Tesla CEO Elon Musk made a surprise announcement, cancelling the Plaid+ variant of the Model S that was scheduled to be released next year.
Musk revealed the shocking news on his favourite social media platform Twitter Sunday afternoon. Unlike some previous announcements, Musk provided a reason saying it was axed because the Plaid variant, which will begin deliveries in just a few days, is already so good.
Tesla has yet to remove the option from its website.
Plaid+ is canceled. No need, as Plaid is just so good.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 6, 2021
UPDATE June 7 (2:56pm PST): The Plaid+ has now been removed from Tesla’s website.
While the news is surprising, there have been some hints this might be coming.
Last month Tesla stopped allowing new orders to placed for the top-of-the-line variant in the US. At the same time delivery dates were also delayed from late 2021 into mid-2022. Canadians were still allowed to place orders, but Tesla shut that down one week later.
It is also hard to argue with Musk about the difference in performance between the Plaid and Plaid+ vehicles. Last month Tesla set a new record with the Plaid for the fastest quarter mile time of any production car at 9.23 seconds.
While we haven’t heard yet how fast the Plaid will be able to reach 60mph, Tesla’s website is targeting a time of under 2 seconds, and that was also confirmed by Musk in a later tweet.
0 to 60mph in under 2 secs. Quickest production car ever made of any kind. Has to be felt to be believed.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 6, 2021
That time is already pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, and doesn’t leave much room between what a Plaid+ would be able to achieve compared to a Roadster.
Another big question is what is going to happen with the 4680 battery cells that were expected to come with the Plaid+? The new batteries were going to give the Plaid+ 209km (130mi) of more range over the Plaid variant. Does that mean the Plaid will be able to achieve more than the 628km (390mi) of advertised range?
We should be learning more in the coming days about what will happen with customers who were able to place an order for the Plaid+ before it was cancelled.
This is a developing story, stay tuned for updates…
