According to Jay Leno, the new Tesla Model S Plaid is the quickest production car with a quarter-mile time of 9.247 seconds. The US TV host and comedian took the high performance EV out for a more than just a spin. He’s one of the lucky few who has had the opportunity to try out the latest addition to Tesla’s fleet.
The new Model S Plaid was officially launched last week, and the US car manufacturer has delivered the first 25 units on June 10. Leno tried to break the car's speeding record during a test drive on his show. The talk show host has had a few encounters with Tesla test drives. He was impressed with the Cybertruck and the Roadster and the Tesla Model S Plaid did not disappoint.
The top of the line Plaid can accelerate 0-60 mph (96.5 km/h) in 1.99 seconds and 1/4 Mile 9.23 at 155 mph trap speed. The top speed is impressive at 200 mph (322 km), although it needs different wheels and tires that will be available in a few months.
Jay Leno and the first owners of the new model have seen a few YouTube videos doing the rounds while the drivers get to enjoy the Plaid acceleration and posting first reports.
But Jay wanted to break the quarter mile land speed record for production cars and his thoughts were:
“It was a winner. I mean, it is now the fastest production car you can buy other than a Ferrari and a half million dollar Bugatti. The most amazing part was that drag strip was near Bakersfield in an agricultural area. So, there's farming all around, there were birds sitting on the Christmas tree. When I stepped on the accelerator and took off and I came back down after going 152, the birds were still there. I mean, you go to a drag strip and it's just horrible noises and tire smoke. But just the fact that you could go that fast that swiftly that quickly.”
Jay is clearly a proud American, praising American technology, especially products developed in America using locally sourced materials. This was one of the main reasons he lavished his affection on the new Tesla.
“And that's why I love this car. $130,000 a tremendous amount of money. But to get the same performance from internal combustion engine, you probably have to spend the case of Bugatti two and a half million or Ferrari close to a million. So, it's pretty amazing.”
And driving with new yoke steering wheel and comparing it to gas-powered vehicles?
“Well, it's different. And Internal combustion engines need transmission to transmit power because the transmission multiplies the power. Internal combustion engine doesn't make its power until it's really moving very quickly. You see electricity like steam is right now. So electric cars don't need a transmission. So, the minute you step on the accelerator, boom, you're gone. That first gear will give the initial poll, but that runs out quickly. So, you shift to second shift to third so, you still need a transmission. You don't need any of that with electric vehicles. So that's what I find fascinating. I mean, steam ran everything from 1800 to 1911. From 1911 to now it's internal combustion. And from now until the near future, it's probably going to be electric or some form of electric hybrid thing.
There's going to be a long line for these. Well, I think so I mean, it takes a while for people to come around. It took 75 years for every American to get a telephone in their house. Then 5 years to get a computer and a cell phone. So, people trust technology a little bit more. Plus, the fact that you have virtually no maintenance with electric cars, and also the fact that now like the new Tesla, you get, even with the base model, you get 400 miles approximately, so that's more than most cars.”
Nobody will be surprised if we see a new Tesla Model S Plaid parked in Jay Leno’s home garage.
