1100CV and a crazy cabin

After years of speculation and indiscretions, it was born Tesla Model S Plaid. The hyper-sporty version of the famous American sedan was shown for the first time a few hours ago on the Tesla website, at a price of about 110,000 euros. Together with her, we saw theexpected interior restyling and infotainment systemwith a surprise: the debut of Tesla Model S Plaid +an even faster version from 1100 hp, 140,000 euros and over 800 km of autonomy. But let’s find out everything there is to know about the Tesla Model S Plaid electric car and its highly anticipated restyling.

• Tesla Model S, a restyling expected from 2016
• Tesla Model S Plaid and Plaid + cars: engines, range and performance
• And Tesla Model X: same improvements, but no Plaid +
• Tesla Model S Plaid, price and availability: from 89 to 140 thousand euros

Tesla Model S car, a restyling expected from 2016

Model S is one of the most popular models of the American company Tesla, as well as the longest-lived of the current range. It is in fact the second car model launched by the Californian company after the progenitor Roadster, and has been on sale since 2012. In almost 9 years Tesla Model S has seen very few changes from an aesthetic point of view, and also in terms of interiors and engines, the last major restyling is dated 2016.

Since that year, Tesla has focused its resources on the small Model 3 and Model Y, but now the time has come to devote one’s attention to one of the most loved electric car models ever.

The restyling also includes the Model X SUV, built on the same platform as the Model S, and from the outside the differences are minimal. The Tesla Model S line in fact remains very similar to before. From Tesla Model 3 inherits the trend of the front bumper, now more sporty and modern, as well as the so-called “Chrome Delete“: All the moldings that were once chromed in fact become matt black, more sporty and modern.

Tesla Model S 2021 interior: new screens and crazy steering wheel

The biggest novelty of Tesla Model S 2021 on an aesthetic level, however, is found atinternal. Both Model S and the Model X SUV have until recently maintained a very classic dashboard structure, with a vertical infotainment screen embedded in the dashboard and a digital instrument cluster behind the steering wheel.

But today everything changes. The screen changes from vertical to horizontal and reaches a diagonal of a good 17 inches. However, compared to Model 3, this new screen is integrated into the lines totally revised of the dashboard and not totally suspended as on the small sedan. Furthermore the digital instrument panel does not disappearnow 12.3-inch, dedicated behind the steering wheelwhile the latter is the “coup de théâtre” of the House of Elon Musk.

Goodbye circular steering wheel, flying welcome without crown top. A little ‘Kitt, a little’ Enterprise, a little ‘yoke of an airplane, this solution from these first images is certainly with a sure wow effect, simply surprising. On the road, however, this steering wheel as a prototype but it could be, to say the least, problematic to manage in maneuver or in the city. We will have to try it to make a definitive judgment.

The front seats aren’t the only ones to have received attention. At the rear, in fact, the Houses usually add charging sockets or air conditioning vents at the end of the central tunnel. Not Tesla though: at the end of the tunnel, also totally new, the rear passengers will be able to enjoy a good time dedicated 8-inch tablet.

You heard right: there is a large touch screen dedicated exclusively to rear passengers, which can be controlled independently and capable of reproducing content other than the main screen. From games to movies or TV series, its potential is truly immense.

Tesla Model S Plaid and Plaid + cars: engines, range and performance

However, there is not only the aesthetic novelty, on the contrary: Tesla Model S is revolutionized in terms of engines, range and available versions. First, we need to say goodbye to the Performance versions: from today, there will be only Long Range and Plaid. While the new Long Range offers 0-100 km / h acceleration in 3.2 seconds and a range of 663 km, surpassing the autonomy of the previous Long Range and approaching the performance of the old Performance, the most striking are the Plaid and Plaid + versions.

Trimotors of over 1000 HP

Let’s start with the first: the highly anticipated electric car Tesla Model S Plaid she presented herself as the super sports car Tesla. Under the body we find for the first time three engines, two at the rear and one at the front, covered in carbon fiber to minimize weight. There power of these three engines is crazy, over 1000 HP, 1020 to be precise. Along with this cavalry we also find a system of torque vectoringwhich can help the driver on the track or in sporty driving.

Tesla Model S Plaid and Plaid Plus: performance

But what leaves you speechless are the performance of these two electric cars: 0-100 km / h covered in less than 2.1 seconds, for a top speed of well 320 km / h. Incredible performance, unbeatable from any production car. Except that there is actually a car that beats Tesla Model S Plaid: Tesla Model S Plaid +.

Surprisingly, Tesla launches one even sportier version of its sedanwhich still exacerbates the already insane performance of the Model S Plaid. The horses in fact go from 1020 to over 1100and the performance drops under 2 seconds from 0 to 100 km / h. The quarter of a mile it is covered in just 9.0 secondsbecoming theproduction car with the best acceleration from a standstill on the market.

Model S Plaid and Plaid +: autonomy

But where Tesla Model S Plaid + surprises is in theautonomy: compared to the “sister” Plaid, Tesla Model S Plaid + in fact goes from 628 km to over 840. The credit goes to the new and unprecedented structural batteries with 4680 type cells, announced by Elon Musk himself during Tesla’s Battery Day last year. Should these numbers also be confirmed on the road, we would be facing a real one revolution of electric cars.

What about Tesla Model X? Same improvements, but no Plaid +

However, we must not forget about Tesla Model X. Tesla’s large SUV, somewhat overshadowed by the success of the Model S and the smaller Model 3 and Y, is renewed alongside the sedan on which it is based.

In terms of aesthetics, even for Model X there are very few differences, comparable only to the presence of opaque moldings and a slightly redesigned bumper. Even the Tesla Model X SUV, however, is totally renewed inside. Here comes the 17-inch horizontal infotainment screen, the digital instrument cluster, the 8-inch screen dedicated to the rear seats and the crazy steering wheel with no top.

A steering wheel that on Model X, equipped with the equally crazy Falcon Doors, is immediately more at ease, at least from an aesthetic point of view. On a mechanical level, however, the offers are the same as the Model S: twin-engine for the Long Range and 1020 HP Plaid with three engines. Unlike Tesla’s big sedan though Model X will not offer the lightning-fast Plaid + versionat least for now.

Tesla Model S Plaid and Model X, price and availability: from 89 to 140 thousand euros

All information on performance, prices and availability can also be found on the Tesla website in the sections dedicated to Model S and Model X. Only one fundamental question of Tesla Model S Plaid is missing: the price.

The range now starts therefore from Tesla Model S Long Rangewhich has an attack price of 89,900 euros. A slightly higher price than the 85 thousand euros of attack for the previous Long Range of which, however, it is faster and has more autonomy, and definitely lower than the 102 thousand euros of the previous Performance, equipped with less autonomy and only marginally faster.

The “highlights” Plaid and Plaid +, on the other hand, are set at 119,990 and 140,990 euros respectively. High, very high prices, but which given the levels of acceleration and above all autonomy for the Plaid + immediately become more acceptable. With regard to Model X instead, the price list is set at 99,990 euros for the Long Range and the same 119,990 euros for the Plaid, which stops at “well” 2.6 seconds from 0 to 100 km / h.

Tesla Model S Plaid and Plaid + cars launch the attack on rivals, Lucid Air and Porsche Taycan in the first place. Crazy new powertrain, record acceleration and new interior, where we hope it has been also increased the build quality, which has always been Tesla’s Achilles heel.

Once more, Elon Musk’s House seems to get serious. Will it once again be able to beat the fiercest competition? Before discovering all this we can’t wait to try the whole new range of Tesla Model S and X, and to live on our skin a quarter of a mile in 9 seconds on Model S Plaid +.

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