2022 Tesla Model S Plaid First Look: Lord Helmet Approves
Call up Lord Helmet and Colonel Sanders, because Tesla’s gone Plaid. Not one to go down without a fight, the new 2022 Tesla Model S Plaid aims to take on the 2021 Lucid Air Dream Edition and its 1,080 hp electric powertrain.
With more than 1,100 horses produced from three electric motors (two at one axle and one more at the other), Tesla promises the most powerful iteration of its flagship sedan will hit 60 mph in less than two seconds and top out at 200 mph. The Air Dream Edition, meanwhile, sprints to 60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds, per Lucid.
2022 Tesla Model S Plaid: Liquid Schwartz or Big Battery Pack?
Going Plaid also nets a notable increase in driving range for the Model S. While the entry-level Model S Long Range Plus currently manages 402 miles on a full charge, per the Environmental Protection Agency, the Plaid will reportedly top 520 miles. How? Likely from a battery with notably more energy capacity than the 100-kWh pack employed by lesser variants of the electric luxury sedan.
We’d guess the Plaid’s pack will match or exceed the energy capacity of the Air’s 113-kWh unit, which Lucid estimates will afford its sedan 517 miles of range (we saw 490 miles during a demonstration ride along). Then again, there’s always the chance Elon Musk got his hands on some Liquid Schwartz, too.
2022 Tesla Model S Plaid: The Price of Going Plaid
The extra grunt of the Model S Plaid comes at a cost; Tesla will charge $142,690 for the tri-motor model. While that’s more than $25,000 less than what Lucid plans to price the Air Dream Edition at, it’s still a whopping $65,000 more than the entry-level Model S Long Range Plus.
The only thing beyond Ludicrous is Plaid
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 23, 2020
What visually separates the Plaid from other Model S trims remains a bit of a mystery. Tesla’s configurator makes it appear as though the Plaid will look almost identical to its inferior kin. That said, a video of a prototype Model S Plaid that Tesla posted on its social media channels shows wider fenders, a sizable rear spoiler, and a steering wheel cribbed from the Model 3 and Model Y. We hope the production model more or less mirrors the vehicle in the video as opposed to the one on the configurator.
Regardless, we expect to know more about the Plaid’s specifics closer to its arrival in late 2021.
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