Author: Xuan Wang
On site, I am the Hammer.
In the evening of Fremont, California, after a passionate operation of driving the new Tesla Model S Plaid, Tesla CEO Elon Musk once again demonstrated his stunning figure to the Tesla fans. Undoubtedly, every Tesla conference is as exciting as the Spring Festival Gala for the domestic auto media, as there is only one interesting conference in a year. The theme of tonight’s show is to deliver 25 Model S Plaid.
The Tesla Model S Plaid, which debuted at the beginning of this year, has given us too many surprises. Even though the nominal purpose of the conference today is the handover ceremony, it has still attracted high attention. Musk is the most “exotic” CEO of a car company in the world, and under his leadership, Tesla’s entire product line is constantly challenging users’ acceptance.
It seems like a generational change, and it seems like it isn’t
In our cognition, cars go through the “annual edition”, “mid-term facelift”, and “generational change” in one generation of product cycle. Regular models will undergo facelifts three years after launch and generational changes after welcoming seven years. However, Tesla Model S took as long as nine years for this “generational change”, but from the interior and exterior, this is by no means the generational change in our traditional understanding.
After a long time of contact with Tesla, I believe that Tesla’s product philosophy is to create products that are both “bestsellers” and have “high growth capabilities”. Currently, Tesla’s products include S, X, 3, Y, Roadster, Semi, and Cybertrunck. Although there are not many products in the seven models, they also cover both passenger cars and commercial vehicles, and the six passenger car products can also cover mainstream subdivision markets.# Characteristics of Tesla: High Growth and Intelligent Design
The main factor that differentiates Tesla from traditional car brands is its ability for high growth. Tesla is a leader in the field of vehicle electrification and electronic architecture, which has pushed the entire automotive industry in this direction. Of course, in terms of artificial intelligence, Tesla is the best in the industry. The two most important aspects of Tesla’s products are driving assistance and automotive systems, both of which are continuously growing. Additionally, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, which is built using a pure visual solution, will have the highest worldwide penetration rate. From a product hardware perspective, Tesla does not require frequent updates and upgrades.
The ultimate goal of Tesla is to achieve complete autonomous driving. For this goal, aesthetics are less important. Innovations in car designs have to come from functional improvements. For electric vehicles, the cancellation of a front grille is because it does not require engine cooling, and door handles are hidden in the door to reduce air resistance and improve energy performance. If someday all cars on the road become small boxes, it will be because cars’ users will require more spacious and comfortable spaces to do other things once autonomous driving has been achieved. However, since autonomous driving has not yet arrived, why did the Model S Plaid undergo significant interior and exterior changes?
Therefore, in the future, we may see longer lifecycle products or mid-life refreshes within a generation of products for intelligent electric vehicles. Tesla has also improved the aerodynamics in new cars, reducing drag to 0.208 CD, while also optimizing front-row visibility and rear-seat space.
Everything is Based on Autonomous Driving
The most striking feature of the Tesla Model S Plaid edition is the removal of the mechanical gear shifting mechanism. According to Tesla’s introduction, after the driver steps on the brake pedal, the vehicle will actively sense the surrounding environment to determine the driving direction. Of course, the new Model S Plaid edition also provides a manual touch screen gear selection.
Although the gear shifting method of the Model S Plaid is new, as an old-fashioned fuel car owner, I can imagine many usage scenarios in which drivers will definitely feel tired, such as parallel parking.When parallel parking, the vehicle will first stop in a position parallel to the vehicle in front, and then back up. At this time, both the front and rear of the vehicle are clear, so AI cannot determine whether the driver is moving forward or backward and can only be manually selected. Even experienced drivers need to shift gears manually twice to park properly. If the driver’s seat is positioned far back, they must get up to operate the shift function on the machine, and it may take several attempts to get in. It is estimated that the owner will soon develop abs.
When I wanted to criticize Tesla’s “brain disease innovation” for this, I saw Musk say on the press conference, “Tesla’s autopilot assistance system is already good enough, and you don’t need to drive most of the time.”
Since Tesla has already prepared an automatic parking system for you, why not enjoy the convenience brought by technology? Perhaps children born after 2010 and 2020 can drive without a license, and the idea of using traditional “driver thinking” to judge intelligent cars should also be abandoned.
