CEO Elon Musk announced that Tesla is delaying its Model S Plaid delivery event as the new electric vehicle apparently needs one more week of tuning.
Back in January 2021, Tesla introduced a refreshed version of the Model S and Model X, which brings a new powertrain, new interior, and updated exterior design to Tesla’s two flagship electric vehicles.
When launching the new vehicles, Musk said that deliveries should start within a few weeks – putting the first deliveries in February.
Unfortunately, the automaker couldn’t make that happen.
During the release of Tesla’s Q1 2021 financial results, the automaker did note that “the first deliveries of the new Model S should start very shortly,” and Musk said he believes it would happen the next month, which is now in May.
The CEO said that the delay had to do with making sure that the new battery pack in the updated Model S is going to be safe.
Deliveries of the new Model S and Model X vehicles in May also wasn’t in the cards.
Last week, Musk announced that Tesla will hold a delivery event for the first Model S Plaid deliveries on June 3 at the automaker’s Fremont factory.
Now the CEO confirmed that the event has to be delayed by a week because the new Model S is not ready yet:
“Model S Plaid delivery pushed to June 10. Needs one more week of tweak.”
Tesla has developed a new ‘Palladium’ powertrain to power the new Model S and Model X.
It could need more time in validation.
Also, the automaker has been developing a new user interface for the new Model S and Model X, which are equipped with new screens with different form factors.
It could also be part of what needs tweaking.
While the delivery event has been delayed, Musk is making sure that the hype is not dying down by promising that the new Model S “feels like a spaceship”:
“This car feels like a spaceship. Words cannot describe the limbic resonance.”
A lot of the focus has been on acceleration with the new Model S reportedly being able to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than 2 seconds, but there could be some surprises at the event too.
We expect Tesla to release more details about the new Model S and Model X during the delivery event.
For example, the new yoke steering wheel is expected to come with a new steer-by-wire steering system that could give a very fun tunable driving feel to the vehicle’s driving dynamics.
It sounds like we should learn more now on June 10. Musk confirmed that the event is going to be livestreamed.
Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast.
Author: Fred Lambert
Source: Electrek
