Tesla has trimmed the prices of its two most expensive electric vehicles — but the savings come with a hitch: On Monday, the automaker began offering a “standard-range” Model S with a sticker price of $78,490 and a version of the Model X that starts at $88,490 — knocking $10,000 off each car.
In exchange, they sacrifice battery: The standard-range Model S can go about 320 miles before recharging, while the Model X taps out at 269 miles.
In both cases, that’s a decline of about 80 miles from the extended-range models.
Tesla previously phased out shorter-range models in 2021, offering only long-range and high-performance Plaid versions of the Model S and Model X.
The spec pages for the two cars suggest they have the same battery pack as the extended-range models, TechCrunch reported, and that their range is being limited by a software lock. So it’s possible owners could access that additional power if they paid the price difference.
Tesla frequently tweaks its prices, often to meet quarterly goals. The cost of a Model S and Model X were lowered between 4% and 9% in March and knocked down another 2% to 6% in April. Later that same month, though, Tesla raised the sticker price on both by $2,500, but threw in three years of free Supercharging.
The company has delivered about 889,000 EVs in the first half of 2023, but is still behind on its goal of 1.8 million by year’s end.