Tesla has lowered prices across its lineup of electric cars, the third time this year the automaker has lowered prices on at least some of its models.
The Associated Press reported that lowered prices appeared on Tesla’s website Friday. They show discounts of up to $5,000 for the Model S and Model X and $1,000 for the Model 3. The Model Y saw an effective $3,000 price cut with the addition of a new base model starting at $49,990. Previously, the least-expensive Model Y was the $52,990 Long Range version, the price of which is unchanged.
Tesla Supercharger
This follows January price cuts of up to 20% across Tesla’s lineup. Tesla then lowered Model S and Model X prices by up to $10,000 in March. It’s quite a change from 2022, when Tesla raised prices multiple times. Tesla hasn’t publicly stated a reason for the latest round of price cuts.
Tesla reported that it delivered 422,875 vehicles in the first quarter of 2023. While that total was 4% higher than the previous quarter and 36% higher year-over-year, it also marked the second quarter in a row in which Tesla produced significantly more vehicles than it delivered to customers. In the past four quarters, Tesla has made about 78,000 more vehicles than it’s sold, based on the automaker’s quarterly disclosures.
2023 Tesla Model S – Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
As the AP notes, this trend is occurring as Tesla continues to ramp up manufacturing capacity. In addition to its original Fremont, California, factory and newer factories in Austin, Texas, and Shanghai, the automaker brought a German plant online in 2022.
In February, market analysts predicted an EV price war, but outside of Tesla, prices have mostly held steady. The Ford Mustang Mach-E saw a price cut of up to $5,900 in January, but more recently Ford raised prices on the F-150 Lightning pickup truck for a fourth time.
