Tesla shows off the Model S Plaid, the quickest production car ever made

[Mr Majestyk]

Have they demonstrated the 1.99s run yet?

 

[DaveBG]

The best car in the world got even better? Awesome. Now we will have to wait 12 more years for the competition to "come" again... oh wait, competition did not come the first time either...

 

[sreams]

Have they demonstrated the 1.99s run yet?

I don't know... But I did pull down one of the YT videos of one of the test rides and loaded it into my video editor. The car took 5.2 seconds to go from a dead stop to 100mph. It got to 110mph at the 5.9 second mark, and then the driver lifted.

 

[mattferg]

Has someone ever explained why do we need production electric cards to be ridiculously fast?

I get the perspective of a gasoline car having bragging rights about being fast: it wants to use whatever advantage it might have, perceived or otherwise, to obtain the most amount of money possible for the company and it's board of directors.

But the premise of electric cars should be "We need this tech to replace our dependence on fossil fuels" so how does killing yourself in under a second by losing control of your vehicle on urban environments not AT ALL designed to even handle such acceleration is going to save the planet or contribute to allleviate fossil fuel dependency?

It seems like Elon just wants the same bragging rights as gasoline cars. It fundamentally just wants to make a lot of money out of selling cars and is trying to reconcile conflicting interests here: the one that is about the ecological angle and the one that is about being a luxurios super car prestige while doing so. Seems like focusing on the later is directly counter-intuitive to just making the stupid electric cards widely available fast enough to shift away from fossil fuels.

It’s a halo product. Please learn marketing.

 

[mattferg]

They fail in one direction that matters - mileage, and they are desperately trying to make up for that in all other departments that we don't care much about.

FAIL.

Do petrol supercars which go this fast also do 400 miles on a single tank? I think not

 

[mattferg]

They also contribute to wear and tear on the road but their drivers arent paying the tax that goes into repairing that wear and tear via not paying for gas. Electric is cool. But its being rushed.

Road tax doesn’t pay for the roads It’s a tax on those using the roads which goes into a general pot of money…

 

[captaincranky]

At $130 this is pretty attractive. But only if it has RGB.

At $130K it should come with RGB wheel well lights stock.(Welcome to full bore "tacky" in the computer age). But, knowing the way Musk prices options, they'll probably be an extra 10 grand.

The Muskster, of course, will blame it on "chip shortages". Because god knows, there's not an ounce of greed in his entire body.

 

[yRaz]

They fail in one direction that matters - mileage, and they are desperately trying to make up for that in all other departments that we don't care much about.

FAIL.

15 minutes for ~200 miles worth of range is actually getting into gas car territory. But at $130,000 don't confuse this for anything more than a rich persons toy and at that point, everything else about it makes sense.

 

[wiyosaya]

Has someone ever explained why do we need production electric cards to be ridiculously fast?

I get the perspective of a gasoline car having bragging rights about being fast: it wants to use whatever advantage it might have, perceived or otherwise, to obtain the most amount of money possible for the company and it's board of directors.

But the premise of electric cars should be "We need this tech to replace our dependence on fossil fuels" so how does killing yourself in under a second by losing control of your vehicle on urban environments not AT ALL designed to even handle such acceleration is going to save the planet or contribute to allleviate fossil fuel dependency?

It seems like Elon just wants the same bragging rights as gasoline cars. It fundamentally just wants to make a lot of money out of selling cars and is trying to reconcile conflicting interests here: the one that is about the ecological angle and the one that is about being a luxurios super car prestige while doing so. Seems like focusing on the later is directly counter-intuitive to just making the stupid electric cards widely available fast enough to shift away from fossil fuels.

Somehow, the mystique that a fast car means that a real man drives it had been embedded in the modern mindset, and we won't get away from that until modern men wake up and realize that they exhibit the behaviors of simple primates instead of modern humans, and, in fact, do not need such crap to be men. It's not only emblematic in hyperspeed EVs but in Harley's with their loud mufflers, and in the loud mufflers on the average "street dragster", IMO, and any other "performance" crap that the modern world has succeeded in convincing modern men that they need that crap to be a "real man" and without which, a modern man is just some whimpy lame excuse for a man. In the primate world, the fastest and the loudest is king. In the human world, IMO, it simply indicates testosterone poisoning, and a lack of self-esteem. To paraphrase Mr. T - pity the fools.

Not to mention, of course, Musky has his head up his A$$ as well as suffers from testosterone poising. He probably also suffers from Dunning-Kruger syndrome as well.

EDIT: At some point, manufacturers will eventually figure out that if they produce an EV that the average person can afford, then they will sell far more vehicles than they can by catering only to the super-rich.

 

[psycros]

Except that this is only accomplished if you *also* convince those who value performance and not the environment to make the switch. If every EV is a Nissan LEAF, that ain't gonna happen. Whether he's accomplished it or not, Elon's goal has been to make a car that's just better, so that there are nearly zero excuses not to transition to EVs. Sure, fewer people will buy the more expensive Model S, but halo cars serve a purpose. GM sells a lot of cars *because* they have a Corvette. Porsche sells a lot of SUVs *because* they are known to make performance cars.

