BTS. The Pussycat Dolls. “Scrubs.” It’s en vogue these days to make a comeback.
Could Tesla’s recently discontinued electric cars — the Model S and Model X — eventually join the trend?
Lars Moravy, Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering, left the door open for the luxury sedan and SUV model revivals in an interview with the “Ride the Lightning” podcast released this weekend.
“It was just like: now is not the right time to keep this one going,” he said about the decision to ax the cars. “That doesn’t mean it goes away forever. Never say never.”
To be clear, Moravy did not say Tesla is actively working on a new Model S or Model X — but he also did not rule it out.
He also offered a fresh reason for the car’s discontinuation: global crash-test requirements.
“Every five years or so, Euro NCAP updates their protocols,” Moravy said, adding that Tesla wants to make “the safest cars on the road,” which requires structural updates.
The platform “was never designed for” some newer crash cases, he said, including small-overlap and offset tests. Tesla had made “band-aids along the way,” but he said keeping the vehicles compliant would require “a massive overhaul.”
Tesla has previously said the cars were discontinued because of new business goals. During a January earnings call, CEO Elon Musk said the automaker was giving the vehicles an “honorable discharge” as it shifted its focus toward autonomous vehicles and robotics.
The final Model S and Model X units rolled off the Fremont, California, production line in mid-May as the plant began transforming into an assembly line for Tesla’s Optimus robot.
On the podcast, Moravy said Tesla sold about 750,000 Model S and Model X cars during their lifetime. When asked directly if the Model S and Model X could make a comeback, he said the vehicles “have done a great job for us in what they needed to do.”
The podcast also included an update on Tesla’s long-awaited second-generation Roadster. Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s chief designer, said the company plans to build the two-door sports car in Texas.
“We’ve made, you know, first plans on that, and I think you’ll see a lot of things start to unfold in the next months,” von Holzhausen said.
Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
