Tesla plans to kick off European Model S & X deliveries this week

Tesla plans to hand over the first new Model S and X to customers in Europe this Friday. At least the official start of deliveries is planned then – because the first vehicles are already on the road.

++ This article has been updated. Kindly continue reading below. ++

The source of this information comes from entries in the TFF forum, according to which many of the Plaid vehicles have been spotted either on vans or already at Tesla delivery centres – for example in Hanover and Hamburg. When asked, Tesla employees at the locations are said to have stated that the vehicles are still to be refurbished so that they are in “pristine condition” when they are handed over – which is supposed to explain the further waiting time.

According to a customer’s video, a Model X Plaid has already been handed over to a customer in Hanover. Tesla is said to have called the customer on Friday last week to say that the vehicle had arrived. Tesla responded to the request to hand over the car on the same day without refurbishing it in order to “get the car off the lot”.

It had become clear that the first customer handovers were imminent. According to the model figures of the KBA, 106 Model S and 35 Model X were newly registered in November – these were probably demonstration vehicles, because the first influencers were already invited to test drive events and were able to drive the Plaid models.

Tesla had already presented the revised versions of the Model S and Model X at the beginning of 2021 – although the update is hardly noticeable from the outside due to the minimal changes to the body. The major changes were made to the drive and the interior, where the Yoke steering wheel was installed, for example. The Plaid version with three engines (one on the front axle, two on the rear axle) is new.

After the presentation in January 2021, deliveries were expected to start quickly. However, it took until June 2021 for the first Model S Plaid to be handed over to US customers – the first Model X Plaid was delivered in October. Then, almost exactly a year ago, Tesla imposed an order freeze for both models outside North America. At that time, the delivery of the first vehicles in Europe was also announced for November or December 2022 – which is now apparently true. Orders in Europe have been possible again since August 2022.

Update 02 January 2023

The first deliveries of the new Model S and Model X in Europe were scheduled for late 2022. This was confirmed by a number of reservation holders. The first customers took delivery of their vehicles before Christmas – both Plaid variants and the Long Range drives. Deliveries took place in Germany and the Netherlands.

teslarati.com, teslarati.com (update)