Tesla Ending Production Of Model S 60 kWh

If you're desperate to own a Tesla, on a budget, and can't wait for the Model 3's scheduled release later this year, you better act fast. The iconic electric car-maker has revealed that it's discontinuing the Model S that comes with a 60 kilowatt-hour battery, in other words its cheapest vehicle currently available. The Model S 60kWh has a starting price of $68,000, but once this goes away the lowest-priced option will be the 75kWh version for $74,500 before any tax incentives.

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Tesla says April 16th is the cutoff date for placing an order for the Model S 60kWh. After that, customers will either need to splurge extra for the 75kWh battery model, or wait for the upcoming Model 3 sedan, which will start around $35,000. The company notes that while they began offering the 60kWh model a year ago to make owning an electric car more affordable, most buyers have ended up going for the Model S 75kWh.

One year ago, we introduced the Model S 60 kWh battery as a more affordable option to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles. However, most customers ended up buying an equivalent to the Model S 75kWh. To simplify the ordering process for our customers, we will be removing the 60 kWh option from our lineup.

Customers who still want the opportunity to own a 60 kWh Model S will have until April 16, 2017 to place their order. Any 60 kWh Model S will have the ability to upgrade their battery to 75 kWh via an over the air update.

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Interestingly, the 60kWh models Tesla has produced since last spring have actually had the 75kWh battery pack installed, but buyers were limited to using just 80% of its capacity. Later, if they decided they wanted the full capacity of the 75kWh battery, which would grant the vehicle more range between charges, they could pay a one-time $9,500 fee to remove the limit via a software update.

It seems Tesla will stick to that plan for these last Model S 60kWh vehicles to be sold, giving users the chance to "upgrade" to a 75kWh version down the road.

VIA Electrek

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