January 28, 2021

Tesla introduces groundbreaking ‘Plaid’ along with first full year of profitability

Tesla announced earnings yesterday and delivered some big news. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Tesla Inc. posted its first full-year profit and laid out plans for a sharp increase in production over the coming years after meeting rising demand for electric vehicles with record deliveries." This also represents the company's sixth straight quarter of profitability.

Above: A look at the new Model S (Source: Tesla)

WSJ's Rebecca Elliott reports, "The Silicon Valley car maker expects to increase deliveries by about 50% annually and, Chief Executive Elon Musk Wednesday said, will likely top that rate this year and next."

For 2020, Tesla reported a profit of $721 million on about $31.5 billion in sales compared with an $862 million loss and sales of $24.6 billion in 2019. According to the Journal, "The company’s cash holdings totaled around $19.4 billion as of year-end, up from around $6.3 billion at the end of 2019."

Above: WedBush Securities analyst, Dan Ives, weighs in on Tesla's most recent earnings (YouTube: CNBC Television)

Discussing the Plaid Model S, Elon Musk explained, "we'll be delivering next month. So this is a tri-motor Model S with a completely new interior... [which] will be the first production car ever that is able to go 0 to 60 miles an hour in under two seconds. So no production car, ever, has been able to get below two seconds zero to 60. This is a luxury sedan that is able to go 0 to 60 in less than two seconds."

Musk added, "This is faster, to be clear, than any car. It's not like there was a different type of car, like a two-door sports car that was able to be the fastest accelerating car ever made... allowed to go on roads, in history. And like I say, we'll start delivering it in a matter of weeks."

Above: A look at how the new Plaid Model S stacks up against the competition (Source: Tesla)

While the exterior showcases some subtle refinements, the interior has undergone a stunning overhaul. According to CNET's Roadshow, "Most radical is the new steering wheel. It isn't exactly a wheel anymore, instead looking like a yoke right out of Star Wars or Knight Rider." The center screen has gone horizontal but the new interior retains a gauge cluster behind the (all-new) steering wheel.

In addition, "Rear-seat passengers get an 8-inch screen that offers the same infotainment and gaming functions as the main screen, and it even works with wireless gaming controllers." And, according to recent tweets from Elon Musk, both Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 will be available to play in-car moving forward.