It’s not much of a secret that Tesla is attempting to set a new lap record for a production EV at Laguna Seca. There’s now video evidence the Model S Refresh has traveled to central California to perform a high-speed run on the famous race track. Not one, but two vehicles were spotted by YouTuber The Kilowatts in recent days going at full tilt on the 2.2-mile course.
By the looks of it, the red prototype is the hotter of the two Model S Refresh electric sedans, and it might just be the upcoming Plaid+ version. According to the cameraman’s estimations, the red test vehicle completed the lap in 1 minute and 29.9 seconds, but this is very much unofficial and unconfirmed at the moment of writing. The black one, believed to be a Model S Plaid, was clocked at 1 minute and 32.6 seconds.
How did the man with the camera estimate those two lap times? By doing the calculations using the raw footage of the red and black prototypes shot at Laguna Seca. The adjacent video is a compilation of the two runs to show the performance differences between what could be the Plaid+ and the standard Plaid.
Lending credence to the red prototype’s Plaid+ configuration is an electrically retractable rear spoiler built into the tailgate. We haven’t seen it before and it’s likely reserved for the range-topping $142,990 model with its massive 1,100+ horsepower coming from three electric motors.
Bear in mind these lap times have yet to be confirmed, but if the red prototype’s turns out to be valid, the Model S Plaid+ is indeed the fastest production EV at Laguna Seca. The 1:29.9 time puts the flagship Tesla sedan between the Porsche 918 Spyder (1:29.89) and the Lamborghini Huracan Performante (1:30.0), one a fully fledged hybrid hypercar and the other a proper mid-engined supercar. To achieve this lap time in a four-door sedan much heavier than those exotics is an impressive feat, provided the lap time turns out to be legit.
Source: The Kilowatts / YouTube
