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Opinion: Tesla Model S Plaid’s ‘packaging symphony’ shows need for a flagship design update
When rumors of the Tesla Model S Plaid started emerging, many were excited to see the company’s new flagship sedan. It takes something special, after all, to dethrone the Model S “Raven” Performance, a vehicle that is already capable of humbling supercars on the quarter-mile. But while the specs of the Plaid definitely did not disappoint, one could not deny that the car’s exterior left much to be desired.
The Tesla Model S Plaid, to put it bluntly, looks very similar to the Model S “Raven” Performance. Save for a slightly wider stance and some updated accents here and there, the car looks nearly identical to its predecessor. This was something that Tesla critics immediately pounced on, and it was something that could have been avoided. The Model S Plaid, after all, is a revolutionary car in its own right. Its ongoing teardown continues to prove it.
A “Packaging Symphony”
Auto veteran Sandy Munro of Munro & Associates is currently in the process of tearing down and analyzing every aspect of the Model S Plaid, and so far, the expert has been impressed with the vehicle. A recent video posted on the Munro Live YouTube channel showcased the Model S Plaid’s rear motor assembly, and as per one of the team’s experts, the vehicle’s rear cradle and electric drive module are nothing short of a “packaging symphony.”
The Munro team’s thoughts on the Model S Plaid were unsurprising, considering that the vehicle is filled to the brim with new innovation. The team even concluded in its rear cradle review that compared to its predecessors, the Model S Plaid is really a new generation vehicle. And in a lot of ways, the car does show it. Its specs are on a completely different level compared to the numbers achieved by the Model S “Raven” Performance, and the Plaid’s interior is fully revamped as well.
Considering that the Model S Plaid is also a completely different car beneath the hood, one could find it unfortunate that Tesla opted to package all this innovation in a body that, while now iconic, is getting a little bit long in the tooth. This is not to say that the Model S’ look is no longer attractive, of course. The Model S is still a beautiful car and its lines are now timeless, but it’s hard to shake the idea that for a vehicle like the Plaid, it would have been better if Tesla implemented just as much updates in the vehicle’s exterior as it did with the car’s interior.
Missed Opportunities
This is especially strange since, in the months leading up to the Model S Plaid’s official release, the internet was abuzz with fan renders of what the updated vehicle could look like. Some were radical, but most were subtle enough that they would not look out of place in Tesla’s lineup. Very few could have predicted the vehicle’s actual design, however, as the Plaid was pretty much identical to the Model S “Raven” Performance.
There is no doubt that the sheer engineering involved in the Model S Plaid’s creation is absolutely insane. Every square inch of the car’s interior and everything behind the hood of the vehicle proves this. It’s just a bit surprising — if not a tad bit disappointing — that Tesla opted to simply maintain the status quo with the vehicle’s exterior, which is something that the company rarely does. Tesla made a name for itself as an automaker that does what it thinks is best, after all, regardless of what the rest of the auto sector thinks. The Cybertruck’s brutalist XY design is an example of that.
Even in a company like Tesla, with a mission as important as those outlined by CEO Elon Musk, it does not hurt to put extra effort in packaging the company’s most formidable vehicles in a body that looks the part. Tesla already did that with the next-generation Roadster, and there is no reason why the company could not do that for its flagship sedan and SUV. The Model S and Model X Plaid would likely be successful in their respective segments — their specs and performance are just that good — but just imagine how much more successful the vehicles could be if their exteriors were redone as much as their interior and tech.
Watch Munro Live‘s teardown of the Model S Plaid’s rear cradle and electric drive module in the video below.
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Elon Musk
Elon Musk gives his most telling Tesla-SpaceX merger conversation yet
Elon Musk hinted a Tesla-SpaceX merger could be coming, and Wall Street is taking notice.
Elon Musk gave his clearest signal yet that Tesla and SpaceX could eventually combine, telling the All-In Summit in Los Angeles that the two companies’ deepening collaboration makes the question worth asking. Sawyer Merritt first surfaced the highlight on X Tuesday.
Asked directly why Tesla and SpaceX remain separate given how closely they already work together, Musk told hosts at the summit: “Great question there. With all this collaboration, on so many levels, who can imagine what action one might take when there’s so much close collaboration in so many areas.” SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, who joined Musk on stage, added that SpaceX personnel have already moved into xAI to fill leadership and engineering gaps, saying the businesses are integrating “faster than I thought,” though “not fully integrated yet,”
The comments landed on top of merger speculation that has been building on Wall Street for months. JPMorgan has called a tie-up “strategically coherent on paper,” pointing to overlapping ambitions in AI, robotics, energy, transportation and space. Jefferies went further, estimating Musk could retain roughly 55.3 percent voting control in a deal structured without a premium, a scenario that would still leave room for Tesla shareholders to come out ahead. On Kalshi, traders now put the odds of a merger before 2028 at 66 percent.
