News
Tesla Model S Plaid is actually faster than its listed 1.99-second 0-60 mph time: report
The Tesla Model S Plaid’s 0-60 mph time is listed on the company’s website as 1.99 seconds, a figure that critics have challenged since it was revealed online. The idea of a four-door, family sedan that’s filled to the brim with fancy tech features is something almost alien, after all. Yet in a recent test by MotorTrend, the Model S Plaid actually proved faster than its listed 0-60 mph time, hitting highway speeds in just 1.98 seconds.
Of course, a lot had to go right for the Model S Plaid was able to accomplish this feat. As per the publication, Tesla required the Model S Plaid’s 0-60 mph launch test to be done only on a VHT-prepped surface. VHT is a formulated synthetic resin used in drag racing to increase the traction of a car’s tires. More traction means more grip, which means that vehicles could typically achieve their optimum acceleration when launching. MotorTrend noted that Tesla was adamant that the Model S Plaid be tested on a VHT-prepped surface.
After some internal discussions, the publication noted that the MotorTrend team relented to Tesla’s demands, provided that the vehicle could be tested in its Fontana test track the next day. This would allow MotorTrend to test the Model S Plaid both on the company’s terms, and on the same conditions that it’s used for other vehicles it has reviewed in the past. And with that, the Tesla Model S Plaid’s launch test was validated.
The Tesla Model S Plaid accelerated from 0-60 mph in just 1.98 seconds, faster than the company’s own figures on its official website. The quarter-mile run was achieved in 9.25 seconds at 152.6 mph, effectively making it the quickest production car that MotorTrend tested to date. Before the Model S Plaid, the fastest 0-60 mph time recorded by the publication came from the Tesla Model S P100D Ludicrous+, which hit 60 mph in 2.28 seconds. The fastest quarter-mile run was achieved by the Ferrari LaFerrari in 2015 when it completed a run in 9.74 seconds at 148.5 mph.
Both these records were shattered by the Model S Plaid. And that’s with the vehicle still not on the tires that would allow it to hit 200 mph, or the improvements that would likely be offered by a dedicated “Track Package.”
That being said, these numbers were achieved under conditions that were specifically set by Tesla. On MotorTrend’s later test in its test track without VHT, the vehicle accelerated from 0-60 mph in 2.07 seconds. That’s still over 0.2 seconds quicker than the previous record-holder, and only 0.09 seconds more than its launch in a VHT prepped surface. The publication was not able to test the Model S Plaid’s quarter-mile time in its test track, but based on its calculations, the vehicle could have finished the run in 9.34 seconds at 152.2 mph.
That’s not bad at all for a car that starts at less than $130,000.
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Investor's Corner
Tesla gets its latest short from Michael Burry: ‘Happy it jumped back to this level’
Tesla short seller Michael Burry, the subject of the film “The Big Short,” where he was portrayed by Steve Carell, has revealed he has opened a new bet against the stock.
In a new update to his Substack newsletter in a post titled “Trading Post June 30, 2026,” Burry revealed a new set of bets against Tesla, Caterpillar, NVIDIA, Applied Materials Inc., and the iShares Semiconductor ETF.
In regard to Tesla, Burry wrote:
“And finally I shorted Tesla at 416.22. Happy it jumped back to this level.”
This means Burry likely opened his new short position after the company’s recent rally on Wall Street, which saw Tesla shares sink in mid-May, only to recover to well over the $400 mark. Currently, shares trade at around $427.
The company saw a big Tuesday as shares climbed considerably, over 10 percent. The size of the Tesla short was not provided, nor did Burry give any information on the position’s structure, the number of shares, dollar value, or whether options were used in the short.
The Tesla and SpaceX merger everyone is talking about is quietly building
Over the years, Burry has been one of the more vocal critics of Tesla, calling its share price “media inflated,” and saying it was “ridiculously overvalued” as recently as December.
