Acceleration test Tesla Model S Plaid vs. Tesla Model 3 Performance (Levi Pirsk Forest)
The optional 21-inch rims upgrade the appearance, without harming the comfort of the ride (photo: Walla! system, Audi Etzion)
The plaid plate on the back wall (photo: Walla! system, Udi Etzion)
Price (base/test vehicle):
NIS 825,000/ NIS 870,000
We liked: Excellent
performance, operation, comfort and usability
We didn't like:
Externally too similar to Model 3
Score:
9/10
Move the drag mode to ON.
Wait for the peak performance mode ready indicator to light up.
Press the accelerator and brake pedals at the same time.
You will feel the suspension starting to lower the nose into a cheetah stance.
Wait for the drag mode ready indicator to light up.
Wait for the "cheetah mode" and "ready to launch" signs to light up.
Release the brake pedal.
boom.
I've driven a few powerful cars in my life, but none kicked me like the Tesla Model S Blade.
In the time it took you to read the opening paragraph with the manufacturer's instructions on how to activate its special acceleration mode, we managed to accelerate to more than 200 km/h, and start braking before we reached the grooved western end of the abandoned south runway.
Besides the descriptions of launching a spaceship to the moon, during the acceleration the dashboard also switches to a display that imitates the blurring stars into thin lines shown to us in the movies.
This phenomenon was called "Plaid" (fabric in Hebrew) in the space movie parody "Spaceballs", and that's where the official name of this 4-wheeled supercar came from.
cute?
Yes.
exaggerated?
Not in a car that has 19 more horsepower than a Bugatti Veyron.
in the lowest place in the world.
The manufacturer promises a 600 km range, we managed 420 km (Photo: Walla! system, Audi Etzion)
Fashionably late by 10 years from its launch, the Model S is starting to hit the roads of Israel, in the hands of customers who ordered it two years ago, with the launch of the manufacturer in Israel.
In 2023, Tesla is already quite a common sight on Israeli roads, with close to 11 Model 3 models and more than a thousand Model Y models, but the S has a place of honor in the company's model range.
It's not just a basic price tag of NIS 825,000, it's not just being the most powerful serial car you can buy in Israel.
It's mostly being the Tesla.
The first car that Elon Musk's company developed from scratch, it went into production in 2012, and a few minutes later it was already purchased for industrial espionage by the old car manufacturers.
I wasn't there in the room, but from familiarity with the electric cars that the car industry produced at the time, Renault Zoe and Nissan Leaf, it was so advanced that it looked like something aliens built.
Ten years later, the old car manufacturers already gave it competition, mainly the Porsche Taycan and the Audi Itron GT twins and the Mercedes EQE.
But the Model S also got stronger and underwent its first significant facelift last year.
Dashboard in front of the driver's eyes.
pleasure.
Let's hope that he will also be adopted for 3 in the facelift (photo: Walla! system, Udi Etzion)
The design remains almost the same.
It takes a second look to distinguish that it's not another Model 3, but an S, and in the test car this was helped by the huge 21-inch rims (extra charge) and the nose that is not completely sealed like in the 3.
The competing Germans are more proper and special.
When your smartphone is registered as the vehicle's owner, the recessed handles pop out of the doors, an aerodynamic element that has since been copied by other manufacturers.
Getting inside reminds how much of a 4-door sports car this is, with an emphasis on low seating, as part of a design that achieved an extremely low drag coefficient of 0.21.
The driver's environment is very clean in its design, there is a huge multimedia screen (17 inches) that focuses on the main operation of the vehicle, and even the shifting of gears at the beginning of the trip, from parking to reverse or to drive.
When you signal, an image from the side camera in the direction of the turn pops up on the screen, which allows you to see if there is no pedestrian or cyclist in the dead zone.
The screen can also be directed by the driver or the passenger next to him.
The turn signal and turn signal levers have also become buttons on the steering wheel.
The doors have no handles on the inside, but opening buttons.
What else is there is a separate digital dashboard for the driver, which also displays the navigation instructions from Wise.
So comfortable and so lacking in the Model 3, I wonder if it will be addressed in the upcoming facelift for the model.
The yoke steering wheel.
It would have been better to leave it for the planes (photo: Walla! system, Udi Etzion)
And there is the steering wheel.
In the facelift a year ago, Elon Musk transferred the Model S to a single airplane-like steering wheel, not another round and "boring" steering wheel.
Yoke, Tesla calls him.
It looks futuristic, but it's a problematic gimmick: on a highway without sharp movements it works fine, and the structure even requires the driver to keep both hands on the wheel.
But at city speeds and in parking lots, when you need to make a few turns of the steering wheel, it doesn't work, there is no way to make the move continuous and round.
I completely understand the complaints of the customers in the US, I wonder where were the regulators in the US that allowed this to hit the road, and I appreciate Tesla admitting to the mistake and announcing last month that from now on S buyers can choose between the yoke and a standard steering wheel, and that those who have already bought a car With the new steering wheel, he will be able to replace it with a round one, albeit at an additional cost.