Literally nothing beyond the first sentence of this is accurate.

 

[RobMonteforte]

I own a "street car," and its 13 gallon gas tank doesn't get me 390 miles

 

[netman]

SIMPLE! Because going fast (and quick) is fun!

I guess getting a speeding ticket and jacking up your auto insurance is fun too...!

 

[netman]

Not only can you race Lamborghini, Porsche, Bugatti and just about anything else to the quarter mile…

You can have a family of 4 witnesses watching

The claimed acceleration is based on one person, driver only...!

 

[Tantor]

They fail in one direction that matters - mileage, and they are desperately trying to make up for that in all other departments that we don't care much about.

FAIL.

Yes. I like electric cars as a concept, but the implementation fails in a lot of areas. Recharge time is insanely slow. People claim it's only 15 minutes, but try waiting in a line of cars... Our Costco typically has at least 5 cars queued for each gas pump. At 15 minutes per car, you would wait over an hour. That's a FAIL. They lose up to 50% power capacity in cold weather. If you 'run out of gas' by the side of the road, you're hosed because you can't get a ride to the nearest gas station and get a couple of gallons of gas to tide you over. FAIL. They typically weigh at least 1000-1500 pounds more than a comparable IC car, which tears up the roads. They go through tires much faster.

People love the performance of Tesla Plaid, but honestly, for $113k you can buy a Nissan GT-R, or hop up your Subaru or Mustang, and you'll have a lot more fun. EVs don't have any character. Driving one is like driving a toaster or refrigerator. Tesla, like Apple, does everything to prevent people from tinkering. The unspoken message is that the tablet (or car) doesn't really belong to you.

Don't expect big performance from run-of-the-mill electric cars from Toyota, Honda, VW, they will have much downgraded performance equivalent to regular IC cars. And they'll weigh about 1000 lbs more, be inaccessible to the common person.

Widespread adoption of EVs will have huge effects. They will put millions and millions of people out of work. They will put an incredible drain on the power grid capacity, at the same time that capacity is being radically cut back by anti-fossil fuel and nuclear programs. California already has a power outages, what's going to happen if you put millions of cars online?

EVs are part of the progressive left agenda to re-engineer world society. They have done some good, but many of their ideas are unnecessary and even deeply harmful. EVs have their place, but to advocate for a total transition is nuts.

If they solve the battery problem of low energy density, and manufacture high quality LOW COST vehicles that can be easily worked on by the common man, like the original VW beetle or Honda Civic, then I'm on board. But I don't see that on the horizon.

 

[hahahanoobs]

Has someone ever explained why do we need production electric cards to be ridiculously fast?

I get the perspective of a gasoline car having bragging rights about being fast: it wants to use whatever advantage it might have, perceived or otherwise, to obtain the most amount of money possible for the company and it's board of directors.

But the premise of electric cars should be "We need this tech to replace our dependence on fossil fuels" so how does killing yourself in under a second by losing control of your vehicle on urban environments not AT ALL designed to even handle such acceleration is going to save the planet or contribute to allleviate fossil fuel dependency?

It seems like Elon just wants the same bragging rights as gasoline cars. It fundamentally just wants to make a lot of money out of selling cars and is trying to reconcile conflicting interests here: the one that is about the ecological angle and the one that is about being a luxurios super car prestige while doing so. Seems like focusing on the later is directly counter-intuitive to just making the stupid electric cards widely available fast enough to shift away from fossil fuels.

What did I just read?

You are upset with EV's because the most technically advanced mass produced car is allowed to have insane acceleration? You said fastest, but didn't specify so I can only assume you confused speed with acceleration. They are not the same.

Complain about Tesla Autopilot and I'll be the first to agree with you. But acceleration? No.

I have yet to see the big 3 automakers working day and night to beat or even match Tesla in either category. That would be range and charging stations across the country. That is where they are fighting their battle.

Tesla's are not luxury cars btw. And last I checked the big 3 automakers are working more towards EV's for everyone. Not just ones prioritizing speed.

This is insanity.

 

[ChrisH1]

$233,000 over here *sighs disconsolately in Australian*

 

[captaincranky]

$233,000 over here *sighs disconsolately in Australian*

Mate, I feel for ya. You people can barely deal with the outrageous price of guitar strings down under.

A set of PB 12 string lights here in the "northern colonies", goes for about $8.00.

In Anzac land, that triples to $24.00

 

[ChrisH1]

Mate, I feel for ya. You people can barely deal with the outrageous price of guitar strings down under.

A set of PB 12 string lights here in the "northern colonies", goes for about $8.00.

In Anzac land, that triples to $24.00

Thanks. Oh well, probably un-insureable here anyway, or at least only for some enormous price. We have had a few cases where they won't insure if you've got full auto-driving installed. I'll just have to stick with my antique 5 yo model S.

 

[captaincranky]

You are upset with EV's because the most technically advanced mass produced car is allowed to have insane acceleration? You said fastest, but didn't specify so I can only assume you confused speed with acceleration. They are not the same.

