On January 27, Tesla announced that it would be revamping its Model S and Model X cars. These two vehicles will make up half of the Tesla model lineup, as well as the new technology and greater speed and distance capabilities within these models.
These are electric vehicles and with that comes the concern of mileage. These cars cannot be filled up with gas and charging stations are not available everywhere making it a daunting switch over. These cars improve the prior vehicle’s mileage with the cheapest model getting up to 340 miles or 390 miles for the Model X and S respectively according to The Verge. The highest-end Model S can now travel over 520 miles on one charge alone. In the past, the range of the base model could only reach around 259 miles per charge.
These cars do not come cheap. The new Model S starts at $79,990 and goes up from there to the Plaid+ version that costs upwards of $139,000. The Model X is similarly priced, starting at $83,190 for the base model and $113,190 for the long-range model. Although Colin Ryan of Kelly Blue Book wrote, “It still has that special Tesla appeal, the glorious acceleration that electric motors provide, and it isn’t too expensive in the grand scheme of things.”
The interiors of these vehicles also got a redesign to match their newer counterparts in the Tesla lineup. A large horizontal screen is the new entertainment system, and there is a screen in the back to entertain passengers in the back.
Controversially, the steering wheel has no top and looks like one seen in race cars and fighter jets. This new design could make it difficult for drivers to adapt to the different style where hand over hand steering and resting the hand on top of the wheel are made far more difficult.
Regardless of the faults, electric cars may be the future of automobiles, and the future looks promising for Tesla and other electric car companies as innovation continues at speeds their cars could never dream of driving.
