The new Tesla Model S Plaid has reportedly achieved a new quarter-mile world record with a 9.2-second run, according to Jay Leno, who was at the racetrack for the record attempt.
After several months of delays, Tesla is apparently finally going to start deliveries of the new and updated Model S next week, including the new top performance Plaid version.
The automaker announced some impressive specs with 390 miles of range, 200 mph top speed, and 1.99 second 0-60 mph acceleration.
Over the last few months, Tesla was spotted bringing prototypes to racetracks around California to test those specs, like pictured above (via The Killowatts), and it has been expected to break some records with its new top performance car.
Now Jay Leno, who is one of the few car reviewers that Tesla still works directly with, says that one of those records is now official.
On a new episode of the Spike’s Car Radio podcast, the comedian-turned-car show host says that he went down to the Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield last month to watch Tesla break the quarter-mile record.
Leno said that he saw the Tesla Model S Plaid run the quarter-mile in 9.247 seconds at 152 mph, and a National Hot Rod Association official was there to make it official.
There are not many production vehicles that can achieve a 10-second quarter-mile and especially not family-size four-door sedans.
One electric car has achieved that this week however. The $2+ million dollar Rimac Nevera with 1914HP motors crushed a Ferrari in a drag race and set an unofficial world record quarter mile time of 8.6 seconds. But that’s a 2-seater hypercar and Tesla’s Plaid Model S is a 7-seat sedan.
It would actually make the new Tesla Model S Plaid the fastest production vehicle ever based on the quarter-mile metric.
Here’s the list of the top 10 fastest production vehicles ever based on quarter-mile runs (via Wikipedia):
| Car Model | Model Year | Time excluding 1 ft rollout | Time from standing | Notes |
| Bugatti Chiron Sport | 2018 | 9.4 s at 254.3 km/h (158 mph) | N/A | Limited to 500 produced |
| Porsche 918 Spyder | 2015 | 9.7 s at 233.4 km/h (145 mph) | 9.81 s at 238.6 km/h (148.3 mph) | Limited to 918 produced, hybrid-electric, naturally aspirated |
| McLaren P1 | 2015 | 9.8 s at 239.6 km/h (148.9 mph) | 10.2 s at 237.4 km/h (147.5 mph) | Limited to 375 produced, hybrid-electric |
| Bugatti Veyron Super Sport | 2010 | N/A | 9.9 s at 239 km/h (148.5 mph) | Limited to 30 produced |
| McLaren 720S | 2018 | 9.9 s at 238.5 km/h (148.2 mph) | 10.02 s at 234.1 km/h (145.5 mph) | NA |
| McLaren Senna | 2019 | 10.1 s at 237.3 km/h (147.5 mph) | N/A | Limited to 500 produced |
| Bugatti Veyron | 2006 | 10.1 s at 228.5 km/h (142 mph) | N/A | Limited to 420 produced |
| Ferrari 488 Pista | 2019 | 10.1 s at 231.9 km/h (144.1 mph) | 10.2 s at 230 km/h (142.9 mph) | N/A |
| Porsche 911 Turbo S (992) | 2020 | 10.1 s at 220.5 km/h (137 mph) | 10.28 s at 217.32 km/h (135.04 mph) | Rear-engine, with 2+2 seats |
| Lamborghini Huracán Performante | 2018 | 10.2 s at 218.9 km/h (136 mph) | 10.26 s at 220.7 km/h (137.1 mph) | Naturally aspirated |
As you can see, most of those vehicles are $1 million supercars, and the Model S Plaid will stand out as a $120,000 luxury sedan that happens to have insane performance.
Tesla is likely going to announce the Model S Plaid’s new record at a delivery event set for June 10.
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