Tesla might be working on a new version of Model 3, and it’s going to be very, very quick.
The news comes via Tesla’s own parts catalog, which at one point had an entirely new part, a badge indicating a never-before-seen, super-quick new variant of the car (via The Kilowatts).
That’s new.
Credit: Tesla/The Kilowatts
Additionally, the site listed new sports brakes, suspension, and new wheels. All of the parts have since been removed from Tesla’s parts catalog.
The badge on the rear is similar to the Plaid badge on the Plaid variants of the Model S and Model X; however, on closer inspection, it looks it might be a Ludicrous badge instead.
If you’re scratching your head right now, here’s a quick primer on what this means. Courtesy of Tesla’s CEO, funny man Elon Musk, the performance levels for Tesla cars are derived from the 1987 comedy film Spaceballs. In one scene in the movie, chief villain Dark Helmet (played by Rick Moranis) orders his engineers to skip light speed as it’s too slow, directing them instead to shift into “ludicrous” speed (which, incidentally, is one order faster than “ridiculous” speed). Then, however, the ship zooms past ludicrous and into “plaid” speed. Check out the scene (recreated in 4K, no less) below.
So there you have it: This is why the fastest Teslas are called “Plaid.” But what about Ludicrous? Well, older Tesla Model S and X models did have Ludicrous mode; for example, the Model S would go from 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 second when Ludicrous was activated.
Ludicrous mode on Model S and X was discontinued and replaced with Plaid in 2022. But the new Model 3 badge does look more like the starry lines effect of Spaceballs‘ ludicrous speed, than the Model S and X’s Plaid badge (which is, you guessed it, plaid). It does make some sense for Tesla to revive Ludicrous mode for its Model 3, which is a lot cheaper than the company’s premium cars, the Tesla Model S and Model X.
Notably, Tesla recently launched a redesigned version of Model 3, which only comes in two configurations: rear-wheel drive, and dual motor; the Performance version of old is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps the new, Ludicrous version will sit atop of the Model 3 range, and maybe it’ll go even faster than the Model 3 Performance, which could dash from zero to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds.
Now, none of this is official, it could be a practical joke of some sort, and we don’t really know much about the Model 3 Ludicrous (or Plaid). But if it goes from zero to 60 mph in less than three seconds, and if the price stays reasonable, it could be an extremely attractive car for people who want something really quick without spending a ton of money.
