Tesla Model S Plaid May Do 1/4 Mile In 9.2 Secs

Jay Leno says he’s seen it with his own eyes. Can the new Tesla really be faster than a Bugatti?

Currently, the fastest Teslas around are the ‘Ludicrous’ models. For example, the Tesla Model S P100D with Ludicrous mode is capable of doing 0-60mph in around 2.3 seconds and is listed on Wikipedia as the third fastest accelerating production car in the world. In first and second place is the Porsche 918 Spyder and 911 Turbo S, which fail to seat four adults comfortably and have barely enough storage space for a quick shop at the supermarket.

With the Tesla Model S already intruding in the list of top 5 fastest cars in the world, the Tesla Model S Plaid intends to obliterate the competition completely. Although it’s easy to shrug off electric cars with insanely fast acceleration because after all, that is what they’re good at. Instant torque and no turbo lag to worry about means that EVs can shoot off the line like a toy Scalextric.

However, the problem with performance EVs lies in their top-end speed. What about after 60mph? Can they keep their impressive rate of acceleration going until the end? Well, the Tesla Model S Plaid seems to have overcome that problem and is on its way to achieve a world record ¼ mile time.

Featuring on a podcast called Spike’s Car Radio, famous American presenter who is mostly known for his car videos on YouTube nowadays, Jay Leno, spoke about the new Plaid Tesla. Leno said that he personally witnessed the all-new Model S Plaid complete a timed ¼ mile sprint in just 9.247 seconds, crossing the line at a speed of 152mph.

Now, Jay Leno is a very reputable figure in the motoring industry and is famed for his otherworldly car collection which is often shown off in his videos. However, we do not know if this ¼ mile run was fair and there is a chance this was just a test run using special tyres, weight reductions and who knows what else. This could be the reason the news hasn’t been shared by Tesla yet.

Furthermore, if you didn’t happen to know already, Tesla actually initially stated that the Plaid models would be able to achieve a ¼ mile time of under 9 seconds, which is absolutely preposterous. Could this be another reason why they haven’t shared the 9.2 second time themselves?

Either way, 9.2 seconds in a rather heavy four-door saloon would be difficult to believe if it wasn’t Tesla. To put that in perspective, a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ will complete the ¼ mile in around 10.3 seconds and a Ferrari 488 will do it in around the same time. The Bugatti Chiron Sport, a car that dwarves both the mentioned Lamborghini and Ferrari in terms of price, exclusivity and speed, will still be slower than the Model S Plaid, with a ¼ mile time of 9.4 seconds at 158mph.

In summary, the Model S Plaid is going to be bonkers. Likely priced under £150k, this electric family saloon will be able to beat a million-pound supercar in a drag race. Let us know if you’re just a bit sceptical like we are, in the comments.

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