Tesla Model Y shoppers have ridden quite the roller coaster in recent weeks. Back in January, Tesla launched the cheaper Standard Range model with an MSRP of $41,990, but just a couple of weeks later, it disappeared from Tesla’s website. Elon Musk said that the Standard Range Model Y was still available “off the menu,” but admitted that the crossover’s range of 244 miles was unacceptably low.
Meanwhile, Tesla also lowered the price of the Long Ranch Model Y by $1,000 and raised the price of the Performance Model Y by $1,000. Now, it has increased the price of the Long Range by $1,000, putting it back to its previous MSRP of $49,990.
The Tesla Model Y Long Range wasn’t the only model to receive a price increase, either. Both the Model 3 Standard Range Plus and Long Range Dual Motor models took a $500 increase, while the Model S Plaid+ jumped a whopping $10,000 – from $139,000 to $149,000. Of course, for Tesla fans, this sort of price manipulation is par for the course, as it routinely changes the MSRP of its vehicles from time to time.
On top of that, Tesla is quite secretive about why it changes its prices in the first place. Most are left to speculate the reasons behind these price cuts and increases, which generally revolve around parts availability, the cost of production and parts, and consumer demand.
On the flip side, the Ford Mustang Mach-E starts out at just $42,895 and is eligible for the federal tax credit of $7,500, which effectively lowers its cost to $35,395. However, as we saw just yesterday, the fact that the Mach-E is sold at traditional dealerships – not via a fixed-price, online model like Tesla – makes it subject to markups. But as we can see from Tesla’s constant price changes, the alternative isn’t always necessarily better, either.
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Comments
The Tesla fan boys are always touting the perceived advantage of buying factory direct. They are going to pay the full Tesla sticker price with no discounts or rebates. At least through a dealer network, customers can price shop. Maybe not so much on the Mach E today, but with the other models. As the Mach E gets more plentiful, we will see the normal Ford discounts kick in.
Tesla needs a redesign on all of its models, they’re get dated. When I saw the front end of the Mustang Mach-E I was surprised that it had some character. You look at the Tesla front end and it reminded me when you saw your girlfriend for the first time without makeup.
This whole Tesla price thing is getting ridiculous. It has basically no quality, no luxuries, and they just keep on raising their price. I mean they’re literally charging 10k just for their self driving feature that’s not even out yet when Ford has theirs standard or it’s under 1k and they have barely any extreme panel gaps. I wouldn’t be surprised if in 30 years we look at Tesla as one of the most successful failures. They simply can’t compete and their prices are outrageous for a car that any other automaker would charge maybe 35k for. Not to mention how ugly it is compared to the Mach-E and the Volvo XC40 and the fact that it doesn’t even have basic features such as a gage cluster right in front of the driver or even a heads up display which can cause extreme safety issues and Tesla owners think that their car is completely self driving and then they crash because they payed 10k for something they thought worked.