Not Just Gas: Tesla Raises Prices Across the Board

June 17, 2022 Topic: Tesla Blog Brand: The Buzz Tags: TeslaElon MuskInflationTwitterTesla Model 3Tesla Model S

Not Just Gas: Tesla Raises Prices Across the Board

The price increase comes amid the ongoing saga related to Musk’s planned purchase of Twitter.

Tesla last week announced that it was laying off 10 percent of its staff after CEO Elon Musk said he had a "super bad feeling” about the direction of the economy and would "pause all hiring worldwide." The company had nearly 100,000 employees as of the end of last year. 

A new report says Tesla has raised prices across the board on its cars. 

According to Electrek, the company has “significantly increased the prices of its electric cars across its entire lineup with some models going up by as much as $6,000.” The website cited Tesla’s online configurator for the new prices. 

The report stated that the price of the Tesla Model 3 has gone from $54,490 to $57,990. Both versions of the Tesla Model Y are getting more expensive, with the Model Y Long Range going from $62,990 to $65,990 and the Model Y Performance rising in price from $67,990 to $69,990. 

The Model S has increased from $99,990 to $104,990, even on top of a $5,000 price increase from earlier this year. And the Model X Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive Long Range also got its second price increase of the year, going from $114,990 to $120,990. 

Electrek speculated that “increases in raw material prices and logistic costs” are the reason for the rising prices, as well as a backlog of previous orders for the cars. 

“Therefore, Tesla has to try to predict cost increases for around the time that it will be producing those vehicles 6 to 12 months from now,” the site said. “Or Tesla could just be looking to increase its gross margins. While the company was complaining about increasing costs during its price increases last year, its gross margins on vehicles have consistently increased over the last year.”

Tesla’s stock price has decreased in recent months, going from a high of $1,199 a share on January 3 to $699 on Thursday. This is part of the continuing trouble for tech stocks this year, as well as the ongoing saga related to Musk’s planned purchase of Twitter. 

“This seems to suggest investors have doubts about whether Musk will get the deal done at the original price, despite the fact that he recently lined up more than $7 billion in financing from an impressive group of investors that includes mutual fund powerhouse Fidelity, venture capital giant Sequoia and Oracle (ORCL) co-founder Larry Ellison,” CNN said in May. At the end of May, Musk announced that he was no longer borrowing against his Tesla stake to finance the Twitter deal. 

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives

Image: Reuters.