2022 Tesla Model S Plaid First Test: 0–60 MPH in 1.98 Seconds*!

After an exclusive MotorTrend first test of the new 1,020-hp 2022 Tesla Model S Plaid, a car with a promised 1.99-second 0-60-mph time, we can confirm the 2.0-second 0-60 barrier remains unbroken. Unless, that is, you write your own rules.

Yes, and allow us to explain. Tesla granted us access to be the first independent source to test the 2022 Model S Plaid before its June 10 customer-delivery event. It's the latest and greatest version of an EV we chose as our 2013 Car of the Year and which we declared to be our Ultimate Car of the Year in 2019.

As many MotorTrend readers know, we usually test at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Our figure-eight and skidpad testing happens in Lot 1. (You can see our tire marks on Google Maps, in fact.) Our acceleration and braking tests occur on Auto Club's dragstrip. But we run the strip backward to better simulate the type of asphalt and corresponding grip level found on countless streets around the world. Running the track in the "correct" direction means launching on a prepped surface coated with super-sticky VHT, a thick, black, grippy resin that allows cars to accelerate quicker than is possible on normal roads. Because testing on VHT isn't representative of the conditions real-world drivers typically encounter, our records show we've done so only twice in MotorTrend's 72-year history: in 1969 and 2002, both times in heavily modified, drag-race-prepped Corvettes.

During planning, Tesla requested that we not use our normal facility. After much back and forth, we offered to secure use of an automotive proving ground where we conduct Of The Year testing. Tesla then told us we could accept its offer of hosting us at Famoso Raceway near Bakersfield, California, or we could forget the whole thing. We accepted.

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