News
Tesla Model S Plaid: Everything we know – performance, features, versions and more
Elon Musk remarked during the recently-held third-quarter earnings call that Tesla is continuing the production of the Model S more for “sentimental reasons.” The vehicle, after all, is a niche product compared to the best-selling, reasonably-priced Model 3. Yet, the Model S remains Tesla’s flagship car, and it will remain so, if Musk’s statements are any indication.
“The Model S literally won Motor Trend‘s best car ever in history by the way. It’s incredible, especially the new one with variable damping suspension, hospital operating room HEPA filter for air purification, the raven powertrain. It’s the fastest car in the world, and it’s just so easy to drive. It makes you feel like Superman driving that car. It’s incredibly safe. It’s just an amazing vehicle,” Musk said.
The Model S is Tesla’s first car that it designed from the ground up, and thus, is already about seven years old. As such, it appears that the time is right for Tesla to look into updating the Model S for the Model 3 and Model Y era.
Enter the “Plaid” Model S. The aggressively styled vehicles were brought to the Nurburgring seemingly as part of Tesla’s efforts at establishing its own record at the track, which just so happens to be the location where the Porsche Taycan — a car long expected to be a Model S rival — was tempered as it was refined for release.
Based on images and videos of the Model S Plaid, the vehicle seems to be every bit of a monster as intended by the electric car maker. Here’s what you need to know about Tesla’s Model S with Plaid Powertrain.
It will look slightly different
While the vehicles retain the classic general Model S look, Tesla’s Plaid prototypes in the Nurburgring today feature a widebody kit to accommodate wider tires. The vehicles are also optimized for track use, as could be seen in various aero improvements to the all-electric sedan. Among these are a larger front air intake, a front lip spoiler, large air vents behind the front wheels, a diffuser at the rear, and a new spoiler.
Being test units, it remains uncertain if the Plaid Model S production version will retain these aero enhancements.
It will have three motors
Taking a page from the next-generation Tesla Roadster’s playbook, the Plaid Model S will have a three-motor configuration. Tesla has not announced details about this setup, though one can infer that it involves placing two motors at the rear and one motor at the front, just like the company’s upcoming all-electric supercar.
It will be track-capable
The Model S, even at its P100D trim, was notoriously prone to throttling issues on the track. Not so with the Plaid version. The Plaid Model S is made to attack corners at incredibly high speeds and complete multiple laps around a track without losing performance. So far, comments from eyewitnesses at the Nurburging have remarked that the Plaid vehicles Tesla brought over are almost disturbingly fast, and even at their initial iterations, each vehicle was reportedly finishing five or six laps a day around the nearly 13-mile Nurburgring with optimum performance.
It will likely have at least two trims
Tesla’s Plaid Powertrain appears to be a direct reference to the three electric motors in the vehicle. But it appears that the electric car maker will be releasing more than one variant of its tri-motor Model S. During its initial excursion to the Nurburging, it was reported that the blue Plaid Model S unit was able to complete a 7:40 lap, close to the results of the Taycan Turbo. The red Model S Plaid prototype, on the other hand, achieved a hand-stopped time of 7:23.
This certainly seems to be an indication that the two prototypes correspond to different versions of the vehicle. It might be cliche or Elon Musk’s classic meme lord-worthy humor, but it appears that its red Plaid Model S is the faster of its two prototypes. This is quite interesting, as spy shots of the blue Plaid Model S seem to suggest that the car was stripped down, while the seemingly faster red Model S is attacking the track with all its door panels and extra seats.
Its price will be expensive but cheaper than the Taycan Turbo
Elon Musk has noted on Twitter that the Plaid Model S will be priced higher than the Raven Performance version that is on sale today, though he also noted that the vehicle will cost “less than our competitors.” With this in mind, it appears that a Plaid Model S will start between the $100k-$150k range. This seems to be the case considering that Porsche priced its Taycan Turbo variant at just over $150k before options.
It will enter production in less than a year
Elon Musk has stated that the Tesla Model S Plaid units are set for production around Summer 2020, which is also around the same time that the company will start manufacturing the Model Y crossover. This is quite in line with previous leaks from the Fremont plant, which pointed to the electric car maker tooling the facility for the production of the Model Y and an updated Model S.
News
Tesla announces major milestone at Gigafactory Shanghai
First deliveries started in December 2019, with the first units being given to employees. By the end of 2020, the plant was building cars at a run rate of around 150,000 vehicles annually.
Tesla has announced a major milestone at its Chinese manufacturing facility, Gigafactory Shanghai, confirming on Monday that it had built its four millionth vehicle.
Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai first started building cars back in October 2019 with Model 3 assembly, just ten months after the company broke ground on the plant’s 86-hectare piece of land.
First deliveries started in December 2019, with the first units being given to employees. By the end of 2020, the plant was building cars at a run rate of around 150,000 vehicles annually. Production continued to ramp up, and by September 2023, less than three years after it started building Tesla’s EVs, it had built its two millionth vehicle.
