Tesla Model S and Model X cop hefty price rises

The facelifted 2022 Tesla Model S and Model X will be at least $12,000 more expensive than their predecessors, which have been unavailable since 2020, and they may not land in Australia until 2023.

The US electric car-maker is still sticking to the same “end of 2022” estimated delivery time on its local website for the MY22 sedan and SUV revealed six months ago.

But the price of the entry-level 2022 Tesla Model S Long Range sedan has increased from $129,990 to $141,990, before on-road costs and luxury car tax are added.

Similarly, the 2022 Tesla Model X Long Range has incurred the same price increase and now starts at a $161,990 list price. It was previously listed at $149,990 plus ORCs.

The top-spec Plaid variant in both the Model S and X range is unchanged for now at $186,990 and $174,990 plus ORCs respectively.

The price hikes extinguish the gains Australian buyers have apparently enjoyed over the past 10 months, following Tesla’s lowering of the Model S and Model X baseline pricing by more than $8600 in October 2020.

Tesla has not indicated whether pricing could change again in the long waiting period Australian buyers are now facing between now and vehicle delivery.

There are no such delays with the top-selling Tesla Model 3, which now starts from less than $60,000 and is expected to notch up 20,000 Australian sales later this year.

Tesla’s mid-size sedan is listed as having a delivery time of one to four weeks now that shipments have landed from its new production base in China.

As previously reported, the facelift revealed in January this year brought a variety of minor changes to the Tesla Model S and X, headlined by a radical yoke-style steering wheel.

The 500kW dual-motor all-wheel drive Model S Long Range can accelerate to 100km/h in a claimed 3.2 seconds, on its way to a 250km/h top speed, while its WLTP-verified driving range is listed at 652km.

The stonking 761kW triple-motor AWD Plaid version reduces the 0-100km/h sprint time to a supercar-like 2.1sec and increases top speed to 322km/h. Its driving range is estimated at 637km.

As you’d expect, performance is blunted in the bigger and heavier Model X compared to the equivalent Model S variant, but only slightly.

The Long Range SUV is 0.7sec slower to 100km/h (at 3.9sec) but has the same top speed and a 580km range, while the Plaid version is 0.5sec behind the manic sedan (at 2.6sec) and has a 262km/h V-max and 547km range.