It’s no secret that Tesla doesn’t behave like a regular automaker, and that was the case with some of its most recent trim updates. Tesla has introduced a brand-new trim for the 2021 Model X as well as the 2021 Model S, and it’s the Plaid trim. That being said, despite having the same price tag, the 2021 Tesla Model X Plaid is actually worse than the 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid.

What is Tesla’s Plaid trim?

Contrary to its name, Tesla’s Plaid trims don’t give the cars plaid-looking interiors or exteriors. In fact, like other Tesla Easter eggs, the name is just another nerdy reference because Elon Musk and other Tesla employees are such huge nerds. Tesla already offers Ludicrous Mode in its cars, and that’s a reference to Spaceballs. Plaid, meanwhile, is the only speed setting in Spaceballs that is faster than the ludicrous setting. 

As a result of that, Tesla’s Plaid trim is just a nerdy way of saying that the trim is a high-performance trim. In fact, just to clear things up, Tesla actually replaced the Performance trim with the Plaid trim. However, according to MotorTrend, that’s not the only change with the Plaid trim. 

The Plaid trim for the Tesla Model X in particular also simplifies the interior design. The Plaid trim also gives the Model X a huge horizontal touchscreen rather than a big vertical one. And of course, to live up to its name, the Plaid trim also gives the Model X three powerful electric motors.

The speed and performance upgrades of the 2021 Tesla Model X Plaid

Since the Plaid trim is replacing the Performance trim, the Plaid trim is well-equipped to do that job. With three electric motors, the Tesla Model X Plaid obviously gets a lot more power than before, and that allows it to go faster and even farther than before. 

MotorTrend said that Tesla claims that with the Plaid trim, the Model X can accelerate from 0 to 60 MPH in just 2.5 seconds, and it can also hit a top speed of about 163 MPH. On top of that, Tesla claims that the Model X Plaid will also be able to go 340 miles on a single charge. 

This is a mid-cycle refresh of the high-performance trims of Model S and the Model X, and as such, the Plaid trim will be relatively expensive. According to MotorTrend, the Model X Plaid starts out at just over $121,000, and that’s a significant premium over its base price. The kicker is, however, that the Model S Plaid costs the same, but is faster in every way possible. 

How the Tesla Model X Plaid compares with the Model S Plaid

As MotorTrend wrote, the Tesla Model S Plaid is the same in many other ways as its interior is very similar and it obviously has three electric motors as well. However, due to the fact that the Model S is a luxury sedan while the Model X is a luxury SUV, the Model S is a smaller car overall. As such, it’s no surprise that the Model S Plaid beats the Model X Plaid in pretty much every performance-related metric.

According to MotorTrend, the Model S Plaid can accelerate from 0 to 60 MPH in less than 2 seconds, it can top out at about 200 MPH, and it also has a 390-mile range on a single charge. On top of all that, MotorTrend also reported that the Model S will have another high-performance trim, the Plaid+ trim. That trim pushes the Model S’s range to over 500 miles, and it also makes it even quicker. However, the Tesla Model X won’t have the Plaid+ trim available, according to MotorTrend.