Tri-Motor Model – After the Model S and Model X were retired, Tesla’s lineup no longer includes a Plaid flagship. During a Ride the Lightning podcast, Tesla Vice President of Engineering Lars Moravy was asked about the possibility of a third motor for the Model 3. He didn’t shu
The Model S and Model X may be gone from Tesla’s lineup, but the absence of a Plaid-style flagship hasn’t left the conversation—especially among people chasing headline performance.
On the Ride the Lightning podcast, host Ryan McCaffrey put a direct question to Tesla Vice President of Engineering Lars Moravy: could a third motor ever find its way into the Model 3.
Moravy didn’t respond with a dismissal. “I think about it all the time,” he said.
The key part wasn’t just the openness. Moravy described what he’d be thinking about engineering-wise: taking the carbon-sleeved electric motors—the hardware that originally powered the Model S Plaid’s relentless acceleration—and adapting them for the Model 3 platform.
Tesla’s refreshed Model 3 Performance is already fast, but it’s notably slower than the Model S Plaid’s 2-second 0-60 mph time. The gap is exactly why the idea of a Tri-Motor Model 3 keeps coming back.
Moravy also pointed to the physical challenge: the Model 3 Performance currently uses one motor in the front and another in the rear. Fitting a third motor into the Model 3’s rear subframe would be an incredibly tight engineering squeeze.
Still, Moravy’s enthusiasm suggested Tesla’s engineering leadership isn’t ignoring the technical constraints—it’s actively weighing them.
He also made the manufacturing side of the equation impossible to miss. Moravy described a potential Tri-Motor effort as a “work for reward” situation. In his view, the amount of engineering required to package three motors into the Model 3 doesn’t line up with the company’s immediate goals.
Right now, the pure performance focus is aimed at the upcoming next-generation Roadster, which Moravy said will use Tesla’s absolute best and newest motor technology. That means a Plaid-adjacent Model 3 variant isn’t the priority—at least not in the near term.
But Moravy left a door open for what happens after the Roadster reaches production. The possibility is that those high-performance motors could, in time, trickle down to other parts of the fleet.
The Tri-Motor Model 3 question—and Moravy’s answer—comes up at the 51:45 mark of the podcast segment, with the relevant portion beginning at the 51:40 mark.
Tesla Model 3 Tri-Motor Plaid Lars Moravy Ride the Lightning Roadster carbon-sleeved motors 0-60 mph
Tri-motor Model 3 sounds cool but I bet they’ll call it something else so nobody compares 0-60.
So they’re retiring the Plaid and now talking about another motor? That seems like a lot of moving parts for one car. Also are they saying it won’t happen unless it’s “work for reward”??
I don’t get why people care about 2 seconds vs whatever. Like the Roadster is coming, so just wait. But Tesla also always says stuff “all the time” and then it never shows up, so idk.
They said it’s impossible to fit a third motor in the rear subframe… but Tesla can fit literally anything if they want lol. This just sounds like PR to keep fans hyped for the Roadster while Model 3 stays kinda mid. Carbon-sleeved motors?? feels like a gimmick name to me.