Tesla's Top Engineer Thinks About a Plaid Model 3 \"All the Time\"
Lars Moravy, Tesla's VP of Vehicle Engineering, went on the Ride the Lightning podcast and said something that will rattle around in the heads of Model 3 owners for a while. When asked about a Plaid version of the Model 3, he said he thinks about it "all the time." And then, crucially, he didn't announce one.
There are no active production plans for a Model 3 Plaid as of May 2026. But the fact that Tesla's top vehicle engineer is openly daydreaming about it on a podcast is at least worth examining.
What a Plaid Model 3 Would Actually Require
The Model S Plaid's performance came from its carbon-sleeved motors, and Moravy confirmed those are what you'd be looking at for a hypothetical Model 3 version. The problem is packaging. Fitting a Plaid powertrain into the Model 3's smaller footprint is a "tight engineering squeeze" by his own description. That's engineer-speak for "it would require significant redesign work and we have other priorities."
It's not impossible. It's just hard, and hard costs time and money that might not pencil out right now.
The Current Model 3 Performance Isn't Exactly Slow
Here's the thing that puts this in context. The Model 3 Performance already does 0-60 in 2.9 seconds and tops out at 163 mph. That's already faster than most drivers will ever use on public roads. The question isn't whether the current car is fast enough for 99% of owners. It isn't. The question is whether there's a market for a car that costs significantly more and goes from 2.9 seconds to, say, 1.9 seconds.
For some people, yes. Absolutely. But it's a smaller group than you might think.
The Plaid Line Is Actually Shorter Than It Used to Be
Worth noting: both the Model S Plaid and Model X Plaid are no longer available. Tesla trimmed its lineup, and the Plaid variants didn't survive. That's not necessarily evidence against a Model 3 Plaid someday, but it does suggest Tesla isn't in an expansionist mood on the performance variant front right now. Adding a new Plaid model while retiring two others would be an interesting reversal.
Why This Is Still Worth Paying Attention To
When a VP-level engineer says publicly that he thinks about a product "all the time," that usually means one of two things. Either it's a genuine passion project waiting for the right moment, or it's a way of gauging public interest without committing to anything. Probably some of both.
Moravy being candid about the engineering constraints (rather than just hyping the idea) reads as genuine. This feels less like PR and more like an engineer talking about something he actually wants to build.
Whether Tesla's production roadmap ever makes room for it is a different question entirely. But at least now I know the person who could make it happen is thinking about it as much as I am.
Source: Teslarati