Tesla Kills Models S and X

The various non-truck models of Tesla aren’t known for looking super distinct from one another. If you’re like me, when you see a Tesla on the road you sort of have to squint to tell the Tesla Models S and X from the more common—and cheaper—Models Y and 3. This irksome game may have just gotten easier, because Models S and X are being killed off.

Eagle-eyed Tesla watchers may have noticed that Models S and X looked like they were in trouble last summer when Tesla stopped taking orders in Europe. Then on an earnings call on Wednesday, Musk confirmed our suspicions, announcing the end of production for both product families.

The soon-to-be-discontinued Model S is the oldest model actively produced, having been around since 2012. It was more or less the replacement for the Roadster, the car that you probably just identified as “oh look a Tesla†when it was new. The doomed X, a luxury crossover SUV, came along three years later to serve the American taste for cars that are tall. The X is also the one with doors like the Back to the Future car.

The remaining non-Cybertruck models are the Model 3, also known as “the cheapest one,†and the Model Y, also known as “the cheaper crossover SUV.â€

“We expect to wind down S and X production next quarter and basically stop production,†said Musk on the Wednesday earnings call, “That is slightly sad, but it’s time to bring the S and X programs to an end, and it’s part of our overall shift to an autonomous future.â€

As my colleague Zac Estrada noted, part of the purpose behind the discontinuations is, ostensibly, Tesla’s plan to build robots. The company needs to free up space in its Fremont, California plant for mass production of Tesla Optimus bots—millions of them. 

Telsa has no choice but to take some big swings like this as it attempts to fulfill Elon Musk’s outlandish promises made in recent years, pivoting from being a car company to an automation company. Never mind that automation is more of a vague concept than a product—encompassing software, robotic factories, self-driving equipment, data, and that sort of thing.

Musk is essentially telling investors not to be sentimental about outmoded ideas such as Tesla being a car company. He says his robots are the future of medical care, and that in fact they are going to literally make everyone rich. No seriously, he claims his humanoid robot is going to “eliminate poverty and provide universal high income for all.â€

So who needs a couple dumb old “cars†that can “make money for his company†when he’s selling a dream, and he’s not selling it to customers, but to investors. What’s more, Wall Street is, somehow, continuing to gobble that dream right up.