There is no problem to seat three adults in the back (photo: Walla! system, Udi Etzion)
A usable trunk in the Skoda Octavia level, and that's a complete compliment (photo: Walla! system, Audi Etzion)
Another small one is hidden at the bottom of the plantation cell (photo: Walla! system, Udi Etzion)
The quality is significantly higher than that of the passenger cabin of the Model 3 in general, but there is no sense of the demonstrated wealth of the electric Mercedes, but a more minimalist atmosphere in Volvo style, with a more sporty design.
The space is excellent in the front and back, where another screen awaits the passengers, which, to the delight of the younger generation, also shows material from Netflix, alongside an air conditioner outlet.
The floor is flat, and there is no problem seating three adults in the back, and there is a huge 700-liter trunk and a useful 5-door structure like in the Skoda Octavia in the back - including another small compartment under it, and another 150 liters in the front compartment.
The equipment includes a huge panoramic sun window, also here without a cover, which may introduce too much heat in the summer, leather upholstery, a stereo with 22 speakers, a 360-degree parking camera, and a unique road camera with a central service, which records every contact or passerby who approaches the car while it is parked
The safety equipment includes all the standard active safety systems, including Tesla's autopilot mode and the option to add NIS 20,000 for an upgraded autopilot (which is connected to navigation and allows for lane changes with a signal and automatic parking), or NIS 37,500 for an upgraded autonomous driving mode, which Tesla has not yet received regulatory approvals to sell. , and it is not yet clear how autonomous it really is.
Can overtake wherever allowed (photo: Walla! system, Udi Etzion)
Three motors, one for the front axle and two for the rear are responsible for a power of 1,020 hp, something that was known until recently only in sports cars for the track. A 100 kWh battery is also still rare today, although it is starting to appear in other luxury manufacturers as well.
There is a choice between 3 engine modes, Chill, Sport and Blade, when already in Sport the view starts to blur in front of your eyes when you press the pedal to the floor.
There are also 3 charging modes, so you can drive in the city and cruise on the highway almost without using the brakes.
How fast is she?
This is a car that can overtake anywhere and on any hill.
For the acceleration test we were joined by the Tesla Model 3 Performance, the fastest model of the 3, with 3.3 seconds to 100 km/h, a figure that Ferrari and Lamborghini still do not know how to provide. When the S was in sport mode, the little sister was slightly faster. But As soon as I switched to the Plaid it suddenly felt like a Toyota Corolla.
In the charging complex in Neve Zohar.
Except for the grill, the S and the 3 are very similar (photo: Walla! system, Audi Etzion)
Tesla promises a range of 600 km, I was able to reach an average consumption of 24 kWh per 100 km, about 420 km in practice.
Anyone who manages to drive this vehicle without a plaid mode and without occasionally enjoying its acceleration will be able to pass the 500 km mark, but for that you need Mahatma Gandhi-level self-control.
Tesla is also the only car manufacturer that invests in establishing an independent charging network, in Israel there is Already 12 complexes, all of which have between 4 and 8 sockets that allow charging several cars at the same time, at an ultra-fast rate of 250 kWh.
For us it was enough to go from 30 to 90 percent in 25 minutes.
Model S is also equipped with air suspensions, which allow it to be lower and faster in the plaid mode, or to raise it at landmarks marked for it where deceleration strips are located.
The result is a very good ride comfort even with the enlarged rims on the test car, and correcting a weakness of the Model 3.
With dual-wheel drive, a width of almost 2 meters, and the ability to control the transfer of power to each wheel individually, the Model S has excellent road holding, with a slight tendency to controlled oversteer.
But what she lacks are sensations from the steering wheel in turns.
The screen in the back seat.
There is also Netflix (photo: Walla! system, Udi Etzion)
Bottom line, Model S is a car that was worth waiting for in Israel.
In the history of the automobile industry, it will always be recorded as the first car that showed that an electric car could be desirable, not only environmentally friendly, and forced the regulators and other car manufacturers to respond.
At the moment, you can already find cars from customers who ordered it back when it cost less than NIS 500,000 and received it last month, and are offering it for sale on the Yad2 website for 200,000 NIS less than it costs now as new.
Either way, although the Porsche and Audi can compete with it in handling and feel, and the Mercedes in luxury and comfort, it still offers capability and character that no competitor has been able to crack.
So as Eitan Stiva said, someone who is intimately familiar with such accelerations from his years as a fighter pilot and his flight into space, if you can afford one, the Model S is definitely a recommended car.
Engine, drive: electric, double drive
Power/torque:
1,020 hp, 75 kg
Gearbox:
auto, direct transmission
Battery:
100 kWh
Dimensions:
Length (m):
4.97
Width (m):
1.96
Height (m):
1.45
Wheelbase (m):
2.96
Trunk (liters):
750
Performance:
Acceleration 0-100 (seconds):
2.1
Maximum speed (km/h):
322
Range (manufacturer): 600 km m
Range (test):
420 km
Safety:
European crash test score: 5 out of 5 stars in the European crash test
Active safety: complete, including the option to purchase upgraded cruise control
Air pollution:
group 1 out of 15
Warranty:
4 years or 80 thousand km for the vehicle, 8 years or 240 thousand km for the battery
Competitors:
Porsche Taycan, Audi Itron GT
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Tags
Tesla
