Tesla Model S Plaid Announcement

[Miwa]

It really makes me wonder why they're taking this approach for the Model S and not just sticking with the Roadster, especially since the Roadster price-point is closer to a Turbo S.

Dick swinging rights. Lots easier to go fast in a straight line (just dump more juice into the motors) than it'd be to make it not drive like a barge.

 

[Mouse House]

As it turns out that Model S have cast aluminium front control arms I personally would not want to be doing sub 10 second 1/4 miles, especially with the apparent lack of QC. Link is one breaking at 200kph.



https://tff-forum.de/t/bruch-des-querlenkers-bei-200km-h/80271

 

[riburn3]

Dick swinging rights. Lots easier to go fast in a straight line (just dump more juice into the motors) than it'd be to make it not drive like a barge.

No doubt. Every company is guilty of backing themselves into this corner though. Just go to the Porsche website and every car gives you 3 pieces of info when you highlight over a model you're interested in. Horse power, top speed, and 0-60.

I get why folks don't like 0-60 times as the be all end all but it's also the speed range 99% of consumers experience everyday, and something that is very easy to visualize in the minds eye. Even if you just think about the classic scenario of sitting at a traffic light and someone rolls up next to you and wants to gun it, if you play along, it likely won't even last for that quarter mile. For real life city driving the 0-60 and straight line has more applications.

 

[Tycan]

This still has me wondering why the Porsche/Audi GT are going with a two speed transmission. The stated advantages were acceleration and range, and they are both less than tesla with a single speed trans.

 

[Dee]

This still has me wondering why the Porsche/Audi GT are going with a two speed transmission. The stated advantages were acceleration and range, and they are both less than tesla with a single speed trans.

Try real world figures.
Tesla overenthusiastic, Porsche modest.

 

[manitou202]

This still has me wondering why the Porsche/Audi GT are going with a two speed transmission. The stated advantages were acceleration and range, and they are both less than tesla with a single speed trans.

The Model S slows down significantly above 100mph. The two speed transmission allows for greater acceleration and efficiency at high speeds like the autobahn. Go watch some of the half mile drag races between the Taycan and Model S. That's where you see the biggest difference.

For the Plaid version, we will see what happens. Not sure how they plan on getting those 1/4 mile times along with a 200mph top speed. The motors will be running at some serious RPM's or they won't accelerate as fast at low speeds. You can't have your cake and eat it too without a gearbox.

 

[MARTY7]

just my perspective as a long time Tesla customer (I’ve own 5 Tesla’s and currently own 1 Tesla)

end of 2021 means mid 2022 _IF_ you’re lucky

sub-2 second 0-60 is difficult on street tires (physics not engineering) - the drive train may be able to do it - but it will require some pretty ideal conditions (temperature, surface type, and battery SOC)

at $154,000 base price I’ll take the Taycan’s fit/finish over Tesla’s for a simlar price

competition is good for all vendors - I love seeing the progress.

Yes 2022 if you are in the UK!

I agree there are physics that just can't be beaten, in real-world situations under 2.0 is pretty difficult.

Yes, I have to agree, unless you are a dragster, I would struggle to justify the same price tag as a premium Turbo S, with a resale price to consider also. As Elon himself said, no one needs a range of 500 miles so this isn't really a plus. They would have been much better off doing some redesigns on the interior than trying to be the fastest car out there.

Their battery tech looks very promising if they can pull it off.

 

[MARTY7]

The motors will be running at some serious RPM's or they won't accelerate as fast at low speeds. You can't have your cake and eat it too without a gearbox.

Do you think they might attach two motors and have them geared differently so one takes over at the high speed and the other high revving one let's go a bit to avoid burning out, if that makes sense?

 

[RickDC]

Totally agree with you on the mid-2022 release for this. I'm still waiting to see Semi and Roadster produced.

Also agree that for $145k (and no more Federal Tax Credit) that I'd lean towards the Taycan for fit and finish alone. I don't have faith in Tesla being able to produce anything as good in terms of fit and finish as Porsche for at least the next 5-10 years.

Hopefully you'll be wrong on all the other Taycan items, but who knows!

I have a Taycan with the standard interior and I don’t see that much ultra luxury quality finish compared with my Model S 2019. Perhaps the lucky ones who paid 10K in interior upgrades with the Taycan can see the huge difference. Having said that, Tesla should offer a 8K upgrade and offer the top interior to compete with the other luxury brands.

 

[Deleted member 1697]

what a car !
but I can't drive with 2 joysticks and a tablet
I need a wheel

(driving German cars for 20 years... you can feel what is a German car just touching the steering wheel, even a volkswagen, still curious about this "wheel" feeling)

 

[Deleted member 1697]

my wife is now beating me each time I floor

 

[Torv]

0-60 times below 3 or 4 seconds are worthless to me. My Model S 85D is absolutely fast enough for merging onto a freeway and making me master of my domain, to quote a Seinfeld episode, and my soon to be delivered Taycan 4S is faster still. I will probably engage in a Launch in my Taycan maybe 2 or 3 times, if that. Personally, I'm all about handling and the Taycan will literally run circles around a Model S Plaid, so who really cares if it's capable of a sub 2 second launch?

 

[Kingske]

0-60 times below 3 or 4 seconds are worthless to me. My Model S 85D is absolutely fast enough for merging onto a freeway and making me master of my domain, to quote a Seinfeld episode, and my soon to be delivered Taycan 4S is faster still. I will probably engage in a Launch in my Taycan maybe 2 or 3 times, if that. Personally, I'm all about handling and the Taycan will literally run circles around a Model S Plaid, so who really cares if it's capable of a sub 2 second launch?

I have to admit that I have not used my launch control once since my car got delivered in mid-October. In order to satisfy my curiosity, I will probably do it a couple of times later this year, but I do not feel a great urge to try it. This is in no way meant critically for those who love to launch - more power to them (no pun intended) - but it is not a great priority for me personally.

 

[Mouse House]

I have a Taycan with the standard interior and I don’t see that much ultra luxury quality finish compared with my Model S 2019. Perhaps the lucky ones who paid 10K in interior upgrades with the Taycan can see the huge difference. Having said that, Tesla should offer a 8K upgrade and offer the top interior to compete with the other luxury brands.

This isn't a point of view shared by many people, the Taycan interior is one of the best on the market for any car sector and Tesla is widely recognised as having problems in this area.

 

[feye]

Dick swinging rights. Lots easier to go fast in a straight line (just dump more juice into the motors) than it'd be to make it not drive like a barge.

Which is all that is needed for the dumb fanboy SM crowd, to do the free marketing...