2023 Model S Plaid Safety

The NHTSA doesn't have a full review of the 2022 or 2023 Tesla Model S Plaid yet, but the 2021 Model S scored five stars in the rollover test. It's improbable that the revised model will achieve anything less than five stars across the board, as every other Tesla in history managed this impressive feat. The Tesla Model S has not been evaluated for crashworthiness by the IIHS, although the agency did rate the 2021 model's headlights as Poor and its standard front crash prevention as Superior.

2023 Model S Plaid Key Safety Features

As standard, the 2023 Model S Plaid electric car comes with bigger brakes, traction and stability control, LED daytime running lights, cornering lights, eight airbags, and a reverse camera. The standard suite of Autopilot driver assistance features consists of active forward collision avoidance with automatic braking, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, a surround-view camera system, lane-departure warning, and lane-keep assist.

We reckon most Model S owners will go for the Enhanced Autopilot, with a cost of $6,000. The features that come with this upgrade include navigating on Autopilot, auto lane change, and a vehicle-summon feature. The Full Self-Driving Capability package costs $15,000; we'll delve deeper into it in the Additional Packages section, but for now, it's worth pointing out that there's a lot of misinformation about this system. Tesla clearly states that the Model S is not fully autonomous, yet certain Tesla fans refuse to believe this. There are many Tesla crashes under investigation at the NHTSA, all of them involving the controversial self-driving feature. Some owners have gone as far as getting in the back seat and watching movies. Why call a feature "Full-Self Driving" when it isn't?

2023 Model S Plaid Reliability

As a range, the Model S has not been free of issues. The 2023 model has already been recalled once at the time of writing for a faulty Full Self-Driving (FSD) system that may exceed the speed limit or negotiate intersections dangerously. The 2022 Model S was recalled a full ten times in the USA for issues including a failure to stop at stop signs due to a faulty FSD system, a seatbelt chime that may not activate, an improperly defrosting windshield, an obscured pedestrian warning sound, a side curtain airbag that may not deploy properly, a touchscreen that may overheat, power windows that may pinch fingers or limbs, and a pedestrian-warning sound that may be obscured. It isn't clear if all of these issues also pertain to the Model S Plaid electric sedan specifically, but as a whole, the Model S sedan has been far from faultless. The 2021 Model S faced 14 recalls and there were seven for the 2020 model.

Thankfully, the Model S comes with a decent warranty. The basic warranty is four years/50,000 miles, while the battery and drive unit are covered by an eight-year/150,000-mile warranty.

Warranty