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Did Tesla hint that it might build a Plaid Model 3?

Credit: Tesla

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Did Tesla hint that it might build a Plaid Model 3?

The Parts Catalog for the vehicle certainly appears to suggest that the Plaid Powertrain could be coming to the all-electric sedan, even though CEO Elon Musk has said in the past that it does not necessarily make sense for the Model 3.

The Plaid Powertrain was first installed on the Model S and Model X, Tesla’s flagship luxury offerings, in 2021 as the automaker brought out its fastest vehicles to date.

The Plaid Powertrain enabled a 1.99-second 0-60 MPH acceleration rate for the Model S, white-knuckle speed that routinely was noted as the fastest production car on Earth.

The Model X comes in slightly slower, if that is the correct word, with 2.3 seconds for the same standstill to 60 MPH metric.

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The Model S and Model X are Tesla’s premium offerings and account for less than 5 percent of the company’s production and delivery figures during any given quarter.

However, people will pay for speed, but not everyone. Some cannot justify the $89,990 price tag for the Plaid versions of the all-electric vehicles, which also boast top speeds of 200 MPH for the Model S and 149 for the Model X.

Enter the potential of a Model 3 Plaid, which would enable lightning-fast speed and an affordable price tag, giving more consumers access to one of the fastest and quickest vehicles on the planet.

New Tesla Roadster gets a rare update from Chief Designer: “Plaid is a great learning platform”

The Kilowatts, a notable EV content creation team, first noticed a Plaid Badge on the image of a Tesla Model 3 rear bumper, something that has been void of the unmistakable design from the automaker since it was first released in 2021.

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Make no mistake, Musk once completely sold off any notion that Tesla would possibly develop such a vehicle. “No,” was his simple and straightforward answer when he was asked by some of his most loyal supporters if the car made sense. But we’ll be frank: it wouldn’t be the first time Musk said one thing and then did another in terms of a Tesla project.

Routinely, Musk has been against advertising, opting to put the money that would be used for a PR budget into vehicle development instead. Last night, Musk confirmed Tesla is advertising. I think there is something to be gained on the advertising front,” he said.

Last quarter, Tesla also temporarily allowed the transfer of Full Self-Driving licensing from one vehicle to another, which was always shot down in the past by customers who did not want to pay for the suite more than once.

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For what it’s worth, a Plaid Model 3 might be just what the doctor ordered for Tesla. Although the narrative of slowing demand is often pushed regarding Tesla, the company continues to increase delivery and production volumes apart from the most recent quarter, which was affected by production line upgrades and factory shutdowns.

A Model 3 Plaid would likely increase interest in the company’s mass-market sedan, which is in need of a revamp in the U.S. market.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla firmware shows new Model Y seat configuration is coming

Tesla could be adding another seating configuration beside the seven-seater to the Model Y lineup later this year.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla firmware has been a great place for some to reveal what the company has in the pipeline, and a new seating configuration for the best-selling Model Y looks to be on the way.

Last week, we reported that Tesla was already hinting toward a 7-seater configuration of the Model Y in a promotional email it sent to those on its contact list.

However, firmware revealed by Tesla hacker greentheonly is showing that a new seating configuration is on the way — a six-seater:

Green says the configuration would not be available in China-only, and will be potentially for sale in other markets as well.

The six-seat and seven-seat configurations of the Model Y were available in the Legacy version of the vehicle, but were met with mixed reviews, as many complained about the lack of legroom in the third row.

This was something that was a real concern for many of those owners who needed something larger than the traditional five-seat variant, but did not want to buy the much more pricey Model X.

We’ve covered the size of that third row on several occasions.

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Some owners even took the idea of having a seven-seater into their own hands:

Tesla Model Y third row seat test explores options for a comfortable 7-seat setup

Tesla did not explicitly announce a six-seater configuration of the Model Y, but Lars Moravy, the company’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, said the seven-seater would come to production later in 2025.

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Tesla confirms massive hardware change for autonomy improvement

Tesla has confirmed that a recent change made to some of its recently refreshed vehicles is, in fact, a strategy it will use to improve its suite as it continues to work toward autonomy.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has confirmed that a recent change made to some of its recently refreshed vehicles is, in fact, a strategy it will use to improve its suite as it continues to work toward autonomy.

