In January this year, Tesla revealed the facelifted Model S, which saw the addition of Plaid and Plaid+ variants to the line-up. While the former is set to be part of a delivery event this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced that the latter will be cancelled and the company has stopped taking orders for the range-topping variant.
The Plaid model features three electric motors – one on the front axle and two on each rear wheel – that provides a total of 1,020 hp. This replaces the previous Performance variant that used a dual-motor setup, and is estimated to provide up to 628 km (390 miles of range), a 0-96 km/h (0-60 mph) sprint time of 1.99 seconds, as well as a top speed of 322 km/h (200 mph).
Plaid+ is canceled. No need, as Plaid is just so good.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 6, 2021
The Plaid+ was reported to have slightly better performance than the regular Plaid (around 1,100 hp), but the main draw was range – Tesla estimated 837 km (520 miles) on a single charge. There’s also a dual-motor Long Range variant available with 670 hp and an estimated 663 km (412 miles) of range, the latter good for a 0-96 km/h time of 3.1 seconds and 249 km/h (155 mph) top speed.
While Musk didn’t state why the Plaid+ was cancelled in his tweets – he did say the Plaid is just as good – Electrek posed the question to him and it was revealed that the company sees no need for a range of over 644 km (400 miles) anymore. “What we are seeing is that once you have a range above 400 miles, more range doesn’t really matter. There are essentially zero trips above 400 miles where the driver doesn’t need to stop for restroom, food, coffee, etc. anyway,” Musk told the publication.
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Cost cutting measures due to lower than expected demand for the plus version?
Conman Elon just realised he can no longer prettify an old car and sell it above market prices?