Ever since Porsche revealed that their new electric car, the Taycan has created a lap record at the Nürburgring, there has been a sort of unrest in the Tesla squad. In a way, Tesla knew this was coming from Porsche, and now they have a befitting reply.
On Tuesday, a modified Tesla Model S reportedly completed a lap around the Nürburgring circuit in a record time of 7 minutes and 23 seconds. This is faster than the Porsche Taycan’s time of 7 minutes and 42 seconds.
Tesla has been testing a number of cars in Germany over the past month, and in a way knew Porsche was going to use the Nürburgring lap record to their advantage. This is why, in about 15 days of Porsche announcing their lap record, Tesla has reportedly spoiled their party.
Elon Musk confirmed that the Model S which took to the Nürburgring circuit is a prototype, which will enter production by next year. This new Model S variant, will come with a Plaid Mode. This is a new mode, which will deliver exceptional performance, never seen before in any Tesla till date. It will be much faster than the Ludicrous Mode.
The new Plaid Mode will not be exclusive to the Model S. It will also be offered with Model X and the upcoming Tesla Roadster. So how does Plaid Mode deliver more performance than the Ludicrous Mode. Well, in simple terms, in the Plaid Mode, the car will use its 3 electric motors, rather than the two used in the Ludicrous Mode.
Fun Fact – The names Plaid and Ludicrous are taken from a 1987 movie called Spaceballs. The movie was a parody of Star Wars. When a spaceship entered warp speed, the lights around start looking as streaks due to the high speed travel. In Spaceballs movie, these streaks of light became plaid.
No specs of the Tesla Model S Plaid Mode were revealed. But Musk did confirm that the price will be lower than rivals. In this case, rival is the Taycan.
When comparing prices, the Taycan Turbo starts at $153,501 (Rs 1.1 cr) while the Turbo S is priced at $187,601 (Rs 1.34 cr). Tesla’s fully loaded Model S is priced at $115,000 (Rs 82 lakhs). Even the top of the line Model X can cost $130,000 (Rs 92 lakhs). Tesla also gains an advantage in terms of top speed with the Model S commanding a top speed of 163 mph (262 kmph) as against Porsche’s 161 mph (259 kmph)
Elon Musk also claims that the reported lap time was just a start and that the production version of the Plaid Model S, set to arrive sometime next year would go even faster. With this said the electric car speed war will continue.