Few cars have been rewritten as often as the Tesla Model S. It launched as a bold bet from a young carmaker and grew into a 1,020 hp saloon that embarrassed supercars. Along the way, Tesla kept changing it, sometimes with new hardware and sometimes with nothing more than a software update. Here's how it got from there to here.
2012: The upstart
Production of the first Founders Series cars began in June 2012, with a rear-motor Model S in 85 and P85 form. Months later, Motor Trend named it the 2013 Car of the Year. It was the first electric car to win the award, and the first winner chosen unanimously, with the magazine calling it one of the quickest four-door saloons ever built.
2014 to 2015: Dual motors, Insane and Ludicrous
In October 2014, Tesla revealed the dual-motor P85D, adding a front motor for all-wheel drive, along with new Autopilot hardware on every new Model S. Its party trick was Insane mode. In July 2015, Tesla turned it up again with Ludicrous mode on the P90D, quoting 0 to 60 mph in around 2.8 seconds and a quarter mile in 10.9.
2016: A new face and the P100D
In April 2016, the Model S dropped its black oval nose cone for a body-coloured front end, adaptive LED headlights and a HEPA cabin filter. That August came the P100D with a 100 kWh battery. With Ludicrous mode, Tesla quoted 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds and said only the LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder were quicker among production cars.
2019: Raven and simpler names
In 2019, Tesla gave the Model S a permanent-magnet front motor, first seen in the Model 3, together with adaptive air suspension. Owners called this version Raven. The line-up was also simplified to Standard Range, Long Range and Performance, and the Long Range was rated at up to 370 miles.
2021: Plaid
The biggest change came in 2021. The cabin was redesigned around a landscape 17-inch touchscreen and the controversial yoke steering wheel. The headline act was the Plaid: a Tri-Motor All-Wheel Drive powertrain with torque vectoring and carbon-sleeved rotors, rated at 1,020 hp, with a 200 mph top speed. The first cars were handed over at Fremont in June 2021. A planned Plaid+ was cancelled before it reached customers.
2023: Proving it on track
Straight-line speed was never in doubt, so the Plaid went to the Nürburgring. In June 2023, a car fitted with the new Track Pack lapped the Nordschleife in 7:25.231, an official time for an electric production car.
2025: The final refresh
The last update arrived in 2025, around 13 years after the first car was built. It focused on refinement rather than raw numbers: a quieter cabin with better insulation, new wheel designs, improved aerodynamics, revised bushings and suspension, a new front bumper camera, adaptive driving beam headlights, dynamic ambient lighting and a new Frost Blue paint.
The legacy
Few cars have changed as much over their lives as the Model S did. The car that started as an upstart finished as the benchmark. The story ends with the Signature Series, its final, limited run.
