A Tesla executive made a big announcement recently, albeit a vague one. According to Electrek, Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy told the Ride the Lightning podcast that the electric vehicle giant will be updating the Model S and Model X at some point in the near future, the first modifications to those models since 2021.
"Just give it a minute. We'll get there," Moravy said. "The upgrade a few years ago was bigger than most people thought in terms of architecture and structure; we'll give it some love later this year."
It's possible that the updates are in response to those models' declining sales numbers, as sales have plummeted year over year for the last several years. In 2017, Tesla sold more than 100,000 Model S and Model X. Those numbers dropped, according to Clean Technica, to just 1,669 Model S and 3,338 Model X vehicles in the third quarter of 2024.
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Cost 💰 It's hard to say for sure why this is happening. It could be that Tesla buyers are forgoing the more expensive S and X, which cost approximately $80,000 and $85,000, respectively, for the more affordable Model 3 and Model Y, which both start around $30,000 and combined to sell more than 1.7 million units in 2024.
Many analysts have been saying that Tesla CEO Elon Musk's increasingly prominent involvement in world politics and U.S. governmental layoffs could be playing a role, possibly driving away more customers than attracting.
Or it could be that other automakers have caught up to Tesla. Luxury brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Genesis, among others, all have luxury EVs within the same price range as their Tesla counterparts, and more affordable models like Ford's Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai's Ioniq 5, and Honda's Prologue have been putting up great sales numbers that might have gone more to Tesla in past years.
The good news for pollution reduction is that the drop in sales of the Model S and Model X doesn't appear to be an indicator of less interest in EVs. In the same period that sales of those models continued to decline, overall EV sales have increased year after year, meaning more people are opting for EVs.
Consumers have opted not to purchase gas-powered vehicles that cause planet-warming pollution, contributing to extreme weather that causes severe storms, flooding, and droughts, all of which threaten the global food supply. It doesn't hurt that EVs also save money over time from being cheaper to fuel and maintain (no oil changes, for starters).
It remains to be seen if the latest updates Moravy teased will result in a bump in sales of the S and X.
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