Tesla first introduced a front-facing camera on the front bumper with the Cybertruck.

Then, the Model Y “Juniper” received the hardware update. The Model S and Model X both received the front-facing camera with its latest update, which was officially revealed last week.

Tesla used new language with the release of the front-facing cameras on the Model S and Model X, confirming they will assist with several things, including “using Autopilot and Actually Smart Summon capabilities”:

“Enhanced visibility when parking or using Autopilot and Actually Smart Summon capabilities.”

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This tiny feature on the new Tesla Model Y is perhaps its biggest addition

This is the first time Tesla has used this sort of language, as it was a completely different description with the launch of the new Model Y in January.

When Tesla launched this vehicle, it said the front bumper camera “provides a wider field of view for automatic assisted driving and advanced Smart Summon.”

Tesla switched from using cameras and sensors to only cameras with the launch of Tesla Vision several years ago. The company’s utilization of cameras comes from Tesla’s belief that Ultrasonic Sensors (USS) are not needed for self-driving efforts:

“Along with the removal of USS, we simultaneously launched our vision-based occupancy network – currently used in Full Self-Driving (FSD) (Supervised) – to replace the inputs generated by USS. With today’s software, this approach gives Autopilot high-definition spatial positioning, longer range visibility and the ability to identify and differentiate between objects. As with many Tesla features, our occupancy network will continue to improve rapidly over time.”

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CEO Elon Musk has said that sensors were only a crutch and that self-driving would be solved through the use of cameras:

“When your vision works, it works better than the best human because it’s like having eight cameras, it’s like having eyes in the back of your head, beside your head, and has three eyes of different focal distances looking forward. This is — and processing it at a speed that is superhuman. There’s no question in my mind that with a pure vision solution, we can make a car that is dramatically safer than the average person.”

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Tesla features used to flunk 16-year-old’s driver license test

A license examiner in New Jersey confused one standard feature of Teslas as a way a 16-year-old excelled through his driver’s test. He failed him because of it.

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Credit: @JasemAsh via Tesla Owners Wisconsin/Twitter

In what is becoming a more common occurrence, a few Tesla features were used to flunk a 16-year-old who took his driver’s license test in New Jersey.

It is not the first time this has happened, as we have reported on several instances of this in the past, both in the U.S. and other countries in the world.

It is evidence that some officials are not caught up in the technology and innovation occurring in the automotive market, some of which is not necessarily exclusive to Tesla, but is included in each of its models, unlike other companies.

Lochlan Keefer, a New Jersey resident, showed up to his driver’s test with his dad, James, in their 2022 Tesla Model Y. However, the test did not go according to plan, according to the examiner who rode along for the test with Lochlan. They accused him of using parking and “stopping assistance” to go through the test.

The examiner cited the following as the reason for failure:

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“Had the parking and stopping assistance on never stepped on the brake to stop his self let the vehicle stop it self.”

James said to NJ.com that they do not subscribe to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite, which includes things like Autopark, Navigate on Autopilot, and Autosteer on City Streets. These are a few of the things that have been used as reasoning to fail drivers in tests. Lochlan’s was a case of regenerative braking, which is standard on all vehicles, and Autopark:

“The examiner accused my son of using driver assistance features simply because he parallel parked smoothly on the first try. He was specifically accused of using paid parking-assist and driving features, which we do not subscribe to.”

It sounds as if the examiner may have confused the braking mishap for Tesla’s regenerative braking, which slows the vehicle when the accelerator is not pressed. The energy is then stored back in the battery to help with range.

The examiner failed Lochlan, and James asked if he could take the test again if they disabled the regenerative braking for the exam. The examiner said Lochlan would have to wait two weeks. A supervisor came out and backed the examiner, but James said the policy the DMV claimed the Keefer’s violated was nowhere to be found:

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“I asked them to show me the policy they claimed we were violating. They couldn’t find it and they couldn’t cite it. When I showed them the policy, they refused to read it.”

The report states that drivers in California and Arizona have also been subjected to failures on their driving tests due to confusion over Teslas and their driver assistance features.

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