Opinion / Tesla’s Model S Plaid and California’s ban on gasoline-powered cars spells the end for luxury motor brands – unless they act fast
Why doesn’t the BMW M collection stand up to the Tesla Model S Plaid? Elon Musk’s electric car giant is calling Porsche, Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, Bentley and other luxury car brands to action: either make a radical, genuine commitment to electrification, or become obsolete
This article is part of STYLE’s Inside Luxury column.
The managers of Porsche, Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, BMW, Bentley and most other traditional luxury and sports car manufacturers are potentially in for some sleepless nights.
Tesla’s new Model S Plaid
It will be nothing less than the quickest production car ever on the road and is set to make every other performance sedan look like a slow dinosaur from a far distant past.
The prototype of the tri-motor, 1,100-horsepower Plaid makes even the McLaren P1 supercar look slow on a track lap. The specs are out of this world. The car boasts the quickest 0-60 and quarter-mile acceleration of any production car ever, capable of reaching 60mph in under two seconds, while the quarter mile acceleration clocks under nine seconds. These numbers render any other performance combustion engine sedan – and even sports supercar – practically obsolete.
This is a nightmare for brands that have spent the last few decades cashing in on high performance sedans, as none of their fast cars – such as BMW’s M collection, Mercedes’ AMG models, and Porsche’s Turbo models – can compete with the Plaid. Years of underestimating technological shifts mean that these brands are facing a serious dilemma, and it may be too late for some.
California’s upcoming ban on combustion engine cars