Tesla posted a video showing its newly announced Model S Plaid zipping around the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in just over 90 seconds.- Elon Musk announced the Model S Plaid during Tesla's "Battery Day" event on Tuesday, claiming the car will have 1,100 horsepower, a 520-mile range, and a 200-mph top speed.
- The Laguna Seca lap time ranks the Model S Plaid among the quickest
cars ever to hit that track.
During Tuesday's much-anticipated "Battery Day" presentation, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced, among other, more chemical things, the Model S Plaid — a new tri-motor version of the company's flagship sedan that will allegedly boast a 0-to-60 time of under two seconds, a top speed of 200 mph, and a 520-mile range. And while it generally takes quite some time for Musk's claims to bear fruit, Tesla proved some of the Plaid's chops in a video it posted to Twitter on Wednesday.
At the event, Musk claimed the Plaid had clocked a lap time of 90 seconds at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Northern California, which would place it among the fastest production cars ever to hit that track. And on Wednesday, Tesla posted an in-cabin video of the Plaid whirring around the track in 1:30.3.
For reference, that's just a hair quicker than the McLaren P1 hypercar and around three seconds slower than the newer McLaren Senna — both seven-figure supercars, compared to the Model S Plaid's $134,490 starting price. Musk, for his part, claims that the Plaid can do even better, and that it "will achieve the best track time of any production vehicle ever. Of any kind, two door or otherwise."
It's worth noting that at most race tracks, official lap records can only be achieved during actual races, so we have to take Tesla — or any other manufacturer, for that matter — at its word when it boasts about lap times. Not to mention, there's no guarantee that the Model S Plaid that set the time will be mechanically identical to the one that will hit the market late next year. Or that you, dear driver, will have anything near the skills of the expert who took it around Laguna Seca.
See the video for yourself below:
—Tesla (@Tesla) September 23, 2020