Tesla’s latest creation is on everyone’s lips and no wonder. He 2023 Tesla Model S is the great novelty of the American manufacturer, a car that has just landed in Europe with important and controversial changes, in addition to an impressive Plaid version of 1,020 CV that promises to humble any other car, electric or not. Today we video tested the new Tesla Model S Plaid and these are our impressions driving the most peculiar electric on the market.
After 11 years of life, Tesla introduces the biggest update we’ve seen in the Model S so far. This revision slightly affects the exterior design, as shown by its new LED headlights or its bumpers, becoming much more noticeable inside with the total redesign of the dashboard to release a new central 17″ adjustable touch screena new central console with a double wireless charger and multiple storage compartments and, the most striking change, a new steering wheel design in the purest fantastic car style that Tesla calls Yoke (yoke in Spanish).
First of all, the most striking thing about this new cabin is the extreme minimalism for which Tesla has opteda solution that although aesthetically I personally like, ergonomically it proves to be impractical and even uncomfortable depending on the situations. The experience of driving this Model S with the yoke steering wheel, steering wheel integrated touch turn signals, and “transmission” management from an on-screen slider, has been uncomfortable for me and that feeling has remained throughout the 5 days and almost 2,000 km of test that I have done with this car.
Given the point that clearly seemed to me more improvable, let’s go now with the strengths of this new Tesla Model S Plaid. The infotainment section is clearly one of the best experiences we can find on the market for the performance of the interface, the quality of the screen and the many possibilities it offers. Is a system that bets everything on touch control with the distractions that this impliesEven to control the air vents or adjust the mirrors, you have to use this screen, but it is very easy to do it and find the function we are looking for in a couple of clicks.
In this Plaid version we find Tesla’s highest banner in terms of electric propulsion systemsand once we have tested it thoroughly and in many different circumstances, it becomes clear that we are facing the best technology in its class. The display of benefits is impressive with 1,020 hp, a 0-100 km/h time of 2.1 seconds and a top speed of 322 km/h, and in practice it is even more overwhelming when you see that this Model S is a truly capable rocket. to give away sensations of a roller coaster. And if such a waste of benefits impresses, its ability to manage all this power does not less so, discovering us a very well tuned chassis that offers a great level of control and confidencehaving as the only points that could be improved the Yoke steering wheel and some brakes where we have missed something more biting.
And we reached the point that perhaps less could be taken into account in a car of this type, but in the end it has been one of the ones that has surprised us the most during this test. We talk about energy management and how Tesla continues to be the clear market reference when it comes to talking about consumption, even in a car with more than 1,000 hp. With 600 km of WLTP-approved autonomy, We have been able to verify that in mixed driving it is possible to extract between 450 and 500 real km of its 100 kWh battery, moving in average consumption of between 20 and 22 kWh.
Electrical with a similar approach such as the Audi RS e-tron GT, Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 or Porsche Taycan Turbo S are far from this efficiency and that is something that in electrical matters matters, and a lot. AND If we add to all this a network of charging points such as the Supercharger, the advantages of this Tesla Model S as an electric vehicle multiplybecause we can forget about the problems that other charging infrastructures present, such as the shortage of points, the low power they supply (50 kW as a general rule), the high prices of their rates, the inconvenient access through dedicated apps and the questionable maintenance on not a few occasions.
