Tesla S Plaid reaches just under 350 km/h

The official top speed of the S Plaid model from Tesla is 322 km/h. On the software side, however, it already stops at 282 km/h – because Tesla only wants to release the speed when appropriate tires and rims are available. A Canadian company has now circumvented this limitation and achieved a top speed of 348 km/h with the car.

Test at Quebec airport

The company Ingenext is best known for its modules that can be used to bypass software-based limitations in Tesla vehicles. Such modules appear to make perfect sense, especially against the backdrop of questionable software updates and barely justified function locks. In the past, for example, Tesla has restricted the floor distance regulation function in the Model X without warning and has seat adjustment motors temporarily disabled when used excessively. Now, Ingenext was also able to bypass the speed limit on the S Plaid model. However, it took some time before the car could actually be rolled out: a suitable track that offered sufficient space first had to be organized. In the end, the choice fell on a three-kilometer runway at Trois-Rivières Airport in the province of Quebec.

However, the space available there was only just enough: Two kilometers were needed to reach the maximum speed; the remaining space was needed to slow the vehicle down again. This was presumably only possible due to the installation of stronger brakes, which the company had previously carried out.

Attempt by YouTuber ended in accident

Ingenext’s attempt to move the Tesla at maximum speed was not the first: a YouTuber had previously made a similar attempt on a race track. He was unable to reach his goal, however, as he crashed the S Plaid. He reached a speed of around 270 km/h, but then crashed despite the previous installation of stronger brakes. In the course of the conversion, he had also removed the airbags – which, like the lack of protective clothing, was a major factor in his breaking several ribs and his kneecap, as well as tearing ligaments.

Car is not made for such speeds

Meanwhile, the fact that the S Plaid model is by no means made for speeds well beyond 300 km/h was also evident in the Ingenext test: the vehicle’s speed indicator began to glow red while driving, clearly indicating that the speed being driven was not desired or intended by Tesla. In addition, according to André Guillaume, head of Ingenext, who drove the car, there was an enormous noise inside the car. This noise is probably due in part to the vehicle’s cooling system, which has to cool not only the three motors but also the batteries used – which is no easy task at enormous speeds.

Nevertheless, the company plans to make the module that lifts the speed limit available to the public soon. However, using it is not recommended against the background of the experience gained in the tests so far: Neither the brakes nor other parts of the Tesla are made for such speeds.