Tesla primes updates for hot Model S Plaid and Model Y Performance
Imminent Nürburgring-honed flagships will up the ante to rival Europe's fastest EVs
Open gallery
Close
Tesla is priming reinvigorated versions of its hottest models to contend with fearsome new EV contenders from the brand's European rivals.
Updated versions of Tesla's Model S Plaid and Model Y Performance have been spotted testing at the Nürburgring, suggesting imminent launches.
The Plaid – currently one of the world's most powerful saloons, with 1020bhp – was seen wearing light camouflage, concealing an aero-optimising refresh of its front and rear ends. The air ducts in its lower front fascia appear more angular and aggressive than before, while the rear diffuser has gained a ledge and a more protrusive centre section that is most likely intended to reduce lift at speed. The reworked front end also conceals an additional camera for the advanced driver assistance systems.
Tesla has yet to confirm whether the Plaid will get any more substantial improvements under the skin, but the brand's more recent launches point to potential upgrades that it could receive. The Cybertruck, for example, features 800V electricals rather than the 400V systems used in the Models 3, S, Y and X, allowing claimed peak charging speeds in excess of 400kW.
That it's testing at the Nürburgring could point to Tesla looking to reclaim its production EV lap record at the Nordschleife. The Plaid was dethroned by the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT last year. But the Taycan's significant 18sec advantage over the Plaid (7min 7sec versus 7min 25sec) suggests the American car would need extensive modifications to close the gap, such as extra power or a new chassis package.
The Plaid faces an increasingly tough market: Mercedes-AMG is on the verge of launching its own 1000bhp-plus super-saloon, while American EV maker Lucid's Air Sapphire is the world's most potent four-door, with 1234bhp.
The new Model Y Performance will also face a much more crowded field of rivals than the first car had to contend with. Newcomers include the Porsche Macan Turbo Electric, Alpine A390, Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and Smart #5 Brabus, each offering different takes on the sporting EV crossover at a range of price points.
The Tesla is expected to employ the same dual-motor, four-wheel-drive powertrain as its Model 3 Performance counterpart, producing a combined 510bhp and allowing for a 0-62mph sprint time comfortably below 4.0sec. Tesla officially quotes 2.9sec to 60mph, although this includes a short rollout to low speed that muddies the waters somewhat.
Range is likely to be less than the Model 3 Performance's 328 miles, although the presence of a long ducktail spoiler hints at further aerodynamic tweaks to minimise drag and potentially boost range.
Inside, it is expected to get the 3 Performance's thickly bolstered sports seats, along with carbonfibre trim detailing.
Given the smaller Model 3 Performance is priced from £59,990, the equivalent Y is most likely to breach the £60,000 barrier.
Join our WhatsApp community and be the first to read about the latest news and reviews wowing the car world. Our community is the best, easiest and most direct place to tap into the minds of Autocar, and if you join you'll also be treated to unique WhatsApp content. You can leave at any time after joining - check our full privacy policy here.
