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Tesla Model S Plaid with ‘practically alien’ tech unleashed: 1000 hp, lowest drag coefficient, and PS5-level gaming
The Tesla Model S Plaid formally made its debut at the company’s delivery event at the Fremont Factory today. The expectations for the Model S Plaid were high in the days leading up to its first deliveries, particularly as Tesla retired the Model S Plaid+ and raised the Model S Plaid’s base price by $10,000.
“Tonight we’re going to show you the next BEST version of the Model S,” Tesla Chief designer Franz von Holzhausen said at the beginning of the event.
Elon Musk launched the Tesla Model S through the company’s newly finished test track and triumphantly celebrated the Plaid’s arrival on stage. In honor of the event and the new Model S Elon Musk wore a jacket with the plaid design at the back.
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- Tesla CEO Elon Musk wears a Plaid Mode jacket at the company’s Model S Plaid Delivery Event on June 10th, 2021. (Credit: Tesla)
Below are the official specifications and details of the Model S Plaid.
Price and Range
When Tesla announced the Model S Plaid during the release of its Q4 and FY 2020 Update Letter, the company listed the vehicle with an estimated EPA range of 390 miles per charge. The Plaid+ variant, which was discontinued, had a range similar to the Cybertruck with more than 500 miles per charge. Elon Musk described the Plaid’s speed as
Tesla also improved the Model S car’s Supercharging speed to 187 miles of range in 15 minutes. This is notable, as the Supercharger Network has now grown to 25,000 stations worldwide.
MODEL S PLAID TEST
At Fremont today pic.twitter.com/FQXXMAXWhU— JPR007 (@jpr007) June 11, 2021
During the lead up to the flagship Tesla sedan’s deliveries, images of a Model S Plaid test unit’s Monroney sticker made the rounds online. The sticker listed some interesting information, including a range of 405 miles per charge. This is quite a bit higher than the 390 miles originally announced earlier this year, but lower than the 500+ miles of range that was listed for the discontinued Model S Plaid+.
During the event, Tesla officially announced that the Model S Plaid would have a range of 390 miles per charge.
Battery and Electric Motor
The Model S Plaid was expected to maintain its 18650 battery, but with drastically improved cells. Videos from attendees of the delivery event have shared some videos of the flagship sedan’s battery pack, one of which can be seen below.
https://twitter.com/omg_tesla/status/1403169263251202050?s=20
During the delivery event, Tesla confirmed that the Model S Plaid would feature its most advanced battery to date. Elon Musk highlighted that the vehicle will have carbon-sleeved rotors, the first of its kind. He noted that mixing Carbon (C) and Copper (Cu) is very difficult because they have “very different rates of thermal expansion.”
Similar to other Teslas, the Model S Plaid will feature a single-speed transmission. “It’s single speed from 0-200 mph,” Elon Musk said. He noted that Tesla was able to break the two-second barrier with the Model S Plaid, quite a feat for a four-door production vehicle that seats five passengers. The vehicle can do 0-60mph in under two seconds.
Musk introduced a new and improved heat pump, which he called a HVAC system for the car. “It’s 30% better cold-weather range and requires 50% for cabin heating in freezing condition,” he said. With the use of a heat pump, the Model S Plaid would be capable of running at peak power for extended periods of time. This makes sense considering the that the vehicle was initially honed in the Nurburgring.
Special Plaid Badge
The Tesla Model S Plaid has undergone a number of key changes over the past months. Previous test units and pre-production Model S Plaid vehicles featured a badge that read the words “PLAID” at the rear, but attendees of the delivery event revealed that the flagship sedan now features a new graphical badge with a plaid pattern, similar to the one seen in the background of the posters for event.
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- Credit: @dealer_of_happy/Twitter
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- Credit: @BLKMDL3/Twitter
Updated Yoke Steering
Apart from this, the yoke steering wheel of the Model S Plaid features an updated design that includes ridges on the side. This small change help drivers access the scrollers on the Model S Plaid’s yoke steering wheel through touch, similar to the “F” and “J” keys on the Qwerty keyboard. Drivers should be able to feel the scrollers thanks to the ridges without looking down at the wheel for a safer driving experience.
Lowest Drag Coefficient
Tesla also revealed that the drag coefficient (Cd) of the Tesla Model S Plaid is 0.208, beating the Lucid Air with a drag coefficient of .21, based on tests conducted by Windshear. A few attendees noticed Tesla Model S Plaid vehicles with red and black calipers. Although @klwatts noted that the black calipers were spotted on Model S Plaid test vehicles.
Tesla Software
“I think engineering that is practically alien,” remarked Musk about the Model S Plaid’s features and details.
Elon Musk also introduced a new UI that will roll out in the next software update or later . It includes a new calendar and routes the vehicle based on the places drivers need to go. At this point in the event, he also finally agreed to add Waypoints for Tesla drivers.
Musk talked a bit about the Plaid’s PS5-level performance for entertainment purposes as well. He revealed a clip of Cyberpunk running on a Model S Plaid infotainment system.
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Safety
Similar to its stablemates, the Model S Plaid was built for safety. Musk noted that the Model S Plaid would be “faster than any Porsche (and) safer than any Volvo.” The CEO also noted that Tesla is looking to make the Model S into one of the safest in the world. “We (Tesla) think we can get the lowest probability of [injury] any car ever tested,” Elon Musk said about the Model S. The NHTSA still has to test the Model S Plaid. however Tesla has a good chance of reaching its goal. Musk emphasized that the NHTSA’s top 5 vehicles with the lowest probability of injuries are Tesla vehicles.
Watch the Model S Plaid’s delivery event in the video below.
