Elon Musk’s campaign to eliminate false grilles has won a very important battle, on the very face of their flagship product: the newly-facelifted Tesla Model S will have a false-grille-less front, very similar to the Tesla Model X. Just like we thought it would.
Official photos just released from Tesla confirm the leaked images we saw earlier, showing a mildly-refreshed Model S that replaces the outgoing Model S’ glossy black ovoid grille-replacement panel with the more subtle ‘moustache’ seen on the Model X.
These grille-unencumbered noses also connect aesthetically to the Model 3's Renault Floride-like face, defining Tesla’s corporate look as one that shuns the usual definer of automotive familial identity, the grille. Good for Tesla – the result is sleek, clean, and very striking. It’s lovely, and doesn’t look like every other hungry fish-mouthed premium sedan out there.
Does this suggest the Model 3 may be getting the Teslastache as well?
The headlights have been updated a bit as well, and, again, fit more with the ever-evolving Tesla corporate visual vocabulary.
Around the rear, the taillights have been updated slightly, with a darkened area visually braking the taillight from the side marker area, which, incidentally, also hides the charger port. Perhaps this was done to make the charging port access more visible?
Tesla also confirmed that the Model S will be getting the Model X’s ‘Bioweapon Defense Mode’ HEPA air filtration system, as well as getting a 48 amp charger (up 8 amps), and a choice of two new wood options for the interior’s woody bits.
To make sure the Model 3's pricing makes sense, the Model S’ price will likely rise, and we may see a new trim level, the bonkers P100D stupid-fast trim.
None of these are huge changes, but it’s a decent little mid-cycle facelift.
UPDATE: As some have pointed out in the comments, the configurator with the new pricing is already live online.
It looks like it starts at the low-end with the single-engine 70 at $67,400, and goes up to $128,900 for the P90D with all the options ticked.