Tesla’s stake in SpaceX, still under one percent, traces back to its earlier investment in xAI, which converted to SpaceX equity after SpaceX absorbed the AI company. The two are also jointly building Terafab, a chip facility in Austin meant to serve both Tesla’s AI computing needs and SpaceX’s satellite ambitions. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has stood by a 2027 merger timeline for months, and Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest recently floated a similar case, an idea Musk pushed back on directly at the time.
Another Tesla SpaceX merger prediction by ARK Invest has Elon Musk talking
The timing adds another layer. Tesla has scheduled an October 1 unveiling for its next generation Roadster at a venue near SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas test site, using the phrase “Go for launch” in its promotional material. Both stocks dipped roughly 2 percent Monday before recovering slightly in premarket trading Tuesday, with SpaceX shares up about 0.4 percent and Tesla essentially flat.
Musk stopped short of confirming anything is in motion. But unlike his past denials of a corporate restructuring, this response didn’t rule one out, and it came with Shotwell sitting next to him describing an integration that’s already underway.
The Tesla Roadster unveiling is getting hyped up by the company’s CEO Elon Musk, who has been a big reason the product has such high expectations due to delayed timelines and a constant need to make it even more insane than before.
Tesla announced on September 12 that it would officially unveil the Roadster in Waco, Texas, on October 1, ending years of patience for fans and reservation holders who have waited for the all-electric supercar to enter production since 2017.
Musk has said that this event will be well worth the wait on several occasions, and last year on the Joe Rogan Experience, he said that there should be a closing chapter to supercars- the end of cars that aren’t focused on safety.
He said:
“Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable. My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars. I think if Peter wants a flying car, he should be able to buy one. I think it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever. This is some crazy technology in this car. Let’s just put it this way: if you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that.”
Musk’s teases have continued, and now that the event is roughly two weeks away, it seems like Roadster is finally going to show up and blow some minds:
It’s out of this world
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 13, 2026
Excitement guaranteed
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 13, 2026
Tesla has definitely dragged out the development of the Roadster, but there is a good reason for it.
Tesla has been working on many other projects, most notably self-driving efforts to increase passenger safety, and those simply took priority over the Roadster, a low-volume, high-performance sports car that has a lightning-fast acceleration rate of 0-60 MPH in just 1.1 seconds, could potentially fly, and contributes very little to the company’s mission.
However, many people have the Roadster on pre-order through the referral program or with their own money, and it is time that Tesla delivers on that.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s Boring Company has big plans for Las Vegas by year’s end
Elon Musk’s Boring Company says Vegas Loop stations will double by year end once again.
The Boring Company says the Vegas Loop’s station count will double by the end of the year, tying the target to a hiring push for drivers and operations managers in Las Vegas. “Vegas Loop is getting bigger – the station count will double by end of year!” the company wrote in a post on X, attaching listings for a Loop driver and a senior Loop operations manager.
The number checks out against what’s already public, with the Vegas Loop currently running 14 operational stations, while the Boring Company’s own project page lists 28 as the target for the end of 2026.
Vegas Loop is getting bigger – the station count will double by end of year!
Urgently hiring exceptional and enthusiastic Drivers and Ops Managers.
Apply here!
Driverhttps://t.co/ZUPXBYTONb
Senior Loop Ops Managerhttps://t.co/mV6V22V8jH pic.twitter.com/IZ9FqIw8WY
— The Boring Company (@boringcompany) September 14, 2026
Much of that growth is tied to tunnels that are already built and waiting on an opening date. A roughly two-mile dual tunnel system under Paradise Road, connecting Westgate to a planned station at 4744 Paradise Road, is expected to open in stages over the coming weeks, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority chief executive Steve Hill told the Review-Journal last week. New stations at 4744 Paradise, Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, and the former Gordon Biersch site would come online with it, several of them built to speed up rides to Harry Reid International Airport ahead of Formula 1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Clark County entitled Vegas Loop for 123 stations after approving 19 more in August, as Teslarati reported at the time. Entitlement and construction move at different speeds on this project, so county approval alone does not guarantee a station opens on any particular schedule.
Clark County approved 18 additional stations back in 2023, part of a plan that pushed the system’s target to 69 stations across 65 miles, doubling the network on paper for the first time. The target kept climbing after that, to roughly 93 stations by the end of that year and 104 by last year, before August’s vote pushed it to 123. This week’s announcement is the first time that doubling language has been attached to stations actually running rather than stations merely approved on a county map.
Ridership gives some sense of what a denser network could carry. Boring Company executive Mike Baier said in July that the Vegas Loop already moves around 40,000 passengers on busy convention days, a total that tops most light rail systems in the country despite the system running on a fraction of its planned tunnel mileage. Company leadership has projected ridership could triple or quadruple once the airport connector tunnels fully open.
Boring Company did not say which stations beyond those already under construction would open by year end, or whether the hiring push points to a fleet expansion alongside the new stops.
Elon Musk gives his most telling Tesla-SpaceX merger conversation yet
Tesla Roadster unveiling is getting hyped up by Elon Musk
