Tesla fans in Valencia, Spain, spotted a long-rumored secret project in the wild yesterday: A Tesla Model 3 Plaid.
Yes, Tesla’s least-expensive model is getting the high-performance treatment.
For the uninitiated, “Plaid” is what Tesla calls its most high-performance models. The car’s name comes from a joke in the 1987 Mel Brooks film “Space Balls,” a send-up of “Star Wars,” in an actual sentence we were just paid to write on a news website. Sigh.
In the film, it refers to a… you’re right, never mind.
Intrepid car fans spotted the car driving through a city square in Valencia, filmed by passers-by and a professional crew with several cameras and a crane. It didn’t wear actual license plates like a testing mule, so Tesla likely had a filming permit to drive it there.
The Model 3 Plaid wears a few obvious exterior performance upgrades, including a new front splitter, red brake calipers, and a larger rear spoiler. The trunk lid wears the “Plaid” badge found on the Model S and Model X Plaid. It may also have bolstered sport seats.
We don’t know performance details. The Models S and X Plaid each get 1,020 horsepower from three electric motors – one on the front axle and two on the rear. That would be an awful lot of power in the Model 3, but Tesla may have packed that much into its smallest car. The classic muscle car formula – put the biggest powerplant you can find in a small car and see if anyone can control it – would give Tesla bragging rights and excite longtime fans.
We would tell you when to expect more news, but Tesla doesn’t operate a public relations department or answer reporters’ questions. So we don’t know when more will come. Tesla debuted the updated Model 3, codenamed Highland, in Europe before selling it in the U.S. So, the car’s appearance in Spain may hint that Americans will be left reading about it long before we can drive it.
