Tesla may be working on another facelift for Model S and X
However, in Ryan McCaffrey’s “Ride the Lightning” podcast, Moravy also clearly stated that neither the Model S nor the Model X are about to end production – the Model S has been on sale since 2012, and the Model X since 2015. “They are not going anywhere anytime soon,” said Tesla’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering.
However, the two models will receive “some love later this year,” Moravy said. “Just give it a minute. We’ll get there. The upgrade a few years ago was bigger than most people thought in terms of architecture and structure,” Moravy said. “We’ll give it some love later this year; Everyone here has a little place in their heart for S/X.”
These statements indicate that the Model S and Model X will receive an overhaul or that such a model update is on Tesla’s agenda. However, Moravy did not provide any further details on the scope of this upgrade, which led to a lot of speculation within a very short time – including an extensive design update, as the Model Y Juniper recently underwent. Furthermore, the portal Carscoops states quite correctly: “‘Some of the stuff we’ve been putting in 3 and Y’ could simply refer to features like ambient lighting and a front-facing bumper-mounted camera, rather than a complete overhaul.”
The last major redesign of the two models dates back to 2021, with the changes to “architecture and structure” that Moravy mentioned – such as a new battery pack, the tri-motor concept of the Plaid versions, and a new computer architecture with faster computers. And in the interior, the yoke steering wheel was one of the outstanding features. In terms of body design, however, the changes were minor, especially compared to the adjustments made to the Model 3 Highland and now the Model Y Juniper.
Moravy’s comments also make it clear that an entirely new generation of the Model S and Model X is unlikely to debut anytime soon. Tesla wants to continue building on the architecture of the 2021 refresh for its two luxury models for now. Sales of the visually outdated models have been stagnating for some time or can no longer be precisely quantified. Tesla only reports sales of the Model S and X together with the Cybertruck in the ‘Other models’ category. A total of 94,105 units were built in 2024, without a more precise breakdown of the three model series. This compares to almost 1.7 million Model 3 and Model Y that rolled off the production line in the same period.
For the refresh in 2021, Tesla had set a target of 100,000 Model S and X per year. This was clearly missed in 2024, as the 94,000 units also include the Cybertruck. According to estimates, just over half of the 94,000 “other” Teslas are likely to be Model S/Xs.
Tesla raised the prices for the Model S and Model X in February, in some cases significantly, but in return reintroduced free use of the Superchargers – an incentive that Elon Musk had clearly ruled out in the past. However, due to the size of the price jump, the vehicle is likely to be more expensive in the vast majority of cases, even with free electricity at the Superchargers.
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