Elon Musk has announced that the Tesla Model S Plaid+ will not see the light of day.
The electric car manufacturer was planning to top out the Model S family with the Plaid and Plaid+ variants and while it has been testing the Plaid in recent months, it has decided to kill off the Plaid+ before making a single delivery.
Taking to Twitter, Elon Musk revealed that as the standard Plaid is “so good,” there’s simply no reason to have a Plaid+.
Plaid+ is canceled. No need, as Plaid is just so good.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 6, 2021
“Plaid+ is canceled. No need, as Plaid is just so good,” he wrote, adding “0 to 60 mph in under 2 seconds. Quickest production car ever made of any kind. Has to be felt to be believed.”
Tesla has previously stated that both the Model S Plaid and Plaid+ would feature dual electric motor powertrains delivering over 1,100 hp. While the Plaid can hit 60 mph (96 km/h) in a quoted 1.99 seconds, the Plaid+ would be even quicker. More importantly, however, was the fact that the Plaid+ was promoted as having a range exceeding 520 miles (837 km), whereas the ‘standard’ Plaid has a range of 390 miles (627 km).
Electrek reached out to Musk to see why he doesn’t think the Plaid+ is necessary, despite its significantly greater range.
“What we are seeing is that once you have a range above 400 miles, more range doesn’t really matter,” Musk said. “There are essentially zero trips above 400 miles where the driver doesn’t need to stop for restroom, food, coffee, etc. anyway.”
It remains to be seen what Tesla will do with customers who have already pre-ordered the Model S Plaid+. It’s also worth mentioning that the Plaid+ was announced less than two weeks after the Lucid Air with its 517 miles (832 km) of claimed range. Read into that what you will…
