Tesla Model S Plaid returns to the Nurburgring with more modifications
Tesla still plans to hunt down the Porsche Taycan Turbo's lap time.
The electric sedan wars rage on between Tesla and its Model S "Plaid" and the Porsche Taycan. Things heated up this week, however, after Tesla returned to the Nurburgring with more Model S prototypes and a few new tweaks we hadn't seen before.
Video from YouTube channel Automotive Mike captured the latest Model S Plaid prototypes sprinting around the German racetrack with more changes to the exterior. Unlike the past cars, it appears they wear larger air intakes and the blue Model S also sports a pretty aggressive rear diffusor this time around. The red Model S does not feature the same component.
Both cars still wear the wider bodies with fender flares to house larger tires. They'll also help the cars stick to the pavement better than usual.
For those not in the know, the "Plaid" variant is supposedly a new three-motor electric sedan coming from Tesla. CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Wednesday that the final configuration will go into production around summer 2020, and this won't be a track-only vehicle to dethrone Porsche.
The final configuration used at Nürburgring to set the record will go into production around summer 2020, so this is not merely for the track
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 16, 2019
We've heard reports that these cars are seriously stripped down in the name of weight savings, however, which likely won't be reflected in a production Model S Plaid. As it stands today, the electric car seen here is nothing like the Model S we can buy today. How a production version will stack up remains to be seen.
Tesla left Germany last month without posting an official lap time, though the company announced that data collected "indicates" the electric sedan could post a 7:20 time. With improvements, the company added that it could hit the impressive time of 7:05. Meanwhile, Porsche still holds the electric-sedan lap record with an official time of 7:42. That was with the less powerful Turbo model, however. A Turbo S could shave time off the lap.
It's unclear if Porsche has any intention to return to the Nurburgring, but as it stands now, Tesla is ready to toss everything at its electric sedan to claim victory.
