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As Tesla’s flagship sedan, Model S Plaid brings together Tesla’s latest interior and exterior design style, the most powerful electric drive system, and a very subversive smart cockpit design style.
The Yoke rectangular steering wheel that subverts the traditional car habit, the performance-beating PS5 car machine, the 1020-horsepower super electric drive system, and the 100km acceleration time of 1.99 seconds… all make it suffocate the appetite of fans and the media.
▲In the official promotional photos, the front center control panel of the new Model S Plaid can run games such as the Witcher series
In the past few days, foreign media and some car owners have intensively released evaluation content about Model S Plaid, which allows us to have a real understanding of this car.
For example, some people say that the rectangular steering wheel feels like a game console handle. They like the refreshing feeling that there are no obstacles to block the dashboard, but some people say that the operation method is too subversive, and the buttons on the steering wheel are especially easy to be touched by mistake.
At the delivery event, Model S Plaid’s car machine was able to play 3A games like Cyberpunk 2077, which caused cheers on the scene. But after getting the car, everyone found that there was no 3A masterpiece on the car…
Motor Trend, a well-known overseas automobile media, also conducted a range test and accelerated braking test on this car, showing the changes brought about by the new thermal management system and the new motor in a more intuitive form.
Actual measurement shows that the new Model S Plaid has a cruising range of approximately 318 miles (approximately 512 kilometers) in a mixed working condition of 55% high-speed scene + 45% urban scene. In terms of acceleration capability, with the use of Michelin PS4S tires, this car’s 0-60 mph (96 km/h) acceleration time on ordinary asphalt roads is about 2.07 seconds.
Although Tesla’s claimed acceleration of 1.99 seconds is difficult to reproduce, the acceleration time of 100 kilometers in just over 2 seconds still makes it the fastest-accelerating mass-produced model, not even one of them.
The following is a summary of the evaluation content of foreign media and overseas car owners.
01. The rectangular steering wheel feels good but it is easy to touch the buttons by mistake
Among the content of this change, the most controversial is the Yoke rectangular steering wheel.
In terms of appearance, some people think that the dashboard can be seen more easily after cutting off the upper part, and some people think that turning the steering wheel is more inconvenient; functionally, some people think that this kind of steering wheel is highly integrated with light control, wiper control and other functions , Greatly simplifies the operation mode. There are also people who think that people can hardly perform blind exercises after canceling the lever, and have to distract their attention to click the buttons, which is very unsafe.
▲Real shots of the interior of the new Model S Plaid (Source: MotorTrend)
Foreign media said that the Yoke steering wheel has two points that are very good. One is the grip feel, which is very similar to the game console handle he is familiar with. The other is not to obscure the dashboard, he really likes the invigorating feeling of directly seeing the dashboard.
When the steering mode is selected as the comfort mode, the damping of the steering wheel will be very small, and it is very easy to open with one hand. Tesla seems to have guessed that many drivers like to drive with one hand, and also designed an elbow support on the side of the door panel. When you put your elbow on it and turn the steering wheel with one hand, the driving experience is indeed very comfortable.
▲The elbow support platform makes one-handed driving more comfortable (Source: TelsaRaj)
Some foreign media also pointed out that although he likes the sci-fi and cool shape of the Yoke steering wheel, the practicality is not very high. Not only does it lack the upper part, but it is not a regular semicircle. This leads to the fact that drivers who are accustomed to using a circular steering wheel when turning the steering wheel, if they do not specifically look for the steering wheel, it is easy to hollow out the steering wheel subconsciously.
Especially when the steering ratio is very sparse, the strangely shaped steering wheel is even more offensive. The steering ratio of this car is very sparse. It takes 1.5 turns to fill the steering wheel from left to right, and it is not equipped with variable steering ratio technology. That is to say, when the steering wheel is rotated through a large angle, the front wheel rotation angle is still very small. When the vehicle needs to make a big turn or turn around, the driver needs to be frequently distracted to find the steering wheel, which is a very bad experience.
For those drivers who are accustomed to “rubbing wheels”, the Yoke steering wheel is also very unfriendly, because too many buttons on it are easy to accidentally touch, and pressing the palm on it is more likely to cause accidental touches. Ten thousand steps back, “rubbing wheel” is originally the wrong posture, because the static friction between the palm and the contact surface actually has a low degree of control over the steering wheel. In case of special circumstances, it is easy to slip or even get out of the hand.