Fast forward to December 2025, and Tesla has confirmed that four million cars have rolled off of production lines at the plant, a major milestone in the six short years it has been active:
Produced our 4 millionth vehicle at Gigafactory Shanghai🎉
Thanks to all our owners and supporters❤️ pic.twitter.com/DayVXUr220— Tesla Asia (@Tesla_Asia) December 8, 2025
The capacity at Giga Shanghai is exceeding 950,000 vehicles per year, and this year, the company has delivered 675,000 cars through the first three quarters. It is also the only plant to manufacture the Model Y L, a longer wheel-based configuration of the all-electric crossover that is exclusive to the Chinese market.
Gigafactory Shanghai’s four million cars have not all stayed within the domestic market, either. For a considerable period, the factory was exporting a significant portion of its monthly production to Europe, helping Gigafactory Berlin supplement some Model Y volume and all of its Model 3 deliveries. This is due to the Berlin plant’s exclusive production plans for the Model 3.
The site is one of the most crucial in the company’s global plans, and Gigafactory Shanghai’s incredible pace, which has led to four million production units in just about six years. It’s fair to say that it won’t be long until we’re seeing Tesla celebrate the plant’s five millionth vehicle produced, which should happen sometime late next year or in early 2027, based on its current manufacturing pace.
The company also builds the Megapack on the property in an adjacent Megafactory.
News
Tesla gamifies Supercharging with new ‘Charging Passport’
It will also include things like badges for special charging spots, among other metrics that will show all of the different places people have traveled to plug in for range.
Tesla is gamifying its Supercharging experience by offering a new “Charging Passport,” hoping to add a new layer to the ownership experience.
While it is not part of the Holiday Update, it is rolling out around the same time and offers a handful of cool new features.
Tesla’s Charging Passport will be available within the smartphone app and will give a yearly summary of your charging experience, helping encapsulate your travel for that year.
It will also include things like badges for special charging spots, among other metrics that will show all of the different places people have traveled to plug in for range.
Tesla has just introduced “Charging Passport,” a new yearly summary of your charging.
• Charging badges: Iconic Charging badge (for visiting places like the Tesla Diner, Oasis Supercharger, etc), Explorer badge, green saver badge, etc.
• Total unique Superchargers visited
•… pic.twitter.com/c1DHTWXpj7— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) December 8, 2025
Tesla will include the following metrics within the new Charging Passport option within the Tesla app:
- Charging badges: Iconic charging badges for visiting places like the Tesla Diner, Oasis Supercharger, etc., Explorer Badge, and more
- Total Unique Superchargers Visited
- Total Charging Sessions
- Total Miles Added during Charging Sessions
- Top Charging Day
- Longest Trip
- Favorite Charging Locations
This will give people a unique way to see their travels throughout the year, and although it is not necessarily something that is needed or adds any genuine value, it is something that many owners will like to look back on. After all, things like Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replay have been a great way for people to see what music they listened to throughout the year.
This is essentially Tesla’s version of that.
With a handful of unique Superchargers already active, Tesla is also building some new ones, like a UFO-inspired location in New Mexico, near Roswell.
Tesla is building a new UFO-inspired Supercharger in the heart of Alien country
News
Tesla launches its coolest gift idea ever just a few weeks after it was announced
“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention.”
Tesla has launched its coolest gift idea ever, just a few weeks after it was announced.
Tesla is now giving owners the opportunity to gift Full Self-Driving for one month to friends or family through a new gifting program that was suggested to the company last month.
The program will enable people to send a fellow Tesla owner one month of the company’s semi-autonomous driving software, helping them to experience the Full Self-Driving suite and potentially help Tesla gain them as a subscriber of the program, or even an outright purchase.
Tesla is going to allow owners to purchase an FSD Subscription for another owner for different month options
You’ll be able to gift FSD to someone! https://t.co/V29dhf5URj
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 3, 2025
Tesla has officially launched the program on its Shop. Sending one month of Full Self-Driving costs $112:
“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention. All sales are final. Can only be purchased and redeemed in the U.S. This gift card is valued at $112.00 and is intended to cover the price of one month of FSD (Supervised), including up to 13% sales tax. It is not guaranteed to cover the full monthly price if pricing or tax rates change. This gift card can be stored in Tesla Wallet and redeemed toward FSD (Supervised) or any other Tesla product or service that accepts gift card payments.”
Tesla has done a great job of expanding Full Self-Driving access over the past few years, especially by offering things like the Subscription program, free trials through referrals, and now this gift card program.
Gifting Full Self-Driving is another iteration of Tesla’s “butts in seats” strategy, which is its belief that it can flip consumers to its vehicles and products by simply letting people experience them.
There is also a reason behind pushing Full Self-Driving so hard, and it has to do with CEO Elon Musk’s compensation package. One tranche requires Musk to achieve a certain number of active paid Full Self-Driving subscriptions.
More people who try the suite are likely to pay for it over the long term.
Tesla announces major milestone at Gigafactory Shanghai
Tesla gamifies Supercharging with new ‘Charging Passport’