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News
Tesla gets a win in Sweden as union withdraws potentially “illegal” blockade
As per recent reports, the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla action might have been illegal.
Swedish union Vision has withdrawn its sympathy blockade against Tesla’s planned service center and showroom in Kalmar. As per recent reports, the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla action might have been illegal.
Vision’s decision to pull the blockade
Vision announced the blockade in early December, stating that it was targeting the administrative handling of Tesla’s facility permits in Kalmar municipality. The sympathy measure was expected to start Monday, but was formally withdrawn via documents sent to the Mediation Institute and Kalmar Municipality last week.
As noted in a Daggers Arbete report, plans for the strike were ultimately pulled after employer group SKR highlighted potential illegality under the Public Employment Act. Vision stressed its continued backing for the Swedish labor model, though Deputy negotiation manager Oskar Pettersson explained that the Vision union and IF Metall made the decision to cancel the planned strike together.
“We will not continue to challenge the regulations,” Petterson said. “The objection was of a technical nature. We made the assessment together with IF Metall that we were not in a position to challenge the legal assessment of whether we could take this particular action against Tesla. Therefore, we chose to revoke the notice itself.”
The SKR’s warning
Petterson also stated that SKR’s technical objection to the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla strike framed the protest as an unauthorized act. “It was a legal assessment of the situation. Both for us and for IF Metall, it is important to be clear that we stand for the Swedish model. But we should not continue to challenge the regulations and risk getting judgments that lead nowhere in the application of the regulations,” he said.
Vision ultimately canceled its planned blockade against Tesla on December 9. With Vision’s withdrawal, few obstacles remain for Tesla’s long-planned Kalmar site. A foreign electrical firm completed work this fall, and Tesla’s Careers page currently lists a full-time service manager position based there, signaling an imminent opening.
Tesla Semi Program Director Dan Priestly teased the major improvements to the all-electric Class 8 truck on Thursday night, following the company’s decision to overhaul the design earlier this year.
Priestley said he drove the Semi on Thursday, and the improvements appear to be welcomed by one of the minds behind the project. “Our customers are going to love it,” he concluded.
Just drove the redesigned Semi. Our customers are going to love it. https://t.co/KZ88sf1CDL
— Dan Priestley (@danWpriestley) December 19, 2025
The small detail does not seem like much, but it is coming from someone who has been involved in the development of the truck from A to Z. Priestley has been involved in the Semi program since November 2015 and has slowly worked his way through the ranks, and currently stands as the Director of the program.
Tesla Semi undergoes major redesign as dedicated factory preps for deliveries
Tesla made some major changes to the Semi design as it announced at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting that it changed the look and design to welcome improvements in efficiency.
Initially, Tesla adopted the blade-like light bar for the Semi, similar to the one that is present on the Model Y Premium and the Cybertruck.
Additionally, there are some slight aesthetic changes to help with efficiency, including a redesigned bumper with improved aero channels, a smaller wraparound windshield, and a smoother roofline for better aero performance.
All of these changes came as the company’s Semi Factory, which is located on Gigafactory Nevada’s property, was finishing up construction in preparation for initial production phases, as Tesla is planning to ramp up manufacturing next year. CEO Elon Musk has said the Semi has attracted “ridiculous demand.”
The Semi has already gathered many large companies that have signed up to buy units, including Frito-Lay and PepsiCo., which have been helping Tesla test the vehicle in a pilot program to test range, efficiency, and other important metrics that will be a major selling point.
Tesla will be the Semi’s first user, though, and the truck will help solve some of the company’s logistics needs in the coming years.
Tesla is dominating in the United Kingdom so far through 2025, and with about two weeks left in the year, the Model Y and Model 3 are leading the way.
The Model Y and Model 3 are the two best-selling electric vehicles in the United Kingdom, which is comprised of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and it’s not particularly close.
According to data gathered by EU-EVs, the Model Y is sitting at 18,890 units for the year, while the Model 3 is slightly behind with 16,361 sales for the year so far.
The next best-selling EV is the Audi Q4 e-tron at 10,287 units, lagging significantly behind but ahead of other models like the BMW i4 and the Audi Q6 e-tron.
GOOD NEWS 🇬🇧 Tesla is absolutely crushing the UK electric vehicle market in 2025 💥
The numbers are in, and the dominance is clear. With an impressive amount of 42,270 vehicles delivered year-to-date, the brand now commands a solid 9.6% market share of the total auto market 🆒… pic.twitter.com/dkiGX9kzd0
— Ming (@tslaming) December 18, 2025
The Model Y has tasted significant success in the global market, but it has dominated in large markets like Europe and the United States.
For years, it’s been a car that has fit the bill of exactly what consumers need: a perfect combination of luxury, space, and sustainability.
Both vehicles are going to see decreases in sales compared to 2024; the Model Y was the best-selling car last year, but it sold 32,610 units in the UK. Meanwhile, the Model 3 had reached 17,272 units, which will keep it right on par with last year.
Tesla sold 50,090 units in the market last year, and it’s about 8,000 units shy of last year’s pace. It also had a stronger market share last year with 13.2 percent of the sales in the market. With two weeks left in 2025, Tesla has a 9.6 percent market share, leading Volkswagen with 8 percent.
The company likely felt some impact from CEO Elon Musk’s involvement with the Trump administration and, more specifically, his role with DOGE. However, it is worth mentioning that some months saw stronger consumer demand than others. For example, sales were up over 20 percent in February. A 14 percent increase followed this in June.
Tesla gets a win in Sweden as union withdraws potentially “illegal” blockade
Tesla Semi program Director teases major improvements
