Just two days prior to the Tesla Model S Plaid delivery event at the automaker’s Fremont car factory, CEO Elon Musk has revealed that the top-end Plaid+ variant of the car is canceled. “Plaid+ is canceled. No need, as Plaid is just so good,” Musk tweeted last night.
The first production of Tesla Model S Plaid cars will be handed over to the customers (most probably Tesla employees) on June 10th. This will be a particularly interesting event to watch as the automaker is expected to demonstrate the ability of Model S Plaid by performing 0-60 mph in under 2.0 seconds. Musk’s tweet “Model S goes to Plaid speed this week,” hints towards this demo.
Related: Tesla Model S Plaid delivery event will be streamed live
When Tesla added the Tri-Motor Model S Plaid to the company’s online car configurator last year, there was no Plaid+ variant present at the time. The Dual-Motor Model S Performance (aka P100D) was still available to order. The Plaid S was available for $139,990 with an estimated range of 520+ miles.
In the next update to the configurator, Tesla removed the Model S Performance variant and introduced two variants of the Tri-Motor, the simple Plaid, and the Plaid+.
The Plaid had now become the Plaid+ variant and a lower-priced Plaid version was added to compensate for the lost Performance variant of the Model S lineup.
This is the price for the Plaid+, they introduced a lower-priced Plaid with a lower range (good enough for most owners though). The price difference b/w Plaid & Plaid+ after the $10k bump became $30k.https://t.co/rflj05yNOg
—Tesla Oracle (@TeslaOracle_com) June 7, 2021
While still showing in the car configurator, Tesla disabled the Model S Plaid+ option about two weeks ago, it was not available to order anymore. Now Elon Musk has said that it is completely canceled.
Since Tesla Model S official web page and the configurator are still showing 390 miles of EPA estimated range for the Plaid variant, we can expect that the 520+ miles of range is also not going to be available indefinitely.
Pretty sure the 500+ is also going to be delayed at least if not totally canceled indefinitely. Confgurator still shows 390 miles for the Plaid, and that's unlikely to change on June 10th as it's a delivery event not an unveiling. pic.twitter.com/B61qZLvzv9
—Tesla Oracle (@TeslaOracle_com) June 7, 2021
0 to 60mph in under 2 secs. Quickest production car ever made of any kind. Has to be felt to be believed.
Elon Musk on Twitter
With this kind of acceleration, the Model S Plaid will surely defeat some monster ICE supercars on the dragstrip.
However, Tesla’s decision to cancel the Model S Plaid+ variant has sparked some interesting conversations between the Tesla Community and the car enthusiast community.
Some think the battery tech Tesla was relying on for 520+ miles of range has not been fully conceived yet or has not performed according to the automaker’s expectations.
The burning question is, if Tesla is not able to achieve 500+ miles of range on the Model S sedan, will it be able to do it on the Cybertruck, and 620+ miles on the Next-gen Roadster? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
On a side note, we’re running a survey on Twitter that asks if the customers or potential buyers want the Yoke or the regular old steering wheel on their new Model S? Yoke is actually winning till now.
As the #Tesla Model S Plaid delivery event is approaching on 10th June, what's your preference for the steering wheel?
—Tesla Oracle (@TeslaOracle_com) June 2, 2021
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