After months of delays, it seems that Elon Musk and Tesla have moved up delivery of the Model S Plaid from August/September to June. This comes after Musk announced that a "delivery event" would be scheduled for June 3.
Unfortunately, on Tesla's website, it seems that the Plaid+ model has been greyed out. So, for the time being, those willing to drop nearly $150K on a souped-up Model S will have to wait until orders open back up.
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According to EV publication Electrek, this is not an uncommon practice by Elon Musk and Tesla. By moving forward the launch date, it's a way to guarantee more pre-orders before the end of the financial quarter. Invariably, there will be those that pre-order only to run into delays, whether it be financial, related to trade-ins, or whatever else.
As for removing the Plaid+ option, it could be a move by Tesla to encourage eager buyers to buy the regular Plaid model. The Plaid+ offers 520 miles of range, much greater than the Plaid's 390. But to account for the extra range, Tesla needs to secure more batteries, many of which are in short supply due to increased demand from other auto manufacturers entering the EV space as well as supply chain issues caused by the pandemic. Essentially, it's likely easier to put together more models of the Plaid than the Plaid+ at this time.
Neither Elon Musk nor Tesla have confirmed when the Plaid+ will be available for pre-order again.
For the Tesla hardcore, both the Plaid and Plaid+ are the models to get. While more expensive, both offer the performance desired by diehard fans. Tesla claims on its website that both cars can accelerate from 0-60 in less than two seconds. This is slightly misleading as Tesla doesn't count the initial twelve inches of rollout. This is often how speeds in drag racing are measured. So, if the Plaid or Plaid+ get to six miles-per-hour in that initial twelve inches, for example, then we're really looking at a sub two-second 6-60 time, not 0-60. YouTube channel Engineering Explained has a detailed video breaking this down.
