Disclaimer: This is an opinion piece. This does not represent views from DriveTribe.
Tesla recently unveiled its new “Plaid” powertrain. The Plaid powertrain was first showcased during Tesla’s surprise visit to Laguna Seca Speedway on September 12. Since then, the new Plaid powertrain has been a hot potato. In this article, I’d like to explain why Tesla’s new Plaid powertrain was just a desperate attempt by Tesla to get the attention of the Porsche Taycan.
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First off, what is the Plaid Powertrain? Well, we still don’t know much about that. All we know is that the Plaid powertrain has 3 motors instead of the 2 used in the Ludicrous platform. The Plaid powertrain will apply to the Model S, Model X and upcoming Roadster, but not the Model 3 and Model Y. So that’s pretty much for the top models in each line.
Image by Pocketnow
Numerical numbers? Well, not yet. Tesla has not released any technical information about the new powertrain, or its launch date. So the entire Plaid powertrain is still a “prototype,” which can be canned at any time if things go wrong at Tesla.
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So why did Tesla reveal its Plaid powertrain so abruptly? They could have reserved that spot for Frankfurt or other upcoming auto shows after the prototype was officially confirmed to be in production. Well, the answer is obvious. Tesla didn’t want Porsche’s new 4-door electric vehicle, the Taycan, in the spotlight.
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Tesla had a great year in 2018. They were still the only manufacturer to focus exclusively on electric vehicles, and they made impressive progress. At the end of 2018, Tesla’s Model 3 was the 5th best-selling sedan in North America, behind only the Camry, Corolla, Accord and Civic. It seemed that Tesla was no longer a “random startup” but a “genuine car company”.
Picture of Audi
But things got a little complicated for Tesla towards the end of 2018. New electric vehicles appeared, such as the Audi E-Tron, Jaguar I-Pace and others. Fortunately, however, these SUVs weren’t a direct competitor to Tesla’s flagship cash cow, the Model S and Model 3, although the Model X did face some competition.
Image from Yahoo Finance
However, the whole EV market paradigm changed when Porsche launched its new 4-door electric vehicle, the Taycan. Now, why was the Taycan such a terrible nemesis to Tesla? There used to be 4-door EV sedans, like the Hyundai Ioniq and some EVs from China. However, most of these EVs were unmatched by Tesla in quality and brand value. However, Porsche’s new Taycan isn’t just fast and sport-oriented, it also bears the name of one of the world’s greatest sports car manufacturers.
As everyone expected, the Taycan was a big hit. Sales of Tesla’s Model S fell sharply between July and August, with the Taycan due to launch in September in Frankfurt. The Taycan cheered even more by clocking a lap time of 7 minutes 42 seconds at the Nürburgring, which is about 3 seconds slower than the M5 Competition and 3 seconds faster than the E63S Estate. And when the Taycan came out, people reacted positively, and it seemed like everyone had forgotten about Tesla and the Model S for a while.
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The reason why Tesla is challenging Porsche at the Nurburgring is obvious. Like other manufacturers, they want to promote their cars and show people that their cars are not inferior to others. However, Tesla has no racing experience and the Model 3 Performance’s lap time was 9 minutes. Even if the Model S could shave a few seconds off the straights, it would still have extra weight to manage. So it’s pretty obvious that the standard S P100D model will never beat the Taycan at this rate.
Image Eletrek
Still, Tesla brought a modified Model S to the Nürburgring. The Nurburgring Model S had many differences from the standard Model S. It had more aggressive bodywork, including larger grilles, fenders, and a large rear spoiler. Although I’m not sure if the Nurburgring Model S is powered by a Plaid powertrain. But remember it shares the same P100D+ badge as the car that raced Laguna Seca. Additionally, the Nurburgring Model S is equipped with Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport RS tires, which are the most track-focused road tires made by Goodyear.
Nico Rosberg will drive around the Nurburgring with the modified Tesla. what car picture
So Elon Musk jumped the gun here instead of telling us about the Plaid powertrain, went straight to the lap time challenges. This already explains how desperately the company was trying to get consumers’ attention to the Taycan. So far it looks pretty successful as a number of journalists are writing about Tesla and his challenge at the Nurburgring and there are even rumors that the Tesla has broken a record of 7 minutes and 23 seconds. But now I will prove to you why all this is useless.
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First of all, this lap time of 7:23 was timed by hand. Yep, you read that right, a guy pulled up by the track and just measured the car’s lap time with a stopwatch, and Tesla hasn’t even confirmed it yet. Instead, Tesla is expected to have a race on Wednesday or Saturday of this week. Also, although there is no official committee to actually measure lap times at the Nurburgring, Tesla’s method of measuring lap times with a stopwatch is not sufficient. There is a lot of controversy over how manufacturers are trying to “trick” the Nurburgring. However, at least they’re not asking a random person to come out and measure time with a stopwatch.