▲Yoke steering wheel “scrubbing wheel” demonstration (Source: TeslaRaj)
02. Automatic shifting is smarter but far from replacing humans
Another controversial design at the operational level is the cancellation of the mechanical shift mechanism. The previous Tesla models had gear shifters, while the new Model S Plaid adopted the “automatic shift” device Smart Shift. Tesla claims that the system can accurately predict the driver’s intentions and select gears. If you want to select other gears, you can switch the gears by sliding the left area of the center control screen up and down.
During the test drive, foreign media found that Smart Shift can indeed simplify the operation to a certain extent. For example, after getting on the car, the driver often needs to step on the brake, then manipulate the knob/shift lever to switch gears, and then release the brake to let the car go. On the new Model S Plaid, the driver only needs to step on the brake after getting on the car, and the system will display on the dashboard which direction the car will drive after releasing the brake. Simply put, the D gear is engaged at this time. Still R file.
▲The moment the driver stepped on the brake, an upward white tip appeared on the instrument panel, indicating that gear D was successfully engaged (Source: OCDetailing)
So far, no foreign media has made it clear that it has encountered a situation where the system should clearly drive forward or backward from the parking space but the system chooses the wrong direction. It can be seen that the automatic shifting device most likely uses environmental perception data to select gears.
Another convenience of the Smart Shift device is that when parking, no matter what gear the vehicle is in before entering the parking space, the driver only needs to unlock the seat belt buckle after parking, and the system automatically engages the P gear. Of course, if the driver fails to unlock the seat belt temporarily, he can also hang into the P gear by clicking the virtual button on the left side of the central control screen.
In other cases, the performance of Smart Shift is no different from an ordinary gear shifting mechanism, which is a gearbox that works smoothly. However, in the case of turning around and parking sideways, Smart Shift is helpless when the vehicle needs to continuously switch between D and R gears. The driver can only switch gears by sliding the left bar of the center control screen. It can be seen that the “automatic gear shifting” device can indeed omit the step of shifting into gear when starting to stop, but it cannot completely replace manual gear shifting.
Some foreign media came up with a whim and posed a problem for Smart Shift. They parked the car in a place with parking spaces both front and rear, and then asked a person to stand about 1, 2 meters away from the front of the car to see which gear Smart Shift would automatically select.
Sure enough, after stepping on the brake pedal, the instrument panel immediately popped up a downward white arrow, which means that Smart Shift automatically selects the R gear. Foreign media said that the “automatic gear shift” mechanism must be automatically engaged in reverse after determining that there is someone ahead based on environmental perception data.
Immediately afterwards, foreign media engaged in another wave of show operations. They arranged for a second person to stand directly behind the rear of the car, sandwich the car in the middle, to see how the car was selected.
Unfortunately, this time an upward white arrow popped up on the screen, which means that Smart Shift automatically selects the D gear to move forward.
▲Pay attention to the white up arrow on the dashboard, Smart Shift automatically selects to hang into D position when there are people front and back (Source: TeslaRaj)
Unfortunately, the actual road conditions are complicated, random, and changeable, and people should not completely count on Smart Shift to replace their own gear selection for the time being.
But this experiment may not be fair, because foreign media did not provide evidence that the distance between the pedestrian in front of the car and the bumper is equal to the distance between the pedestrian behind the car and the trunk.
▲When the rear is also blocked by pedestrians, the system chooses to put forward gear (Source: TeslaRaj)
In other words, the system may have found that the rear of the vehicle is closer to the pedestrian behind, so it should be put into D gear, and then the decision right to avoid the pedestrian in front of the left or right is given to the driver.
Perhaps, if the pedestrians behind the car occupy further distances, people will find that Smart Shift will instead choose to engage in R gear. Unfortunately, before the actual test, we have no chance to know how smart this shifting device is.
03. The car has not been pre-installed with 3A, and the entertainment experience in the rear row needs to be improved
Another coveted advantage of the new Model S Plaid is the superior audio-visual entertainment experience. Musk once said that one of the faces of this car is a mobile gaming hall. The cockpit chip it carries has reached the level of PS5 game consoles and can support the operation of 3A-level game masterpieces. At the delivery ceremony, Musk also showed a video of Cyberpunk 2077 running on the central control screen in the front row.
