On the subject of power.....
Looking at the HP curve from the delivery event (
powercurve.jpg), all performance cars are following roughly the same curve slope after the P85 for the initial launch and first tens of MPH. The two primary distinctions between the P85, PxxDL and Plaid are the point at which the curves plateau and the plateau profile.
The P85 runs in the 450 hp range, the P100D in the 630 hp range and now the Plaid at 1050 hp.
The Plaid curve has a SLIGHTLY lower initial slope in comparison to the Performance and seems to be spot on the P100D.
The Plaid lays down a little bit on power as speed builds where the others simply fall off.
Watching all the videos and listening to Brooks, It occurs to me that-
The initial power delivery is likely traction limited from the P100D onward. The batteries with higher voltage can source more power at the same current levels so there is likely more power available than can be used at slower speeds. Basically, the slope of the post P85 curve is likely the sane limit of every day street car traction using very advanced traction control. There are small improvements in 0-60 but these likely will not register on the butt dyno. Brooks said as much when he said the big difference is that it keeps pulling. (addition here - the PLAID's power curve climbs in the 40 mph to 60 mph range while the others plateau. This alone will improve the 0-60 but on the tail end as opposed to the launch end. This is very useful.)
The ability of the Plaid battery to maintain that slope is the most interesting part for me. Tesla must have significantly reduced the pack's internal resistance (in combination with the higher voltage) to allow them to pull that level of power from the pack for an extended period of time. This improvement will show up as range as well as improved supercharging performance.
Coming from a P90DL, I expect the new car to launch a bit harder than my current car. This is not all that important as I have not done a running foot stab launch of my car in years. It was fun a few times in the beginning but gets old fast. In short, it will be a wash for me in my driving style.
What I see as incredibly useful is the inprovement in acceleration through 80 mph. This car will be unlike anything most of us will have driven on the street when it comes to pulling at higher speeds. It will be unlike anything any of us has driven on the street when it comes to the instantaneous availability of that power. No battery heating needed. Just leave it in PLAID and it will always be there for you. That, for me, is game changing.