Jay Leno races the Tesla Model S Plaid
The iconic comedian and TV host took this high-performance sedan to the dragstrip, and it did not disappoint.
The new Tesla Model S Plaid isn't just a cutting-edge sedan that produces zero tailpipe emissions, it's also an incredible performance car, one that comedian, TV icon and certified automotive fanatic Jay Leno recently put to the test in a brief clip posted Friday on the CNBC YouTube channel.
Leno, of Tonight Show fame as well as the titular star of the Jay Leno's Garage TV show and web series, took Elon Musk's latest and greatest to a dragstrip in California to see if he could beat the quarter-mile land-speed record for a production car. Packing a 1,020-horsepower wallop, the Tesla Model S Plaid can hit 60 mph in just 2 seconds and annihilate the quarter mile in 9.2 ticks of the stopwatch at a blistering 155 mph, figures that should make this all-electric four-door the quickest mass-produced car you can buy. When properly equipped, the car's terminal velocity is a heady 200 mph; its range is estimated to be 390 miles, though don't expect that if you're doing back-to-back-to-back quarter-mile runs.
So, how'd he do? Leno supposedly coaxed a 9.247-second run out of the Plaid, with the air conditioning on no less, something he jokes about in the video. His trap speed was an astonishing 152 mph, just 3 mph off the pace this car can supposedly set. To get similar performance out of an internal combustion-powered vehicle you have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on something like a Ferrari, or much, much more on an ultrapricey Bugatti. In comparison, the Tesla Model S Plaid starts at $131,100, including $1,200 in delivery fees, which practically makes it the bargain of the century given the performance it provides.
To see Leno's brief blast down the 1,320 and the rest of his interview with CNBC host Shepard Smith, watch the video embedded above.
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