Last month, a few order holders of the Tesla Model S and Model X got in touch with The Driven after not hearing much about the status of their Australian orders.
The mystery had deepened further with Tesla stopping taking orders on the refreshed flagship Model S and Model X in Australia as of this week. The order page for Model S & Model X reveals a “Get Updates” button.
This button takes the visitors to a general email updates page to stay in the loop for any updates on Tesla’s vehicle or energy products.
It is unclear at this stage as to why the models have been taken off the configurator, but there are several theories.
One theory from order holder Geoff McEvoy, who has been waiting for his refreshed Tesla flagship EV for over 18 months, is that Tesla is getting closer to producing right-hand-drive Model S & Model X vehicles and are in the process of taking stock of their orders in our market:
“I am thinking that this move allows Tesla to stabilize their Australian orders from the last couple of years and contact those order holders with the price of their car as that info was not available when the car was ordered,” he says.
“Order holders were just asked to make a deposit without knowing the full cost. It appears that once Tesla has the return confirmations from these order holders, then production of the cars may commence.”
This is quite possibly the case as existing order holders haven’t been told that their deposit is being returned by Tesla Australia.
Hundreds of order holders have been awaiting a delivery date on these vehicles since they were first introduced to the Australian market back in 2021. Back then, the flagship models were available on Tesla’s Australian online configurator as of June 2021.
The Model S Long Range was priced at $129,990 before on-roads while the Plaid was more expensive at $186,990.
The Model X Long Range on the other hand was $20,000 more at $149,990 while the Plaid was $174,990 before on-roads.
Since 2021, Tesla has made several changes to the Model S and Model X which have been improved even further.
Last month, customers started receiving Model S and Model X vehicles in the US with the upgraded hardware which Tesla internally calls Hardware 4.
These vehicles included a high-definition radar and newer cameras in vehicles to allow the vehicle to see more for future self-driving capabilities. This would further improve the overall driving experience as well.
On top of that, Tesla delivered some visual and physical improvements to the Model S in March 2023 which included:
- New paint colour
- New glass roof
- New brakes
- Round steering wheel option
A new paint was also made available that replaced the previous premium multi-coat red. This new paint Tesla now calls “Ultra Red Paint”.
Now with the latest changes to Tesla’s configurator, it’s unlikely that Tesla will be taking any orders from the Australian market for many months to come.
It also means that customers who have patiently been waiting are likely to get a vehicle much better than what was available back in 2021. We look forward to seeing any movements on these vehicles as hundreds of order holders are still awaiting to see Tesla’s flagship in their garage, sometime over the next few months.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.