Tesla is so focused on speed lately that we have to wonder: What are they running from? Should the rest of us be running too? Just how afraid should we be?!
Early claims about the Tesla Model S Plaid said "with the right tires," it could go 200 mph. Owners found the car was limited to 163 mph (maybe they had the wrong tires).
However, in Belgium, a limiter-free Model S Plaid hit 217. The blogger said the limit was just as much about the breaks as the tires, so the test was conducted with a $20K ceramic brake kit installed.
Intuitively this makes sense to us. Are you ever going faster than when you’ve got your favorite plaid shirt on? Or, slower after you’ve stepped on a piece of ceramic pottery?
The news doesn't slow down there. The EV company says it is ramping up production of its Supercharger V4 for deployment soon. Current V3 chargers can take an EV from 10-80% in about 18 minutes. Tesla has not announced the specific speed/performance upgrade the jump to V4 will bring.
18 minutes is long enough to listen to Electric Avenue almost five-and-a-half times, in case you also need a recharge.
Sometimes speed can look like rushing. According to Elon Musk, Tesla Full Self-Driving Beta v11 is coming this weekend. Despite ongoing calls to slow down or even shelf the whole idea, the new update will merge Tesla's Full Self-Driving and Autopilot highway features, allowing a vehicle to complete an entire journey based on a destination entered into the car's nav system.
When did we sign a consent form to be involved in this beta test? Because, like, we gotta drive to Target too.