With the Model S and Model X now retired, one obvious question hangs over Tesla’s performance lineup: where does Plaid go next? The Model S Plaid was the car that turned Tesla’s already quick luxury sedan into something absurdly quick, using a tri-motor powertrain to deliver acceleration that is still almost unbeatable nearly five years later—it’s faster than the new four-motor Ferrari, for instance.
However, during an appearance on the Ride The Lightning podcast, Tesla’s engineering boss Lars Moravy revealed that he thinks about putting the Plaid powertrain into a Model 3 “all the time.” He then goes on to talk about carbon sleeves and permanent magnet motors, which sounds like actual engineering speak rather than just humoring the podcast host’s question.
View Price on AmazonA Model 3 Plaid would not just be a Model 3 Performance with another motor bolted in. Moravy’s own comments made that clear. He described the idea as a “work for reward” decision. That means making a faster Model 3 is not just a question of whether Tesla can make it work, but it also has to be worth the engineering time and cost.
The current Model 3 Performance is already seriously quick, with Tesla quoting 0-60 mph in 2.9 seconds for the U.S. version—the Euro model is marginally slower. But a real Plaid version would be a totally different beast, with power levels much closer to the old Model S Plaid than the current Model 3 Performance.
A Model 3 Plaid sounds almost obvious from the outside, because Tesla already has the badge, the motors, and a car that would make good use of both. A Model Y Plaid would probably also get a lot of people excited. However, Moravy seemed pretty reserved about a production prospect, even though he clearly finds the engineering challenge tempting.
Source: insideevs.com
