Tesla has just announced the first major redesign of the Model S since it launched the electric sedan in 2012. This new version, which will launch later this year, has a refreshed exterior, a simplified interior, and the option for a more powerful powertrain that lets the car travel at least 520 miles and go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in under 2 seconds. Tesla says that makes it the “fastest accelerating production car ever made.”
The new Model S has some light updates to the exterior of the car, but the biggest visual change is inside. Tesla has axed the portrait touchscreen in favor of one more like what’s found in the Model 3 and Model Y, though with far smaller bezels (like we’ve seen on the Cybertruck prototype). There’s also a stalkless U-shaped steering wheel, much like what we’ve seen in the forthcoming second-generation Roadster, and a screen behind the center console for rear-seat passengers. Unlike the Model 3 and Model Y, the new Model S still features a screen behind the steering wheel.
The new Model S starts at $79,990 for a “Long Range” dual-motor version that gets 412 miles of range. Or people can spend $119,000 for one with the new, more powerful “Plaid” powertrain that goes 390 miles with that sub-2 second 0–60 time. The “Plaid+” version with 520 miles starts at $139,000.
The Plaid and Plaid+ versions have top speeds of 200 miles per hour, while the Long Range tops out at 155 mph. Tesla says that the Plaid versions should be able to do five times as many quarter-mile runs than previous Model S sedans, thanks to the new powertrain and the new heat pump that was developed for the Model Y.
A Model S redesign has been rumored for years, with Electrek posting allegedly leaked renders of the new interior all the way back in 2018. Tesla CEO Elon Musk threw cold water on the idea in 2019, though, when he tweeted “[t]here is no ‘refreshed’ Model X or Model S coming.” Tesla instead was constantly making minor improvements to both vehicles, he said.
But that tune started to change once Tesla started testing out a new powertrain in 2019 dubbed “Plaid” — which, much like the “Ludicrous” acceleration mode in Tesla’s cars, is a Spaceballs reference.
Musk said at Tesla’s Battery Day event in September 2020 that the Plaid Model S would be coming in late 2021. But aside from the basic specs, and the addition of the car to its website, Tesla didn’t mention anything about a design refresh.
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