After getting the car, the foreign media couldn’t wait to experience the game running effect of the front central control screen. Unfortunately, they found that there are no 3A masterpieces pre-installed in the car system. Except for the newly launched game called Sky Force, other games have basically appeared on the old models.
Regrettably, all the Cyberpunk 2077 and Witcher series of games Tesla promoted were absent on the test car. Moreover, foreign media did not find an application store on the car machine that can sell masterpieces such as Cyberpunk 2077.
In addition, foreign media also tried to pair the PS5 gamepad with the car via Bluetooth, but the pairing failed. Foreign media said that since Musk said that the game ability of the car is comparable to that of the PS5, the PS5 gamepad cannot be paired, which is somewhat inexplicable.
However, the user experience of the new UI interface is still good. For example, there are many different logos arranged above the bottom border of the screen. Users can choose which function or app to put on the home page of the page by themselves, and they can also freely adjust the position of each app.
After opening the main menu, people will find that the interface settings are not much different from the old models, but the size of the buttons is larger. Foreign media believe that larger buttons can make it more convenient for drivers and passengers to use during driving.
In terms of video players, the car system comes with four platforms, Netflix, hulu, YouTube, and twitch, which can meet the movie-watching needs of a considerable number of users.
It is worth pointing out that the new UI allows users to drag the edge of the music player to adjust its size, or press and hold the music player for a few seconds, drag the module to the left or right, and then release the finger to place it. . This setting allows both the main driver and the co-driver to easily adjust the volume or cut the song through the touch screen.
▲The size and position of the music player are adjustable (Source: TeslaRaj)
More intimately, foreign media found that the front-row central control screen is not fixed, but can be moved, which means that this screen can actually be tilted towards the drivers and passengers on the left and right. Unfortunately, foreign media have not discovered how to activate the automatic tilt function of the central control screen for the time being. They speculate that Tesla may make this function available through an OTA update.
Compared with the thoughtfulness of the front center control screen, the use experience of the rear center control screen is very bad.
▲The rear central control panel is located behind the central armrest box (Source: MotorTrend)
The biggest problem is that its position is too low. When an adult sits in the back seat in a normal posture, he has to lower his head at an angle of about 40 degrees to focus his eyes on the rear center control screen. This posture hurts the neck very much. Foreign media pointed out that perhaps this screen is suitable for children to use, but they really hope that Tesla can place the screen behind the headrest of the front seat.
▲The position of the rear center control screen is too low, and the adult’s neck is very injured (Source: TeslaRaj)
In addition, the rear center control screen of the test vehicle currently only supports music playback, video playback, air conditioning adjustment and seat heating adjustment, and does not support the operation of the game.
In addition, foreign media also pointed out that the audio-visual performance of the test car needs to be improved.
For example, when the vehicle is driving, the rear center control screen can play video, but it cannot play the audio that comes with the video. People see the picture intelligently but cannot hear the sound.
When the vehicle is stopped, the rear center control screen can play video and audio at the same time, but the audio playback occupies all the speakers of the vehicle. If the user wants to play music through the player on the front center control screen, it will fail, and the system will continue to use all speakers to play the audio content being played on the rear center control screen.
Foreign media said that the audio-visual experience of the vehicle really needs to be improved, and Tesla may solve the above problems through OTA software updates.
04. 512 kilometers of battery life, 15 minutes of charging, mileage increased by 269 kilometers
People waited for the innovative Yoke steering wheel and Smart Shift automatic shift, but they didn’t wait for the latest 4680 battery. Musk said that although the 4680 battery is temporarily unavailable, the R&D team has not stopped improving the three-electric system. The new Model S Plaid is equipped with a set of oversized radiators and a new high-efficiency heat pump. The combination of the two not only allows the car to support continuous ejection, but also increases the winter battery life by about 30%.
▲The thermal management system of the new Model S Plaid has been strongly upgraded (Source: Tesla)
So, what is the endurance of a new car that integrates the old battery and the new thermal management system? Motro Trend gave their answer.
The test scenario is a mixed working condition of urban roads and expressways, where the speed of the expressway is always maintained at 70-75 mph (about 113-120 km/h). The same road section has to be run 4 times. In the two tests, the air conditioner temperature was set to 72 degrees Fahrenheit (about 22 degrees Celsius). In the other two tests, the air conditioner was not turned on and only the fan was turned on.
