Tesla’s upcoming “Plaid” Model S vehicle is also a gaming machine, capable of running Cyberpunk 2077.
CEO Elon Musk demonstrated the electric car’s gaming capabilities during the Model S Plaid event on Thursday. The vehicle’s infotainment system was able to smoothly run Cyberpunk 2077 on the car’s 17-inch touch-screen monitor.
“This is somebody playing in the car right now. Playing live,” Musk said. “It’s a high frame rate. It’ll do 60 frames a second.”
The Model S Plaid can run the game thanks to an onboard computer, which apparently has a powerful GPU. “There’s never been a car that has state-of-the-art computing technology, state-of-the-art infotainment, where this is literally at the level of a PlayStation 5,” Musk said during the event.
A company marketing image also shows the car can run the games The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Cuphead, and Fallout Shelter through the infotainment system’s “Arcade” mode. The 17-inch screen, meanwhile, has a 2,200-by-1,300-pixel resolution.
Musk envisions a near-future where passengers can play the games while the Tesla is in a self-driving Autopilot mode. “Entertainment is going to become increasingly important. So you’re gonna wanna watch movies, play games, use the internet,” he added.
The company hasn’t released the computing specs for the Model S Plaid. But Tesla's website notes the car features “up to 10 Teraflops” of processing power, along with support for wireless controllers. The vehicle also features a second screen, enabling passengers sitting in the rear seats to game too.
The gaming capability is an impressive perk. But the Plaid model isn’t cheap. The vehicle costs $129,990. On Thursday, Tesla delivered the first 25 cars. The company plans on producing several hundred Plaid vehicles each week before boosting production to 1,000 per week in Q3.