Tesla has announced that the Model S sedan and Model X SUV will be available in China with their Plaid powertrains in the first half of 2023. This news has been eagerly anticipated by customers, as the Model S Plaid was first released in the US in June 2021.
Traditionally, Tesla has first released its products in the US before moving on to the rest of North America and then other countries. However, the timeline for international releases can vary. CEO Elon Musk had previously estimated that the Model S Plaid would be available in China by March 2022, but it now appears that it will take approximately two years from the US launch for it to be available in China.
At the Guangzhou Auto Show in China, Tesla displayed the Model S and Model X Plaid vehicles and promoted them on its official Weibo social media page. The company described the vehicles as some of the most advanced available and emphasized their exceptional performance, stating that they are “redefining benchmarks” and “born to be extraordinary.”
The Model S and Model X Plaid drew a lot of attention at the auto show and are known for their impressive acceleration, with the Model S Plaid capable of going from 0 to 60 mph in as little as 1.99 seconds and the Model X Plaid achieving a similar feat in 2.5 seconds. Both vehicles also have over 1,000 horsepower, thanks to their tri-motor all-wheel-drive setup. While they are more expensive than many other EVs on the market in China, they offer unparalleled performance compared to their rivals.
Tesla aims to release official pricing for the Model S and Model X Plaid vehicles on Friday, January 6, 2023. The publication says the EVs are expected to start at around RMB 1,000,000 ($144,000).
