Musk unveils Model S Plaid, Tesla’s fastest car to date

Elon Musk billed Tesla’s newest vehicle, the Model S Plaid, as a halo product that proves the superiority of electric cars.

Elon Musk billed Tesla Inc.’s newest vehicle, the Model S Plaid, as a halo product that proves the superiority of electric cars at an event marking the start of deliveries to customers. “Why make this really fast car that’s crazy fast?” the chief executive officer asked rhetorically outside Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California. “There is something that’s quite important to the future of sustainable energy, which is that we’ve got to show that an electric car is the best car, hands down.” The new flagship will likely provide an incremental boost to Tesla’s deliveries, but the high-end S and X models remain a niche business compared to its mass market 3 and Y cars, Dan Levy, an analyst at Credit Suisse with a neutral rating on the stock, said in a research note Friday.