At a time when the coronavirus pandemic is affecting every part of the global economy, many car companies are offering discounts, incentives, or special financing offers to boost sagging fortunes.
Electric automaker Tesla, which fought closure of its Fremont, CA factory in March and sued to restart production in May, is not immune from the effects of COVID-19 on its sales.
According to a report by Reuters, Tesla has reduced prices on all of its models except for the new Model Y crossover SUV. The popular Model 3 receives a price cut of $2,000, which means that the Standard Range Plus model starts at $37,990, not including taxes and fees. Reductions for the higher-end Model S sedan and Model X SUV are larger at $5,000, meaning a starting price of $74,990 for the former and $79,990 for the latter.
The only Tesla that doesn’t benefit from a discount is the all-new Model Y crossover ($52,990), which started making its way into customer driveways in late February, right before Tesla had to close its factory.
At the same time Tesla reduced prices, reports claim the Model S and Model X no longer qualify for free unlimited access to Tesla’s Supercharger network. Moving forward, Tesla estimates that owners will pay about $0.13 per kilowatt-hour for electricity on a nationally averaged basis.
Tesla prices and offers tend to fluctuate, so it’s unclear how long these discounts will remain available. Thanks to them, though, Tesla buyers can more easily justify the $7,000 price of the upcoming Full Self-Driving Capability software update, which Tesla says will allow its vehicles to drive semi-autonomously on limited-access highways. Once the planned Autosteer update is available, the automaker plans to expand capability to city streets.
Rumor has it the Full Self-Driving Capability feature will transition to a subscription service in the future, but with Tesla, you never know.
The information in this article is from Tesla and Reuters and was accurate as of May 28, 2020. It may have changes since that date.
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