Here's the thing. From the technological point of perspective. An electric motor has a huge advantage over gasoline. All the electric's highest torque is produced at stall. Whereas, an IC engine has to rev up to hit its power peak.. So .that explains the outrageous. 0 to 60 performance..

When you come right down to it, so called "super bikes" have similar acceleration curves. Hell the 1200 CC Honda "Magna", was getting 0 to 60 at about 2.3 seconds, well past 30 years ago.

As for Musk, he's not "developing cars for the masses". He's just massaging his own ego, with all this, "look how fast my new model goes", bullsh!t..He's claims, "he out to save the environment", are likely feces of Bos taurus as well , but what he's really doing, is pedaling high performance vehicles to the wealthy., (as I said previously, but bears repeating), to massage his own massive ego..

But yes, I will grant you that the big three automakers have or had racing teams through the years. But, they also had a plethora of "economy cars", they sold via exposure at the track. To wit, "Chevy came in first at NASCAR, I'm going to buy myself a Chevette, dammit".

And well, Muskie doesn't have a "Chevette", to offer.

 

[Top S]

Has someone ever explained why do we need production electric cards to be ridiculously fast?

I get the perspective of a gasoline car having bragging rights about being fast: it wants to use whatever advantage it might have, perceived or otherwise, to obtain the most amount of money possible for the company and it's board of directors.

But the premise of electric cars should be "We need this tech to replace our dependence on fossil fuels" so how does killing yourself in under a second by losing control of your vehicle on urban environments not AT ALL designed to even handle such acceleration is going to save the planet or contribute to allleviate fossil fuel dependency?

It seems like Elon just wants the same bragging rights as gasoline cars. It fundamentally just wants to make a lot of money out of selling cars and is trying to reconcile conflicting interests here: the one that is about the ecological angle and the one that is about being a luxurios super car prestige while doing so. Seems like focusing on the later is directly counter-intuitive to just making the stupid electric cards widely available fast enough to shift away from fossil fuels.

They demonstrated that electric cars are the absolute best in some of the most important metrics for *some* people. This is certainly good for electric car adoption.

 

[Top S]

They fail in one direction that matters - mileage, and they are desperately trying to make up for that in all other departments that we don't care much about.

FAIL.

Maybe *you* don't care about the others, but many people including myself do. And 405 miles is more than sufficient for most, maybe except those living in some fairly remote (few chargers) AND cold (low battery life) place.

 

[captaincranky]

Not to mention, of course, Musky has his head up his A$$ as well as suffers from testosterone poising. He probably also suffers from Dunning-Kruger syndrome as well.

OK, "Dunning-Kruger Syndrome", is pretty much, an internet meme. Just some a**hole wanting to get his name in the books. Like "Asberger's syndrome", (which BTW has been removed from the DM-5), it is a fractional symptom of a much more serious overarching condition. In Musk's case, that would be a, "narcissistic sociopath".

 

[Knot Schure]

Yes. I like electric cars as a concept, but the implementation fails in a lot of areas. Recharge time is insanely slow. People claim it's only 15 minutes, but try waiting in a line of cars... Our Costco typically has at least 5 cars queued for each gas pump. At 15 minutes per car, you would wait over an hour. That's a FAIL. They lose up to 50% power capacity in cold weather. If you 'run out of gas' by the side of the road, you're hosed because you can't get a ride to the nearest gas station and get a couple of gallons of gas to tide you over. FAIL. They typically weigh at least 1000-1500 pounds more than a comparable IC car, which tears up the roads. They go through tires much faster.

People love the performance of Tesla Plaid, but honestly, for $113k you can buy a Nissan GT-R, or hop up your Subaru or Mustang, and you'll have a lot more fun. EVs

Get a GT-R? This thing (if the numbers are correct) is almost 10 seconds faster per lap round the 'ring, than my GT-R.

But as someone who lives in Thailand, I've not forgiven Musk for the way he treated that ex-pat diver, so he can sell it to someone else.

I'll wait until Toyota / Nissan / etc produces an equivelent product, and avoid the 'cult' atmosphere all in one swipe.

 

[Darth Shiv]

They're not petrol? They accelerate way faster, they barely need any maintenance, they're cheap to run, they have tonnes of storage space, they're quiet, the infotainment is great, they don't cost any more than an equivalent petrol car to buy and they can even drive themselves (in certain situations). The range of 390 miles is way more than I'd sit in a car for but I'd be quite happy to wait 15 mins, have a coffee and add another 200 miles. It only costs about $15 to totally fill up (even cheaper at home). If you honestly have to drive over 300 miles a day then petrol might still be for you but, for the rest of us, I suspect electric makes way more sense.

Yes for a HUGE amount of the driving market, the range is VERY suitable. It doesn't need to be perfect for everyone to be extremely valuable.

 

[sreams]

But as someone who lives in Thailand, I've not forgiven Musk for the way he treated that ex-pat diver, so he can sell it to someone else.

You mean... the diver who started the childish exchange by suggesting that Musk sodomize himself? That part always seems to be conveniently left out.