Next
Prev
In partnership with
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
14 minutes ago
- BBC News
'I always practise that' - Bellingham fuels Jude comparisons with first Dortmund goal
Jobe Bellingham already knew the comparisons to big brother Jude were inevitable, especially after scoring on his first start for Borussia years, nine months and one week after Jude scored on his first start for the black and yellow - a 5-0 win in the German Cup - Jobe scored on his first 19-year-old scored 45 minutes into his full debut - a 4-3 defeat of Mamelodi Sundowns in the Club World Cup - 15 minutes longer than it took Jude against Duisburg back in September went on to score 24 goals in 132 games for Dortmund before joining Real Madrid in 2023, and Jobe certainly showed signs of his sibling's nack of arriving late in the box to goal in Cincinnati showed anticipation and poise, agility and ruthlessness. After timing his run perfectly, Jobe cushioned the ball away from his marker before firing past the goalkeeper, albeit with the help of a slight capped a fine display on his full debut, and by his own admission, it's something the former Sunderland midfielder has been working on. "It's a really nice bonus. I am glad we won but there are still a lot of things for me to improve on personally and for the team. I am really pleased with it," Bellingham told Dazn."I practise that so many times, not that exact finish, but arriving late on the edge of the box as a midfielder is something you need to be really good at."If you can score, if you can contribute those kind of goals a certain amount per season then you are doing really well. "I was really pleased because it was something I practised as a kid and at Sunderland so many times, during training, after training. So yeah, I am really proud of it." Comparisons to Jude are no doubt tiring for Jobe, but there is a reason they are fact, the timing of his runs into the penalty area are reminiscent of another English midfielder."It's easy sometimes as a midfielder to just pass the ball then stand still," former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel told Dazn. "But no, he wants to arrive late in the box. He wants to be there when the ball drops."He reminds me of a certain player I played with, Frank Lampard. 20-odd goals every season by being there and arriving at the right time. I think he's going to score a lot of goals for Dortmund."What I like about him is he's very direct. Once he has the ball he's looking up, he's passing forwards, running forwards. He wants to arrive at the box at the right time, and that's exactly what he did. "The chest control and the volley - he wouldn't have scored this goal if he hadn't passed and then run forwards."Former Italy and Inter Milan forward Christian Vieri said: "He's going to score a lot of goals because he's always going towards the goal - he looks like his brother, the movements are exactly the same."Should Dortmund and Real Madrid both win their respective Club World Cup groups and win in the last 16, then the Bellingham brothers would face each other in a quater-final clash in New Jersey.
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
Jobe Bellingham scores first Dortmund goal to help down spirited Sundowns in Club World Cup
Borussia Dortmund held off a spirited comeback from South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns to secure a 4-3 victory on Saturday and move closer to the Club World Cup knockout stages. Dortmund were behind after 11 minutes at the TQL Stadium but rallied to win their second game in Group F and move top of the standings with four points, one more than Sundowns. Felix Nmecha, Serhou Guirassy and Jobe Bellingham scored for the Bundesliga club who also profited from an own goal. Lucas Ribeiro had given Sundowns the lead while Iqraam Rayners and Lebo Mothiba scored in the second half as they looked to rally from 4-1 down in a competitive game played in blazing hot conditions with a mid-day kickoff. Ribeiro burst through a static Dortmund defence, picking up the ball on the halfway line and gliding past two opponents to score a shock opener. But the lead last only five minutes before a calamitous error from Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, who played a short pass to Nmecha who had an easy tap-in for the equaliser. "We weren't surprised by Sundowns, we expected a strong start from them. but we worked to impose ourselves on the game," Nmecha said. Dortmund went ahead after a slick set of one-two passes between Julian Brandt and Guirassy who powered home with his head. Bellingham, in his second appearance for Dortmund, made it 3-1 on the stroke of halftime as Williams parried Brandt's cross straight at him, and he delayed shooting for a split second before wrong-footing the goalkeeper. Rayners struck the woodwork for Sundowns 10 minutes into the second half but on the hour mark Daniel Svensson's cross from the left took a wicked deflection off Sundowns' fullback Khuliso Mudau as Dortmund extended their lead. Two minutes later, the South African side pulled one back as Teboho Mokoena's free kick was floated to Rayners, who struck the foot of the post but the rebound bounced back onto his head and he did not waste the second opportunity. Mothiba struck in the 90th minute as Sundowns stole away possession and the substitute scored from close range but they could not find an equaliser. "We take away a feeling of disappointment but pride also because we were competitive. I think we earned a lot of respect," Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso said. Fluminense of Brazil, who drew 0-0 with Dortmund in their opening game, and Ulsan HD of South Korea, who lost 1-0 to Sundowns, meet later on Saturday in New Jersey.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Cult of celebrity feels like a fundamental tension at the heart of the game
