The Tesla Model S Plaid was recently put through its paces by Jay Leno at the Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, California. Leno had already told a podcast that he covered a quarter-mile in 9.247 seconds, but footage of that run has now emerged. Despite Leno's time being faster than that of the former record holder, a Bugatti Chiron, the official Model S Plaid quarter-mile time is actually faster still.
At an event to mark the beginning of deliveries of the car, Elon Musk revealed that the Model S Plaid can actually do a quarter-mile in 9.23 seconds — almost 0.2 seconds less than Leno's run. The Model S Plaid can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 1.99 seconds and has a top speed of 200 mph. All that is in part down to its 1,020 hp, but also due to the near-instant electrical delivery of that power.
Leno was driving the Model S Plaid for the upcoming sixth season of Jay Leno's Garage. A Shepard Smith interview with him featuring a clip of the show was posted to CNBC's YouTube channel this weekend. In it, Leno's record-breaking run is shown and he discusses the Model S Plaid with Smith.
Does Jay Leno Like The Model S Plaid?
Discussing the Model S Plaid, Leno said: "It is now the fastest production car you can buy. Faster than any Ferrari, faster than any $3.5 million Bugatti. It's pretty amazing." He also noted that the birds he shot past on his way to 152 mph were still there on his way back down the dragstrip due to the car's quietness. Elsewhere, Leno praised the 390-mile range of the Tesla and the low maintenance that is required with electric cars in general.
Leno did concede that $130,000 is a lot of money for a car. However, he also pointed out that to get a car powered by an internal combustion engine with a similar level of performance costs far, far more. Ultimately, Leno said he loves the Tesla Model S Plaid due to his being a huge fan of American technology and products developed in America with locally sourced materials.
Having started with an initial 25 deliveries of the Model S Plaid, Tesla says it expects to be hitting several hundred deliveries per week soon and over a thousand per week by the next quarter. The price of the car was raised by $10,000 shortly prior to deliveries beginning.
Source: CNBC/YouTube