Jay Leno, the legendary host of CNBC Television’s Jay Leno’s Garage and Motor Trend tested the new Tesla Model S Plaid for the claims the automaker and its vibrant CEO Elon Musk had been making about the newest, fastest, and most powerful production electric vehicle made yet.
Jay Leno in his quarter-mile test on a dragstrip found out that the car actually broke the world record for the fastest 1/4 mile run for a production vehicle. Tesla Model S Plaid did the 1/4 mile in just 9.247 seconds, way ahead of the 9.65 seconds set by the Dodge Challenger Demon. Not to forget that this is a five-door liftback family sedan, not a pure breed racing machine like the Demon.
While on the other hand, MotorTrend found out that the Tesla Model S Plaid can launch from 0-60 mph in as low as 1.98 seconds, even quicker than the automaker’s official spec of 1.99 seconds. Both of these tests were performed before the Plaid delivery event on 10th June, only to be released after the car was finally revealed to the world.
Before the MotorTrend’s revelation, Tesla & Musk critics were pushing the narrative that these insane acceleration figures of the Mode S Plaid are not yet reviewed by an unbiased independent source — after these tests, these figures have gotten even better. It seems Tesla was conservative with acceleration numbers when presenting it to its potential customers and the world.
Jay Leno and Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen tested the Model S Plaid 1/4 mile on a dragstrip that was located in an agricultural area. Due to the noise-less electric powertrain, even the birds sitting around the dragstrip did not fly away, Leno observed this as he returned to the start line after scoring a historical quarter-mile in just 9.247 seconds.
“It is now the fastest production car you buy, faster than any Ferrari, faster than any $3.5M Bugatti,” Jay Leno said to the CNBC host asking a question if the Model S Plaid attempt at the quarter-mile was a winner? “It was a winner,” Leno said.
Further summarizing the history of the automotive drivetrain, he said that steam engines ran everything from the 1800s to 1911. From 1911 till now it has been the internal combustion engine (ICE). “From now to the near future probably it’s going to be electric or some form of electric,” Jay Leno predicted.
Answering the question about the Yoke steering wheel, he said “it’s different”. According to Leno, it will take some time to adapt to the new steering wheel but people will surely get used to it with time.
Jay Leno is not new to Tesla at all, he was there when the world did not know much about Tesla. Elon Musk took one of the first production Tesla Roadsters to Jay Leno’s garage back in the day to get his insights and review on the vehicle.
Related: A deep dive inside the Tesla Model S Plaid (UI, Yoke, interior, ANC, more)
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Featured photo: Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