It is in the details that the truest picture emerges. Quite aside from the endless politicking, the forever-war with Uefa, the consorting with autocrats and the intriguing broadcast rights and partnership deals, there has been, not a new, but growing sense during the Club World Cup that Fifa doesn't really get football. There is something cargo-cultish about it, creating outcomes without engaging in processes. Perhaps that is inevitable with Gianni Infantino's style of leadership; like all populists, he is big on vision and short on practical reality. It was there in the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams. OK: how will the tournament be organised? Sixteen groups of three. Won't that mean either lots of potential dead rubbers (one team from each group goes through) or opportunities for collusion (two go through)? Oh, actually, the four-team groups at the 2022 have worked so well, we'll go with 12 groups of four. Sure, but then you have eight best third-place teams going through which: a) diminishes jeopardy; and b) undermines sporting integrity by giving an advantage to teams in later groups because they have a clearer idea of what is needed to progress, again offering opportunities for collusion. No response, because all that matters is a bigger tournament equals more votes for the president and (in the short term) more revenue. One of the oddest aspects of the Club World Cup has been the way players are greeted on to the pitch individually, like swimmers before an Olympic final. At Ulsan HD v Mamelodi Sundowns, they may as well have gone on and introduced the crowd as well. Who needs this? Who wants this? Why does the first player out have to hang around for several minutes waiting for the 22nd player? For well over a century the two teams have walked out side by side. This has always been part of the gladiatorial ritual of football. This is the contest: one team against another. But as Fifa has sought desperately to improve attendances and stimulate interest, its focus has become more and more on the individual. That is why there was all that talk, much of it emanating from Infantino, about Cristiano Ronaldo potentially securing a short-term deal with a qualifier, and why qualifying was gerrymandered to ensure the presence of Lionel Messi's Inter Miami. But there is a potentially self-defeating short-termism to this. While the desire to see Messi is entirely understandable, especially as he enters the late autumn of his career, Inter Miami are sixth in MLS's Western Conference, their form having disintegrated since the end of March. From an MLS point of view, the ideal scenario would have been for one of their sides to beat a storied opponent, perhaps push on to the quarter-finals, generating interest in North America's domestic league. The best way of doing that would have been to have the best-possible MLS representation, but Inter Miami are in no sense one of the best three sides. As it is, none of the MLS sides won their opening game, although Porto's dismal form and Messi's dead-ball ability may get Inter Miami through anyway. It might also be pointed out that Auckland City are not the best side in New Zealand, nor are Red Bull Salzburg one of the best 12 sides in Europe, but the consequences are greater for the host nation, particularly when there is apparently so much potential for growth. The celebritisation of football is not new, but it is intensifying. When Paul Pogba returned to Manchester United in 2016 and, rather than speaking of the Premier League or becoming a European champion, said he dreamed of winning the Ballon d'Or, it felt shocking, a player elevating his own interests and a silly bauble above the glory of team success. But that has become normal. Improving his Ballon d'Or chances is one of the reasons Neymar left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain; even Trent Alexander-Arnold mentioned the Ballon d'Or as a motivation for joining Real Madrid (good luck with that from right-back). Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion The marketing of football is almost all focused on individuals. That's been particularly so at the Club World Cup, but it is true of almost every competition. Even the way lineups are introduced on Sky's Premier League coverage, with the players performing a fake celebration, seems designed to introduce them as characters. Yet there is a tension there. While individual players are celebrated, the increasing use of data means image and self-projection may never have mattered less. The stats will find the talent, even if the talent has no gift for self-promotion. At the same time, the best teams have never been so cohesive, so integrated. PSG provide a useful case study. For years they signed stars with seemingly little thought to how they might play together. Although their immense resources won them the French league, they habitually choked in Europe. Then there was a change of approach, the money was spent not on Neymar and Messi but on players on the way up who still had a hunger for success and who could play together. The result was the Champions League and, despite their defeat by Botafogo, possibly the inaugural world title in the expanded format. If it was conceived as a two-stage strategy – build the brand through celebrity, then win the actual competitions – it has worked to perfection; in reality, it's probably trial and error that has brought them to this point. At Real Madrid, meanwhile, Florentino Pérez still seems locked in his galáctico vision of football, insisting on adding Kylian Mbappé to a squad that already contained Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo, resulting in imbalance and an expensive downturn in form. This goes deeper than transfer policies, though. This feels like a fundamental tension at the heart of the game. What, after all, is success in modern football? Manchester City for the past decade have been a much better football team than PSG, and yet they have nothing like the brand awareness. Is success winning trophies, or making money? Is it winning trophies or becoming more famous? Is it winning trophies or marketing the individual? The individual walk-ons only blur the lines further, suggest organisers who struggle with the concept that football, perhaps more than any other sport, is a game of the team.
