Tesla Inc. is gearing up to launch the first redesign of the Model S sport hatchback since the vehicle went on sale in 2012.
The changes include a major interior update that features a horizontally oriented touch screen, an updated center console and a U-shaped steering wheel, as well as a new screen for the back seat. The exterior also receives minor tweaks.
As part of the update, the automaker added a new Plaid+ trim that starts at $141,190 with a 520-mile range, and a 0 to 60 mph time of less than 1.99 seconds. The base “long range” trim now starts at $81,190 and gets 412 miles to a charge. Prices include $1,200 for shipping.
The Model S long range trim is now roughly $10,000 more expensive than it was in October, when CEO Elon Musk slashed the price to $69,420.
“It’s really a tremendous improvement over the prior version,” Musk said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
The company also updated the Model X crossover with similar interior features and a Plaid trim that starts at $121,190, including shipping, with a 340-mile range.
The automaker, during a fourth-quarter earnings report, said it has been upgrading its Fremont, Calif., assembly plant in recent weeks to build the new models. Musk said the vehicles are in production now, with deliveries of the S beginning next month while deliveries of the X will start sometime after.
Tesla is unlike other major automakers in that its lineup rarely follows the traditional cycle of freshenings and updates every few years. Instead, the company opts to improve products through over-the-air software updates.