The actual measurement results show that when the outside temperature is about 75 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 24 degrees Celsius), the energy consumption of the new Model S Plaid in an urban scenario is 3.43 miles/kWh (approximately 5.5 km/kWh). The energy consumption in the high-speed scenario is 3.14 miles/kWh (approximately 5.1 km/kWh).
In the EPA battery life calculation rules, the calculation weights for urban conditions and high-speed conditions are 45% and 55% respectively. Tesla claims that the new Model S Plaid has a range of 348 miles (approximately 560 kilometers) under this rule. Based on the data obtained by Motor Trend and calculated according to EPA rules, a battery with a capacity of 100 kWh can give the new Model S Plaid a total of 318 miles (approximately 512 kilometers), and the endurance rate is about 91.4%.
Taking into account the amazing power level of this car, the curb weight of more than 2 tons and the non-energy-saving Michelin PS4S ultra-high-performance summer tires, this endurance performance is really good.
The team also measured the energy consumption of a 1/4 mile acceleration race at the start of the catapult with great interest. The results showed that the power consumption is about 2.5% after a run, and it can only run 40 times when it is fully charged. The catapult of this car The cruising range is 10 miles (about 16 kilometers).
In addition to long battery life, fast charging can eliminate the anxiety of drivers and passengers. Tesla told the test team that the new Model S Plaid can get 187 miles (about 301 kilometers) in just 15 minutes when using the V3 fast charging pile. After actual measurement, after 15 minutes of charging, the test vehicle’s cruising range only increased by 167 miles (approximately 269 kilometers), which is about 89.3% of the official advertised value.
The team analyzed that Tesla’s data may have been tested on models equipped with 19-inch wheels and tires, and the test car they got was equipped with 21-inch wheel tires. This set of options is heavier and has greater rolling resistance. If you change to the standard rim tires, the goal of increasing the battery life by 301 kilometers in 15 minutes should be achievable.
▲Charging speed and battery life increment data table (data source: MotorTrend)
05. Breaking a hundred in 2 seconds is a word game but still the strongest in mass-produced cars
At the delivery ceremony, Musk stated that the new Model S Plaid can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in 1.99 seconds, but not everyone is convinced of this.
As early as ten months before the delivery ceremony, Jason Fenske, a popular science author in vehicle engineering, analyzed and pointed out that to achieve such a rapid acceleration, the most critical technical indicator is tire grip. No matter how powerful a car is, its weak tire grip has a veto to its acceleration performance.
Assuming that the vehicle accelerates from a standstill to 60 mph (approximately 96 km/h) in just 1.99 seconds, ignoring external interference and loss, the average acceleration of the vehicle during the whole process should reach approximately 1.38g, which is approximately 1.38 times the acceleration due to gravity Just work.
Jason pointed out that the original tires of the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2RS have such an ability to stop the vehicle from 60 mph (96 km/h) within 87 feet (approximately 26.5 meters). Time 1.98 seconds. During braking, the average deceleration acceleration experienced by this car is about 1.38g. Although the horsepower of this car is not as exaggerated as the new Model S Plaid, if it has, its tires are fully capable of supporting it to complete 0-60 acceleration in 1.99 seconds.
The tires that can provide such a strong grip are the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R semi-hot-melt tires. The 2018 Porsche 911 GT2RS is equipped with 265/35ZR20 front tires and 325/30ZR21 rear tires. In order to better play the tire grip, this car also comes with an exaggerated aerodynamics package to provide downforce.
▲2018 Porsche 911 GT2RS, equipped with tires can provide 1.38g acceleration
The tires with the strongest grip on the new Model S Plaid are nothing more than Michelin Pilot Sport 4S ultra-high-performance summer tires. No matter it is a tire of any specification, it is impossible to provide acceleration as high as 1.38g.
Jason also pointed out that the data given by Tesla is tricky. In fact, Tesla added a small “*” next to the 1.99 second acceleration time of Model S Plaid on the official website, indicating that this is the time measured under the premise of taking the rollout starting method. However, if you didn’t look at it specifically, who would notice this mark and read the disclaimer carefully?