Because the Model S Plaid is a product designed on the premise of highly utilizing the ADAS system, we can see that the steering wheel is designed in the style of an F1 race car. Although the first thing we think of is that the steering wheel in this style is designed to match its astonishing performance, after achieving L4 level ADAS, the rectangular steering wheel is a better solution for folding and storage.
At the press conference, Musk also showed us the new UI design on the Model S Plaid. The dialogs in the interface can be zoomed in and out and moved to the position the user wants. In addition, another highlight of the new car’s infotainment system is that it is equipped with a chip that matches the performance of the Sony PS5 game console, can run AAA games at 60 frames per second, and can be connected to a gamepad. In the press conference, Musk also demonstrated this product feature through a video.
In retrospect, no one may be sitting in the car playing games instead of going home, except during a cold war between spouses.In the not-too-distant future, the target market for in-car gaming services will be bored drivers on highways, and fully autonomous driving on highways will be the next focus of automakers’ efforts. After the Model S Plaid revealed that it was equipped with AAA games, I started thinking that bringing games directly into the car is a means of showcasing the chip’s capabilities to users, but this may be too non-geeky.
After careful consideration, it was realized that when drivers are liberated, any fancy functions on the car’s computer will appear superfluous because the car’s computer can never match a mobile phone. However, console games cannot be played on a mobile phone, so turning the car’s computer into a gaming machine is a good complement to the mobile phone.
Like traditional luxury cars, the new Model S Plaid is also equipped with a rear touch screen, but only a screen behind the central armrest, which supports control of the rear independent air conditioning and can also connect to a gamepad for gaming. However, the entertainment screens in many luxury cars are not very useful, they are basically closed systems, and currently no luxury brand has expanded their functionality on the rear screens, and many ecosystem functions are restricted by localization factors.
So the Model S Plaid simply provides a screen for gaming, while also providing two wireless charging ports for mobile phones for rear passengers, allowing all four passengers in the car to wirelessly charge their phones. And the car’s Bluetooth supports the connection of multiple devices at the same time, and multiple USB-C fast charging ports are available in the car, for fast wired charging of mobile phones and computers.
Performance，Respect for the Least in the Old Era
Finally, let’s talk about the performance of the new Model S. Originally, the new Model S was divided into Long Range, Plaid, and Plaid+ models, with Plaid+ equipped with Tesla’s 4680 battery. However, on June 6th, Musk announced that the Plaid+ model had been canceled, which may be related to the 4680 battery.
The Model S with dual motors has a range of 652 kilometers, a top speed of 250 kilometers/hour, and can accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers/hour in 3.2 seconds. The starting price in China is 7.9999 million yuan.## The Model S Plaid with Three Electric Motors
The Model S Plaid, equipped with three permanent magnet synchronous motors, has an EPA range of 628 kilometers, a top speed of 322 kilometers per hour, and a 0 to 100 kilometers per hour acceleration time of 1.99 seconds (shown as 2.1 seconds on the official Chinese website). The maximum output power of the three motors is 1020 horsepower, and the starting price in China is 1,059,990 yuan.
During the launch, Musk repeatedly praised the Model S Plaid as the greatest in history, and mercilessly taunted Porsche by calling it the fastest mass-produced car on earth. Musk also stated that the Model S Plaid will return to the Nürburgring track. Behind these staggering figures, Musk also showed us the efforts they have made in hardware.
To ensure the stability of the motor under high rotation speeds, a new carbon sleeve rotor protection device was added. At the same time, they improved the heat pump air conditioning system to achieve better range. The new system reduces energy consumption by 50%. Although NIO’s ET7’s solid-state battery with a range of 1000 kilometers is currently the most invincible range data, Musk argued that no driver could drive 400 miles continuously without eating, resting, or using the bathroom. Recharging can be done during rest breaks, and a large-scale charging station infrastructure has been established on Chinese highways.
Only 28 Minutes for Brainwashing
Twenty-eight minutes is already a relatively short time for a car manufacturer’s launch event. However, Musk only took 28 minutes to show us a “Ready for Tomorrow” product. When you first see the new Model S, you may feel that the product features are all very strange. But when we assume autonomous driving as the premise, everything becomes logical.
Finally, I want to say to Mr. Musk that since youth cannot be retained, it’s good to be a little greasy. I wish him and his products all the best in being “hip.”
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.