Refreshed Tesla Model S Seen Track Testing - Teslarati

Two days ago I reported on the first image of refreshed Model S & X sighting in Tesla’s Fremont, California Factory clad in white fabric. And now we have a report coming from Teslarati saying they were able to obtain photographs of the refreshed Model S testing in the Fremont test track.

This further corroborates earlier reports by members of The kilowatts youtube channel who have been doing multiple drive-bys around Tesla’s Fremont factory. In their drive-bys, they were able to spot four instances of the refreshed Model S driving around the Fremont plant.

The vehicles they spotted had dealer plates. This makes the chances of the vehicles they spotted being some aftermarket modification to the body highly unlikely.

As you can see from the video above the new Model S looks practically the same as the old one except for some minor differences. The body is slightly wider similar to the Plaid version of the Model S announced at Tesla’s Battery Day event.

In addition to the minor changes to the width of the body, the vehicles also seem to have added new front diffusers, a larger air intake, a new wheel design, a sleeker fog light, and other minor changes.

Tesla stopped manufacturing the Model S back on December 14. The halt in production was expected to last for 18 days, which would mean Tesla might have begun producing refreshed versions of the Model S & X starting from January 5.

As of now, Tesla hasn’t said anything about a new Model S or X. However, the halt in production; the vehicles with dealer plate being seen driving around the Fremont factory and the same new model being spotted testing on the Fremont track makes it all but sure a refreshed Model S is in the works.

As of now, it is not yet clear if Tesla has updated the interior of the Model S and X. The consensus among the Tesla community is Tesla will make the interior of its larger vehicles closer to Mode 3 and Y. This would mean a change of the interior touch screen layout to portrait.

However, according to Teslarati in the images of the Model S they got testing in the Fremont track, they didn’t see a screen sticking out above the dashboard. In Model 3 & Y, the touch screen can be seen from the outside of the vehicle.

Other changes to come I expect with the refresh are a move to Tesla’s newest 4680 batteries, a single piece cast for the front and back of the vehicle, and the first Tesla vehicles to have a structural battery pack.

If this comes to be true, Tesla will surely introduce new vehicles with much better specs and potentially for the same price. This would make the vehicles even better value for money than they already are.

So what do you think? Are you excited about the Model S & X refresh? Do you believe the vehicles seen by Teslarati and The Kilowatts is the new Model S? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below.

For more information check out: Tesla Says Engineer Stole Code Worth 200 Years Of Work Automating Entire Process Of The Company Also, see Tesla’s Texas Gigafactory Receives Parts For The Giga Presses To Build The Model Y

Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and The evolution of the EV space on a daily basis for several years. He covers everything about Tesla from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at
@TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.