They’ve gone to Plaid: Musk announces Tesla’s tri-motor Model S launch

“The only thing beyond Ludicrous is Plaid.” So the quote from 80s sci-fi comedy Spaceballs goes, and so also does the official invitation to the launch of Tesla’s tri-motor Model S, known as Plaid, on June 10 this week.

Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk announced the official date on Twitter on Monday morning, adding that Plaid really is the only thing beyond Ludicrous, which is Tesla’s hyper-fast acceleration mode.

No longer will Plaid+ be an option, said Musk. There is no need, because Plaid is “just so good”.

“0 to 60mph in under 2 secs. Quickest production car ever made of any kind. Has to be felt to be believed,” said Musk.

Tesla has been building the Plaid Model S since early 2021, according to comments made by Musk at the company’s first-quarter earnings call in January.

However, a planned late May delivery event was pushed out to June due to the need for “one more week of tweak,” Musk said last Monday (Australia time).

The vehicle is already available for order on the Tesla website in Australia, and we note that as of Monday morning the Plaid+ – the most expensive volume production vehicle in Australia and priced from $A199,990 – was still visible on the website, but is not available to order until the end of 2022.

It would seem though that customers who have been waiting for the Plaid+ order button to go live will have to be content with the equally eye-watering $174,990 Plaid, which is billed with a top speed of 322km/hr and a range of 628km – and which, unlike the Model 3 is not according to the NEDC rating which does not reflect actual dreal-world driving range.

In the case of the Plaid Model S, it is instead equal to the US-based EPA range of 390 miles (Tesla notes the specifications are in US values, so be aware these may change once the vehicle is homologated for Australia).

So stand by for Friday, Australia time. Notwithstanding the launch of the Cybertruck (which should occur later in 2021), the Plaid Model S launch promises to be a solid extravaganza with all the showmanship we’ve come to expect from Tesla and its eccentric leader Elon Musk.

And for those questioning demand – and supply – it would seem that there are plenty of Plaid Model S vehicles ready and waiting to be delivered, going from these shots shared on Twitter on Monday: