Electric vehicle maker Tesla has yet again adjusted its pricing, this time to the Model S and X.
In March, the EV maker significantly slashed the costs of all variants of the Model S and X by up to 33% in some cases.
This followed the removal of the 75kW battery variants in January, leaving only the 100kW versions, in their various configurations of Long Range and Performance for the Model S and Model X, plus a new Standard Range variant for the Model S.
The base pricing for the Standard Range Model S, which has 520km range based on NEDC ratings, and accelerates from 0-100km/hr in 4.4 seconds, previously started at $A115,600 but is now just $108,100.
Drive away it was $A135,390 (in NSW including charges and fees), and now comes in at $A125,114 – a difference of $A10,276.
The drop in price also takes into account subsequent savings in Luxury Car Tax and stamp duty (NSW registration costs are based on TARE weight, so it’s not entirely clear where Tesla gets the drop from $600 to $495 in rego, unless the weight of the car itself has dropped too – perhaps a cluey reader can help on this).
Other states will differ slightly from this, and the figures above exclude estimated petrol savings.
It is understood that a similar drop has been applied to the Model X Standard Range, which was added to the lineup sometime after the 75D versions were removed from the online order pages.
The base pricing for the Standard Range Model X, which has 425km range based on NEDC ratings, a top speed of 250km/hr and accelerates from 0-100km/hr in 4.8 seconds, is now just $A116,500. Drive away in NSW it is $A136,579.
The base model pricing drop is not exclusive to Australia – Electrek also noted the drop in the US, with a statement from Tesla that confirmed the price drop:
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.
All Tesla vehicles were also recently subjected to a price rise following the addition of Autopilot as standard, resulting inprice rises of anywhere between $A1,090 to $10,645 for the Model S and Model X.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.