Image from the Porsche Press Room
Second, even if the record is real, it will not be accepted by the mass public as a “Production, Street Vehicle” lap time. Yes, the Taycan was also a pre-production car. However, a Porsche spokesperson confirmed the car was in stock and running on 21-inch production summer tires. Which means if you bought a Taycan you could get it the same way they drove around the Nurburgring, except for the roll cage which was added for safety. Importantly, the car is in road legal shape.
Image from Motor1.com
Some get bogged down with the fact that the Taycan was not a production vehicle. But let me tell you, even the Nurburgring’s fastest production car, the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, raced at the Nurburgring before production, and many cars actually do it that way. However, the important fact is that customers can get their cars like used manufacturers at the Nurburgring. Which in the case of Tesla is quite uncertain.
Goodyear’s Eagle F1 Supersport range. Image courtesy of the Goodyear Newsroom
Tesla’s Nurburgring Model S is nowhere near “production vehicle, street legal” when compared to Porsche. First, the tires themselves aren’t even offered by Tesla. These Goodyears are one of the most track-focused tires on the market and will definitely have an advantage in lap times. However, Tesla does not offer Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport RS tires to its customers, while the P-Zero used by Porsche is available.
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Additionally, the car itself won’t be road legal for at least 1 year until Tesla actually unveils the Plaid-powered Model S. at the Nuerburgring. Also, there is always a chance that the whole project will be canned as it is still a “prototype” in terms of development. For reference, the Taycan ran the Nurburgring race two days before its launch, which meant it was obvious the Taycan wouldn’t be canned.
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So all of these “facts” boil down to one thing. Tesla was desperate to win back its Porsche customers. I’m not saying the Model S is a car. terrible. But we have to admit that the Taycan is better than the current Model S in some ways. For Tesla, it would certainly have been frustrating to lose all the market attention they were getting, so they challenged Porsche at the Nurburgring to be in the spotlight again.
Image from Motor1.com
However, it would be understandable if Musk sent a stock P100D bone to the Nurburgring. Most will understand that the new Taycan would be faster than the Model S itself, a 7-year-old car. However, Musk has brought his new prototype powertrain to the battlefield, implying that they won’t lose to Porsche no matter what the methods. With this action, Musk and Tesla themselves are proving they lack the confidence to fight the Taycan stock. Even if the Taycan was different from the factory version (which it isn’t), Tesla should have had the guts to send its factory vehicle to Hell Verde if it was really trying to compete fairly.
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With the Nurburgring Model S, Tesla has only to lose. Even if they are faster, they will be criticized as “cheating”. If they are slower than that, they will be marked as “incompetent”. Tesla dug his own grave by bringing his prototype to the Nurburgring. Porsche, on the other hand, has nothing to lose. They’ve made their way with a production car, and even though the Tesla is faster, they can still bring an updated model with more motors. (Remember that the Plaid powertrain has an extra motor.)
Image by Carmudi PH
Moreover, its aura of being a new prototype is already beginning to fade. Laguna Seca officials claimed that Tesla’s run at Laguna Seca would not be an official record. A Weathertech Raceway spokesperson told CNBC: “We weren’t officiating while Tesla was testing on the track. Official records only happen at sanctioned events where a sanctioning body is officiating. This already shows to how unprepared Tesla was for the record run. If they really wanted to show the world their Plaid’s skills, they would have checked the rules and tracked the times beforehand. But all we see is a desperate short rush, just for the headlines.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
Some tend to explain the current situation as a battle between Goliath and David. However, Porsche is not the Goliath here, at least in the EV battle. The Taycan is Porsche’s first electric vehicle, and Tesla started as an electric vehicle company since 2003. Today, Tesla, the big boy on the block, is releasing its new powertrain prototype. Well, we can’t underestimate Porsche’s racing history, but racing is never easy when you have the slowest car.
Image of casinos by M&M
At the end of the day…
So Tesla and Elon Musk. Here is my advice if you are reading this article. Put this prototype back in your locker for this Nurburgring lap time attempt. The Plaid powertrain looks like a viable future option, but as it stands, it’s just a prototype powertrain that doesn’t even have a production warranty. To convince the market, what you need to do is show them that you are confident enough to take a standard P100D to the track and competitive enough to be faster or similar to the Taycan record. Don’t forget that you can win a round with a Joker. However, you must remember that you cannot win the whole game with just one Joker.