Tesla cuts base price of new Model S and Model X vehicles

Tesla significantly reduced the base price today of its newly upgraded Model S and Model X vehicles that launched just a month ago.

At the end of April, Tesla released several changes to Model S and Model X vehicles with a new drivetrain, suspension upgrades, and more.

It came with several option changes in the lineup of both vehicles.

With the changes, Tesla also brought back a ‘Standard Range’ option for both vehicles – an option that has been on and off the configurator over the past year.

For Model S, it started at $78,000 and it offers a range of 285 miles on a single charge and for Model X, it starts at $83,000 and the range is 250 miles.

Now just a few weeks later, Tesla updated its online configurator to reduce the price of each model by $3,000 and $2,000 respectively:

No other option change is visible on the configuartor. Only the base prices seem to have been updated.

We contacted Tesla for the reason behind the price cut and we will update if we get an answer.

It’s the third significant price drop for the base price of Model S and Model X vehicles in about three months. The price some other versions of the vehicles also went up during that time.

In March, Tesla also changed prices for Model S by releasing a new cheaper battery pack option.

Update: A Tesla spokesperson sent us the following statement about the price change:

“Like other car companies, we periodically adjust pricing and available options. These pricing changes represent a reduction of about 2% to 3% in Model X and S prices. Last week, we raised US Model 3 prices by 1%. By any reasonable standard, these small changes are not newsworthy.”

Electrek’s Take

These price and option changes are truly impossible to follow. Tesla just launched a new version of these vehicles less than a month ago.

Those who ordered the new vehicles and are just now getting their hands on them after custom ordering are seeing the cars being sold for $2,000 to $3,000 less than they paid.

It’s bad for their resale value.

Of course, the counter-argument is that with the dealership model, the price of vehicles from other automakers changes all the time, but the thing is that Tesla wanted to move away from that with its direct sales model.

Now it’s also becoming difficult to navigate Tesla’s price structure because it changes so often.

More interestingly, I think it might have something to do with the upcoming refresh.

While Tesla has already released several upgrades to Model S and Model X last month, we have been reporting that Tesla is planning an even bigger Model S and Model X refresh with a new interior design and new battery pack.

Tesla could be reducing prices to liquidate some parts in order to be able to switch to the new versions.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.