What’s more, the normal Model S Long Range version does not display* between the 3.1 seconds of acceleration, which means that this is the time measured without taking the rollout starting method. Jason believes that Tesla’s inconsistent data is very misleading.
The so-called rollout originally referred to a timing rule in the drag race. When the front of the car is exactly at the starting line, the rear of the car is still behind the starting line. At that time, some people thought that the distance the vehicle had to run was actually the length of the runway + the length of the vehicle, so the length should not be ignored and the body of the vehicle should be regarded as a mass point. To be fair, the timing starts only when the rear of the car passes the starting line. The starting method using this timing rule is called the rollout starting method.
Later, people discovered that the lengths of different vehicles were very different, which in itself was an unfairness. For the sake of fairness, the timing rules are adjusted to start from a position 1 foot (about 0.3 meters) behind the starting line. As a result, the starting method using this timing rule has become the recognized rollout starting method in the North American linear acceleration field.
Motor Trend has conducted a rollout start acceleration test on the P100D of the 2017 Model S, and the speed of the vehicle has reached 5.9 miles per hour (approximately 9.5 kilometers per hour) at the beginning of the timing. In that test, the old Model S used a rollout method to accelerate to 60 mph (96 km/h) and took 2.28 seconds.
Jason said that the acceleration time obtained by taking a rollout starting method is 0.2~0.3 seconds longer than running from a standstill to 60 mph (about 96 km/h), so the 0~60 acceleration time of the new Model S Plaid should be announced in the official announcement. Add a point on the basis of 1.99 seconds, which is about 2.19 seconds.
Motor Trend also wants to verify the acceleration capabilities of the new Model S Plaid. Originally, the test team wanted to take the vehicle to the Auto Club Speedway track in Fontana, California for testing. They have always pulled the vehicle to this venue for accelerated testing.
However, Tesla requires the testing team not to use their own venues.
After negotiation, Tesla agreed to the team’s test at the Famoso Raceway near Bakesfield, California. When the team arrived there, Tesla told the team that the accelerated test can only be done on the rubber floor, not on the asphalt road.
▲The new Model S Plaid is waiting for departure on the rubber track (Source: MotorTrend)
After long discussions between the testing team and the test drivers assigned by Tesla, the two parties reached an agreement: to test on both the rubber floor and the asphalt road. Just as the test was about to begin, the team received another call in which Tesla clearly stated that the team must leave if it is not only testing on the rubber floor.
After internal discussions, the team chose the third method: a rubber ground acceleration test at the Famoso Raceway selected by Tesla, and an asphalt road acceleration test back to the self-provided Auto Club Speedway the next day.
On the rubber track, the new Model S Plaid achieved a 0-60 mph (about 96 km/h) acceleration time of 1.98 seconds in the rollout starting mode, which is better than the official Tesla claimed 1.99 seconds. It’s 0.01 second faster.
▲It took only 1.98 seconds for the test car to accelerate from 0 to 60 on the rubber ground of the Famoso Raceway (Source: MotorTrend)
On the asphalt track, this planner achieved a good result of 2.07 seconds with an acceleration time of 0-60 mph (about 96 km/h) in the rollout starting mode. Although it did not break through the two-second mark, this result is already the best result in a mass-produced car tested by Motor Trend.
Regrettably, Motor Trend did not perform a static start acceleration test. However, Tesla has proven to the world that the acceleration capability of the new Model S Plaid is indeed extraordinary. Under the same test standards, I am afraid that all production cars are hard to beat.
06. Conclusion: New products still need to be polished
The Model S car series has always been Tesla’s “pro son”, and the facelifted Model S Plaid is the top part of the car series, and is the crystallization of Tesla’s new design and new technology.
After the actual experience, the foreign media’s evaluation of this car is still positive on the whole, but they also clearly pointed out that this car needs to be improved in some areas.
For example, the weird steering wheel, the rear center control screen with poor experience, these things may be done before delivery, so that the owner will be more satisfied.
In terms of acceleration capabilities, no one would question the power of this car, but for some reason, Tesla seems to have tried too hard, but it will make people feel that the brand is not honest enough.
In fact, many people are relatively tolerant of new companies, new products, and new technologies, and Tesla does not need to advertise like this. Perhaps it will take a while before people can feel the strength of the Model S Plaid.
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