Tesla Raises Prices For Once
The effects of depreciation have been astronomical lately, that is if you're an EV owner. Tesla and Fisker pricing, in particular, has fluctuated significantly, with Fisker slashing the sticker price of its Ocean SUV by $24,000 last week. But Tesla is bucking this trend, as it announces pricing increases for its Model Y crossover today.
Across the Model Y lineup, Tesla is adding $1000 on top of the current MSRP, with the base variant of the Model Y starting at $44,990. Long-range Model Y units now start at $49,990 while the performance edition starts at $53,490, according to Tesla's website. These increases come as promised on April 1, after Tesla dropped Model Y prices by $1000 in February.
Musk justified the price hike, as Reuters reported in mid-March, claiming that demand is seasonal, and shifting the MSRP around helped bump up winter sales and even out spring to summer.
The addition of $1000 is comparatively small to Tesla's previous cuts, which spurred on an over-year-long EV pricing war with manufacturers like Ford. At its peak last January, Tesla dropped prices by $6700 for the Model Y, up to $9000 for the Model 3, and a whopping $21,000 for the flagship Model S Plaid. Naturally, used prices for all Tesla models followed suit, with data from iSeeCars showing a 5.2% drop across the Tesla lineup last year.
The short-term effects of these price cuts have also manifested on a commercial scale, as once EV-heavy car rental company Hertz attempts to offload hundreds of Tesla Model 3 units. Hertz claims the decision to jettison its Model 3 fleet stemmed from high repair costs, but the steady devaluation of its expensive fleet also played a significant role, with former CEO Stephen Scherr stepping down in March.
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