Comedian and car enthusiast Jay Leno revealed on the Spike’s Car Radio podcast Tesla’s Model S Plaid hit an insane quarter-mile time at Famoso Raceway, just north of Bakersfield, California.
“I’ll tell you what I did. I went up to Famosa dragway in Bakersfield…in a Tesla [Model S] Plaid. I made one pass…I drove up and had the NHRA [National Hot Rod Association] guys there to make it official, I turned a 9.247 at 152.09 mph,” said an emphatic Leno.
Tesla’s website says the Model S Plaid can do the 1/4 mile in 9.23 seconds at 155 mph (249 km/h), so Leno’s initial numbers are very close to official numbers.
The previous fastest recorded 1/4 mile time for a production car was the 2018 Bugatti Chiron Sport’s 9.4 seconds at 254.3 km/h (158 mph), and it appears the Model S Plaid has this beat.
The 2018 Bugatti Chiron Sport costs $2,998,000 USD, while the Model S Plaid starts at $118,490 USD, just 4% the cost of the European supercar.
Leno told host Spike Feresten the Model S Plaid was “completely stock” and said “it was unbelievable”, adding this is a “four-door car with the A/C on”.
The comedian then sent Feresten the timing slip while chatting. When asked if Leno had driven the Lucid Air yet, he replied, “has anybody?”
Leno went on to say, “to me it seems like Tesla is 7-8 years ahead of everyone else in battery technology. Gotta go with the guy who built the infrastructure before you built the car.”
You can click here to listen to the full episode of Spike’s Car Radio, ‘Mayback Music’.
Tesla is set to hold its Model S Plaid delivery event on June 10, 2021 (after delaying it one week), which will be live-streamed on the web.
