It hasn’t even launched yet, and already we’re hearing about a new, improved version of the Tesla Cybertruck, specifically a new “Plaid” trim that should offer some high-performance tweaks.
The source of this breaking news? Where else? Elon Musk’s Twitter account. The automaker CEO let slip that his personal Cybertruck will rock a “Plaid” mode in a discussion with a prospective customer.
What exactly will the Plaid Cybertruck do? That much isn’t clear, to be honest. In the company’s other vehicles, we’ve heard “Plaid” will improve upon Tesla’s “Ludicrous” hard-launch mode for ridiculously quick acceleration; and better lap times, suggesting overall speed gets nudged upward, too.
In the upcoming Tesla Roadster, for example, only when Plaid Mode is selected will the EV coupe nail its vaunted 1.9-second zero-to-96-km/h time. (The top-trim tri-motor AWD Cybertruck, for comparison, should offer zero-to-96-km/h blitzes in 2.9 seconds without any Plaid-ness, thanks to its 800 hp and 1,000-lb-ft of torque, Musk says.)
However, there’s also the possibility that, since it’s being applied in a truck, a Plaid Mode or trim would instead improve off-road performance, perhaps with the addition of features like torque vectoring.
We’ll keep our ears open for details, but we might have to wait a while, since the Model S is supposed to get a Plaid Mode, too – in the form of a third motor – when the next generation of the nameplate is revealed.
The scheduled debut for that car was originally later this year at the earliest, but we assume that date’s been revised due to the pandemic pushing, well, everything back.
Copyright PostMedia Network, 2020
