Tesla Model S With Active Wing Spotted - Is It The Plaid+?

Tesla announced to the world that the Plaid+ was not going to happen, so this prototype is unexpected.

By: Andrei Nedelea

Oct 15, 2021 at 5:07am ET

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Tesla was originally planning to launch both Plaid and more extreme Plaid Plus versions of the refreshed Model S, but it eventually ditched the former arguing the non-Plus model already offered enough performance. And we thought that was the end of the Plaid+ story, but now a new set of spy photos is making us reinterpret the situation.

Our spies sent us photos of what is very clearly the latest incarnation of the Tesla Model S, but with a splitter on the lower part of the front bumper, as well as what is very clearly an active rear wing on the rear. You can tell the wing is active by the fact that there’ sa recess in the hatch where it retracts and sits flush when not extended.

And the wing not only retracts, but it can also change its angle, so under braking it creates extra drag and helps slow the vehicle down quicker. The prototype also featured what appeared to be larger brakes (possibly with carbon ceramic disks) and the ride height was definitely lower than the production Plaid that is available right now.

Gallery: Tesla Model S Plaid Plus Spied Again

So what does this all mean? Well, Tesla is either still working on the Plaid+ in secret and it will surprise everybody with its launch in the not too distant future, or this is an older Plaid+ prototype that the manufacturer is using to carry out testing for some other purpose.

Aside from the blue car that features all the modifications listed above, our spies also say they saw another prototype that appeared to be a stock Model S Plaid, although it too had some much more aggressive racing seats that aren’t available on the production model. This could suggest this second vehicle is a regular Plaid, and the Plaid+ is being benchmarked against it. If you have a better explanation for this new round of Plaid+ testing, let us know in the comments what your theory is.