The Tesla Model S has never received a from the ground-up all-new generation since it began production in 2012. Instead, Tesla has been focusing on small incremental changes to the sedan throughout its lifespan. That’s also the case with the updated version we see here. The photos come to us from a special private event held by Tesla in Taiwan, which were then shared on a Facebook group. As pointed out by Electrek, it’s not clear if the changes seen here are for the international Model S or if they will be applied to the North American version as well. From what we can tell, the exterior styling tweaks are subtle and limited to the front and rear ends.
At the back, gone is a crossbar trim piece
that used to link the rear taillights and which dated back to the very first
Model S. On some models, it was a bright-work chrome piece, while others had a
body-colored panel. It actually looks quite a lot like another Model S test car
that was spotted testing at a race track with active aero. The taillight
signature looks different in these pictures too. At the front of the Model S,
new headlights will light the way for 2022. Tesla owners believe them to be the
same internal components from the Model 3. That would be a great update as one
of the biggest complaints about the S is that it could use much better
headlights.
That complaint is quantifiable too as the
IIHS ranked the Model S as Poor when it came to headlights. Taking a look at
their test results says a lot about just how poor the Model S lights up the
road ahead. In addition to these changes, we got a sneak peek of a new charging
port on the Tesla Model X but not long after, the party got shut down. Tesla
Taiwan tweeted out that the event and the online stream had been canceled not
long after these unofficial pictures were posted. Then they covered the new
Model S with a sheet to ensure nobody else would snap photos. We expect them to
release their own soon enough.
