Late Sunday evening, Elon Musk said in a tweet that the Tesla Model S Plaid will “probably” arrive in China “around March” of next year.
The Tesla CEO was responding to a tweet from @JayinShanghai, who inquired when the Model S Plaid would be available in China after Musk raved about how “sickkkk” the all-electric luxury sedan is.
Probably around March
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 22, 2021
The Model S Plaid began deliveries back in June and is Tesla’s flagship electric vehicle (EV) offering at the moment. The higher-end Model S is a performant beast that goes 0-60 mph in just under 2 seconds and holds the world record for fastest 1/4 mile time in a production car at just 8.99 seconds.
At the time of writing, estimated delivery dates for new Model S Plaid orders in China are hovering around the end of 2022. Deliveries for orders that have already been placed should start much earlier, however — especially if units start landing in Mainland China by March.
The Tesla Model S Plaid starts at 1,059,990 CNY ($166,150 USD) in China. And if that (understandably) seems steep, Tesla recently launched new financing plans in China that even have a 0% down payment option.
Tesla is seeing steady growth and mounting demand in the Chinese market, with its local Shanghai Gigafactory helping maintain supply. In August 2021, the U.S.-based EV maker ranked 2nd in EV sales in China, and as of earlier this month, the entry-level Model Y is completely sold out in the country until early 2022.
Tesla also appears to be working on bringing its Full Self-Driving beta to China, although there’s no ETA on that just yet.
