The Tesla Plaid is Beating Supercars Left and Right
Carlos Kirby
· 3 min read
People don't normally think of
Tesla
cars when they want something fast. The company aims to put their product in an average consumer's hands, not on a race track.Then Tesla made the Model S Plaid, and people raced it against supercars.
Supercars are designed for speed, but the Plaid beat them in practically every race.
The Tesla Plaid
That notion has been blown out of the water with battery-powered vehicles regularly accelerating to 60 mph in under three seconds. Tesla is one of the first EV manufacturers to pull this off. Earlier Tesla cars have even beat high-performance cars.
The Plaid continues this fine tradition by combining three electric motors. This gives it a whopping 1,020 horsepower and 1,050 pound-feet of torque.
It also comes with an all-wheel-drive grip, according to
Road and Track
. The torque is instantaneous and only needs to be put in the right setting to become a drag race phenomenon.Let Jerry find your price in only 45 seconds
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Supercars v Tesla Plaid
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The Plaid seems a bit heavy to be trouncing supercars when it is over 4,000 pounds. This seems especially true of cars such as the McLaren 765LT, which has repeatedly outraced Lamborghinis.
The 765LT has a twin-turbo V-8 engine and 755 horsepower and can be tuned to have 1000-hp. It also has great launch control, which makes it one of the best drag racers.
However, Tesla Plaid beat the McLaren 765LT in three drag races. It even won by a couple of car lengths in some of those races.
Another car it has taken on in drag races is the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ. This low-slung car has a 6.5-liter V12 engine, eschews turbochargers, uses a seven-speed automatic transmission, and has all-wheel drive.
It's lighter than the Tesla Plaid too at 3,478 pounds. The result is 759 horsepower and 530 pound-feet of torque.
Tesla Plaid left the SVJ in its dust in all the drag races they competed in. It even won when the SVJ had a head-start.
This pattern has repeated for almost all of the supercars that it has challenged. The only car to beat the Tesla Plaid in a proper standing quarter-mile race is the Rimac Nevera.
Inside EVs
notes that the Rimac Nevera is also an all-electric car. The difference is that it has one more motor than the Plaid and a total system output of 1,408 kW. It also produces 1,914 hp.Is it a better deal than a supercar?
Supercars resemble race cars and come with a similar price tag. For instance, the Aventador SVJ is worth over $500,000, and the Rimac goes for $2.4 million.
The Model S Plaid is a mere $130,000.
Supercars are also luxury cars, though. The Tesla Plaid is a large sedan. You might better classify the Tesla Plaid as a nice EV that happens to be insanely powerful.
However you classify it, any EV or supercar will need insurance, and that cost has to be factored into your decision to buy it.
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