Following months of Irish Tesla Model S and Model X customers being told that their order would be given a final price once production of the car was taking place, that production will no longer be taking place. According to an official statement by Tesla, the Model S and Model X will no longer be available in right-hand-drive for Ireland nor the UK.
Irish customers who have an unfulfilled order for either of the two largest Tesla models have been given three options by the US-based electric car brand. They can switch their order to a smaller Model 3 or Model Y, and receive a €2,000 credit against the prices of those cars for doing so. Or, they can simply choose to have their deposit refunded, and go and buy a different car from a different brand.
Or, and this is an intriguing option, they can opt to take delivery of a left-hand drive Model S or Model X from existing inventory. All of these models come with UK pricing for the moment, but Tesla is offering customer who are happy to go with left-hand-drive models, the bonus of three years’ unlimited free access to Tesla’s Supercharger fast charging network.
The Model S and Model X versions in inventory do include the three-motor ‘Plaid’ versions, which have 1,020hp and can hit 100km/h from rest in as little as 2.1secs. Some are listed as being available for ‘immediate delivery’, ex-Southampton while others are still coming into stock.
Former Christian Brother jailed for abusing children was ‘like a dark shadow’ in victims’ lives
The Unicorn restaurant review: Legendary Dublin hotspot returns, but does the magic?
The secret loves of property writers: Our top 10 favourite homes of 2024
Jet stream that affects Ireland’s weather is seeing increased ‘wobbles’. Here’s what that may mean
There are limits to these offers, though. According to paperwork shown to The Irish Times, the offer to get the €2,000 off the price of a Model 3 or Model Y will expire on June 30th of this year, as will the offer to get three years free Supercharging on a left-hand drive Model S or Model X.
What’s not clear is whether this is a permanent move. Both the Model S and Model X are the oldest designs in Tesla’s lineup, and while both were given a significant interior overhaul in the past two years, it’s been clear that they have needed new-generation models to compete with increasingly talented rivals from Mercedes, BMW, and Audi not to mention the encroaching Chinese brands.
So far, there has not been any sign of second-generation versions of either car, and Tesla insiders have said that the dropping of right-hand drive models is to allow for speedier building of existing S and X orders, to focus more heavily on the quality of those cars (which has often been criticised), and to allow engineers to work on other vehicle programmes — the much-delayed Cypertruck pickup and the putative compact Tesla Model 2 among them.
The ending of right-hand-drive production for the Model S and Model X will leave some Tesla customers in a quandary — those who don’t fancy a left-hand-drive version anyway. The Model 3 has both high performance and long range on its side, but it doesn’t have the space or luxury of the Model S, nor the ultra-high performance Plaid version. Likewise the Model Y doesn’t have the cabin room of the Model X, nor — crucially — does it have the option of a seven-seat layout in Europe. There is a seven-seat version of the Model Y available in the US market, but so far it has not been okayed for European sale.
Will that now change? And more importantly, does this mean that the next-generations of Model S and Model X will continue to be only for left-hand-drive markets? Have Ireland and the UK essentially been abandoned by Tesla, except for its most compact models?
