Tesla had been in the news a lot for the first few weeks of this year. This was because of the initial speculation and subsequent announcement of the refreshed Model S. At the time, Tesla announced the discontinuation of the Performance variant, with the Plaid variant replacing it. They have also announced the Plaid+, which will be a high-performance variant competing with Lucid Air’s Dream Edition.
The steering yoke had made quite a few headlines all over the news after its unveiling. Even though this is an option in the Model S and not standard, there was a huge uproar against this design. With very few people actually opting for the steering yoke, there have been very few public sightings of this design.
Latest Sighting of Tesla Model S Plaid with Steering Yoke
The latest video of the Tesla Model S Plaid with a steering yoke is one minute long. This is, by far, the longest video featuring this ‘futuristic’ steering wheel design. Unfortunately, even in this video, the car is closed, so we can only see it from the outside. You can watch the video below, with the Plaid badge on the rear and the yoke standing out prominently.
Tesla has actually done a very good job with the exterior and interior changes for the Model S this time. The horizontal touchscreen rather than the portrait shape looks much more elegant. The rear-seat touchscreen also looks very compact. You can see the tinted glass roof and the 21″ Arachnid Wheels in the video as well. The wheels are a $4,500 option.
Waiting Period for New Orders Increases
The bad news is that new orders of the Model S will now have a longer waiting period. Initially, it was 4 to 11 weeks, with the Plaid+ coming in late 2021. Now, however, the waiting period is 4 to 14 weeks. The Plaid+ has been pushed back to mid-2022.
The other change is the increase in cost for the Plaid+ version. Tesla had announced initially that it would cost $140,000. But a few weeks ago, they increased this price to $150,000. This is, of course, before any additional options. Add the Red Multi-Coat paint, Arachnid Wheels, White Seats, and Full Self-Driving, and it now costs $167,490. But then again, it will be hard to find a cheaper car that can go from 0 to 60 mph (96.5 kph) in less than 2 seconds. Not to mention the estimated 520-mile (837 km) range for the Plaid+ as well.
The Plaid+ will be costlier than any other Tesla ever sold, and by a distance too. But it will bring a combination of extremely high range estimates and absurdly high performance, and will still be a passenger vehicle with a seating capacity of 5. So if you want all that, you must be willing to shell out $150,000-$170,000 and wait one full year.
