Summer 2021, the first examples of the new one Tesla Model S Plaid are delivered to customers and the first reviews and the first road tests begin to be published. Especially online, where youtubers like Brownlee Brands (specialized in technology, 14.5 million followers) e Doug DeMuro (an authority when it comes to engines, over 5 million followers) gave their first impressions of the car.
The Plaid is the evolution of the previous one Model S (the name is a tribute to the film Space Bales), it is totally electric, has over 1000 horsepower and accelerates to 0-100 in less than 2 seconds: these are numbers and performances up to now reserved for supercars that cost millions and millions of euros, now accessible for less than a tenth. But that’s not all: starting from the steering wheel that is not a steering wheel and the large 17 “central screen, on which you can watch movies and serials and on which you can video games, this machine is a concentrate of technology never seen before in the automotive world.
The gearbox that is not there and the horn with the voice
Electric cars are known not to have transmission like traditional cars, but on the Model S Plaid there is not even a gear selector, there are no buttons to choose whether to put the car in D (Drive, forward gear) or R (Reverse, reverse). How is it possible? It is possible because the car uses what could be called predictive shifting: she understands by herself whether the driver wants to go forward or backward. Example: if you are parked with your nose at a short distance from a wall, a gate, another car, when you get on board the Plaid will imagine that you want to move in reverse and will propose the R as the first solution; vice versa, if the obstacle is behind, he will propose the D. Obviously, the driver can intervene manually (via the control display) and choose differently.
Then, the sounds: electric cars are totally silent, but for safety reasons (so as not to take pedestrians by surprise) they are made to make a noise of increasing intensity when they move and accelerate. On the Model S Plaid you can decide which melody to be heard outside, choosing from a list how to choose the smartphone ringtone or even using a custom one to be imported through a USB stick. The same can be done with the horn: you can set a traditional one, opt for a thunderous applause, a battery or even for our voice screaming “Move, I have to pass!” or any other such phrase. To use whenever someone makes us nervous in traffic.
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Performance updated via software
Finally, the technical characteristics: at the moment, as stated by the company of Elon Musk, the Model S Plaid has just over 1000 horsepower and is able to reach 260 km / h, even if in the presentation phase there was talk of 1100 horses and over 320 per hour. It was not a lie: the machine will be updated over time, via software and gradually, until reaching these performances.
It will happen with one of the next operating system update. Again, as if this car were a mobile phone.
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