The company has largely transitioned away from being known as an automotive company and instead is much more widely regarded as an AI play, mostly due to its Full Self-Driving efforts, Optimus robot development, and data collection related to both.
This has not pulled those skeptics away from being vocal about their distaste for how Tesla is valued, but there’s no denying that the company is a global force in many things, including sustainable energy, automotive, and AI.
Wedbush Securities is initiating stock coverage on SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX), marking the first comments on the company since it went public several weeks ago. Wedbush and its analyst handling coverage, Dan Ives, are widely bullish on fellow Musk company Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA).
Ives wrote his first note initiating coverage of SpaceX shares on Wednesday with a $190 price target and an ‘Outperform’ rating. The firm believes the company is well positioned off of its IPO because of its wide array of projects, including AI compute power and infrastructure, connectivity projects, and launches.
“We view SpaceX as one of the most differentiated assets within the tech market with a strong footprint across its three core markets, with Starlink driving success with connectivity,” Ives wrote, “Starship launches leading to a demand flywheel and increasing deal flow for its Colossus clusters.”
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Wedbush leans heavily on Starlink, which they say is the “profitability driver given the strength of its recurring revenue base of ~12 million subscribers as of June 5th.” Ives believes Starlink is still in the “early innings” of penetrating the global telecommunications and broadband market, as it only holds less than a 1 percent share. However, this number is sure to increase over time.
It also highlights the importance of Starship, which it says is an “essential layer” of SpaceX’s overall success. SpaceX developing and displaying the ability to reuse rockets is a major cost and reliability advantage “as it reduces the necessary hardware launch costs while generating a feedback loop for future flights to improve their launch flight rate without accelerating capex spend.”
Finally, SpaceX’s recent AI/Compute projects are also very elementary, Ives writes. It is worth mentioning Wedbush said its $190 price target is derived from a valuation forecast that sees the company yielding roughly $2.48 trillion of implied enterprise value.
There are also some factors that Wedbush did not take into account with its initial coverage. The firm wrote in the note:
“We note that there is optional value coming from Starship’s accelerating scale towards sub-$200/kg unit economics, orbital data centers, and enterprise AI monetization as these factors could drive meaningful upside but these face major hurdles, so we do not take that into account with our valuation.”
SpaceX shares are down just over 2 percent today, trading at around $167 at the time of publication.
Tesla has expanded the footprint of a massive safety feature worldwide with a recent Software Update labeled as 2026.20.6. The expansion of the “Blind Spot Warning While Parked” feature represents the more widespread availability of the feature, which aims to prevent “dooring.”
Dooring is when a driver or passenger opens a car door into the path of an oncoming road user, usually a cyclist or motorcyclist. It is among the most common types of cycling accidents, the League of American Bicyclists says.
For this reason, Tesla created a feature that warns occupants not to open the door because an object is approaching. The feature will sound a chime, and it will also delay the opening of the door to prevent an incident.
The release notes state (via Not a Tesla App):
“If you attempt to open a door while an approaching object is detected in your blind spot (for example, a bicyclist approaching from behind) a chime sounds, and your door will not open upon initial button press. Wait a short time and press the button a second time to override the warning.”
Tesla initially rolled out this feature back in 2024 with the Model 3 “Highland.” However, it remained with the Model 3 exclusively for over a year; that was until Tesla added it to the Cybertruck this past Spring.
Now, it is making its way to the new Model Y, 2021 and newer Model S, and 2021 or newer Model X.
The prevention of dooring incidents could eliminate many injuries to cyclists, especially in an urban setting. Dooring accounts for 10-20 percent of bike-related crashes in major cities, and over 17,000 dooring-related incidents were treated in the U.S. over the course of a decade. These usually involve fractures, contusions, and head trauma.
Tesla gets its latest short from Michael Burry: ‘Happy it jumped back to this level’
SpaceX gets initial stock coverage from Tesla’s biggest bull
