Earlier this month, the first Tesla Model S and Model X Plaid were spotted in China. Now it appears that a Fremont, California-built Model S Plaid has also been spotted in Europe.
This vehicle is one of the first to arrive on the continent before expected deliveries of the performance sedan begin in various parts of Europe. The photos were shared by Steven Bink on Twitter after spotting it in The Netherlands:
More photos of first New Tesla Model S in the The Netherlands š³š± šŖšŗ pic.twitter.com/wpqkJ8fnZV
— Steven BinkšÆ (@sbink) November 12, 2022
The photos showed the exterior multi-coat red paint along with the signature Tesla Model S black Arachnid wheels.
Inside shots also reveal the Yoke steering wheel in the left-hand drive configuration. There is also a large landscape screen also indicating the newer 2022 Tesla Model S.
The spotted car also happens to be the tri-motor Plaid version even though it does not have the Plaid badge on the boot lid. This was also confirmed by Steven Bink in a separate tweet.
According to registration it is a plaid. pic.twitter.com/J28Nhv06hN
— Steven BinkšÆ (@sbink) November 12, 2022
The registration check records also reveal the 0-100 km/h time of 2.1 seconds along with the 750 kW power output from the tri-motor power delivery system.
In Australia though, customers are yet to see any deliveries of the new Yoke steering wheel equipped Model S. Many of the last Australian-delivered Tesla Model S sedans were the 2020 build cars.
During this hiatus, Porsche has been delivering its Taycan to the Australian market and has sold in reasonable numbers. So far in 2022, Porsche has sold 412 examples of its Taycan EV which also comes as a sedan along with the less popular station wagon body.
The start of Tesla Model S deliveries to left-hand drive markets like China and Europe could be a good sign that we may start to see the first right-hand drive vehicles before the end of 2023.
RizĀ is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.