Tesla
- The Model S Plaid can accelerate from 0 to 60 in under 2 seconds, but it requires a set-up process.
- MotorTrend tested the vehicle out. It had the fastest acceleration speed they'd seen, but only under special testing conditions.
- Most high-performance vehicles do not require a set-up process to hit high acceleration speeds.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The Tesla Model S Plaid can go from 0 to 60 in less than two seconds, but it requires a lengthy set-up process, according to a report from MotorTrend.
The magazine tested the vehicle out and detailed an eight to 15-minute process that the Tesla must undergo in order to achieve its maximum acceleration speed.
The process is far from typical for most high performance cars. Some of the fastest cars out there including the Porsche Taycan Turbo S, which can reportedly go from 0 to 60 in 2.6 seconds, as well as Tesla CEO Elon Musk's McLaren F1 (which he purchased in 1999 and crashed a year later), which can go from 0 to 60 in 2.9 seconds without a set-up routine. But, MotorTrend told CNN the process is not a new one for high-performance Teslas, and the latest model has even streamlined the process so that it does not have to be redone for each run with the vehicle.
Tesla has already set a related record with the vehicle. Jay Leno drove the car on his CNBC show "Jay Leno's Garage," where he said he broke the quarter-mile land speed record for a production car.
MotorTrend said the Tesla hit the fastest 0 to 60 acceleration speed they've ever tested in a production car, (0 to 60 in 1.98 seconds), but said most drivers would not be able to hit those speeds on a regular road. Tesla representatives required MotorTrend to test the vehicle's top acceleration speed using the sticky end at the starting line of a race track - a surface most drivers will never encounter. Typically the magazine tests vehicles out without giving them the benefit of the additional traction.
When the vehicle was later tested out on a regular asphalt surface, it did not hit the 0 to 60 speed in under 2 seconds. Though, MotorTrend noted the Tesla's performance was still impressive. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from Insider.
In order to hit the top 0 to 60 acceleration speed, the car must be put in Drag Strip Mode, which can be found as a setting on the Tesla's main screen, MotorTrend reported.
The driver must then wait for eight to 15 minutes for the vehicle to prepare for the exercise as it heats or cools the batteries to the required temperature and cools the vehicle's electric motors, the publication said.
After the set-up process is complete, the driver can push down with one foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator. With the brake and accelerator all the way down to the floor, the car achieves a "cheetah stance" in which the Tesla's front end drops down. Once the brake is released the car will hit its maximum acceleration speed.
MotorTrend writer Christian Seabaugh told CNN that the car still has an impressive acceleration speed even without putting the vehicle in Drag Strip Mode. He said it can go 0 to 60 in about 2.5 seconds by "just stomping on the throttle."
The Tesla Model S Plaid began deliveries earlier this month, after Musk announced it would be the fastest production car ever made.