Tesla stops selling 75kWh Model S and X on Monday

Tesla will stop selling the lowest-range versions of its Model S sedans and Model X SUVs on January 14, its chief executive officer Elon Musk says in a tweet.

These have a 75kWh battery providing a 400km range for the Model S and a 380km range for the Model X.

Higher-end versions of both models with the 100kWh pack will still be made and sold by Tesla – at a higher price, CNBC reports.

Tesla did not respond to CNBC enquiries as to why the S and X offerings were pared back, or whether any team reviewed Musk’s tweet before he shared it.

The move may push prospective customers to buy Tesla’s high-end Model 3 sedans instead.

Reducing the number of variations of Model S and X vehicles that Tesla makes may help the company control costs, or reallocate materials and labour to other initiatives, such as Model 3 production at its packed car plant in Fremont, California, or spare parts production in nearby Lathrop, CNBC speculates.

Meanwhile, Musk recently tweeted a story about Tesla’s high loyalty among fans based on research done by consumer reporting agency Experian.

EV owners (regardless of brand) have a high propensity for loyalty, Experian says.

“Tesla owners show an even higher make loyalty rate than EV customers as a whole. More than four in five Tesla customers – 80.5% – buy or lease another Tesla when they return to market. Tesla has the highest level of make loyalty in the industry, ahead of Subaru at 72.1% and Ford at 72%.”