Get ready to stretch your memory banks, everyone. Remember when Tesla introduced Standard Range versions of its Models S and X? I know, it’s hard to remember something that happened so long ago — and by “so long ago,” I mean “basically just two weeks ago.” Yeah. Those trims are gone now. Yes, already.
The “Standard Range” trims were basically cheaper than the standard Models S and X by $10,000, but that was because they came with a limited battery range and slower acceleration. Today — in the midst of a ton of other Tesla news, because why start the month of September thinking about anyone but Mr. Musk — both of those trims have been nixed from the website.
That’s likely because Tesla has dropped its base prices anyway, making the whole “cheaper but shittier” version of its cars redundant.
The Tesla Model S, which previously started at $88,490 for the dual-motor all-wheel drive version, now costs $74,990. The price of the Model S tri-motor all-wheel drive Plaid has dropped from $108,490 to $88,990.
And the Model X sees similar price drops. Its dual-motor all-wheel drive version costs $79,990, which is down from yesterday’s price of $98,490. The tri-motor all-wheel drive Plaid version dropped from $108,490 to $89,990.
Basically, the regular variant of the Model S is $13,500 cheaper than before, while the base Model X drops by $18,500. The whole “price cut of $10,000 for a less-good version of the car” no longer really makes sense if the base models have dropped in price. Plus, all the paint colors for these cars no longer come at an additional cost.
It’s probably for the best. The so-called Standard Range models were basically just Long Range Teslas with a software lock to offer fewer miles — the kind of thing that, I’m sure, a few folks on Reddit could easily learn to bypass.
But these constant price fluctuations have me wondering: How many potential Tesla buyers have been turned off by this? We’ve seen plenty of folks get grumpy that they purchased a full-price Tesla just days before a massive price drop; at what point do people hold off on buying in the hope that their desired model drops in price?