- Tesla has removed the standard-range Model S from its website.
- The company cut prices on the Model S and the Model X this month before raising them again.
Tesla has quietly removed the standard-range option for its Model S vehicle from its online ordering portal.
The vehicle equipped with a standard-range battery sold for $79,000 as recently as Thursday. Now, the cheapest option, the long-range model, begins at $89,500 before incentives like tax rebates and gas savings.
A Tesla representative said the company was seeking to simplify its product lineup.
Prices of both the Model S and the Model X increased by about 3% this week in a delayed move that partially counteracted a 6% price cut from March 1. The company paired the price cut with its decision to close most of its retail stores, a plan it also backpedaled on when it said it would keep more stores open than originally expected.
As the first quarter comes to a close at the end of March, Tesla is once again in an all-hands-on-deck push to deliver finished cars to customers. Sanjay Shah, the company's vice president, told employees earlier this week that the company needed to deliver 30,000 cars over the last 15 days of the quarter to meet internal targets. CEO Elon Musk doubled down on the importance of deliveries Thursday afternoon, telling employees that everyone's primary focus should be deliveries.
More Tesla news:
- Elon Musk emailed every single Tesla employee saying car deliveries should be their 'primary priority' in what he's calling the biggest wave in company history
- Tesla is suing former employees, accusing them of stealing confidential information and giving it to robo-taxi rival Zoox
- SEC rebukes Musk, says his tweet about Tesla vehicle production was a 'blatant violation' of court settlement