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2021 Tesla Model S facelift spied again

The upcoming 2021 Tesla Model S facelift has been spied testing again in the US, ahead of a likely reveal in the coming weeks or months.


Images published by Chinese website Autospy and American outlet Teslarati further reveal a handful of minor exterior tweaks for Tesla's largest sedan, led by a revised front bumper with larger lower air intakes.

Black trim features around the Model S's body – replacing chrome, suggesting the car could undergo the same 'blacked-out' treatment recently applied to the smaller Model 3 – while earlier spy photos have hinted at a restyled rear diffuser and tweaked LED lighting signatures.

However, what the latest round of images don't show is the updated Model S's cabin, which is expected to benefit from the most significant upgrades, headlined by a redesigned dashboard home to a large, tablet-style infotainment touchscreen similar to that fitted to the Model 3 and Model Y.

 

Drive

Mechanical changes under the skin are slated to revolve around the introduction of the range-topping, high-performance Plaid variant, first detailed in September 2020.

Set to go on sale in late 2021, the Plaid's three electric motors and enlarged battery pack send a combined 820kW to all four wheels, good for a 2.1-second 0-97km/h sprint, sub-nine-second quarter-mile (402m) time, 320km/h top speed, and an estimated driving range of over 840km on a charge.

Given the frequency of new spy photos, expect the 2021 Tesla Model S facelift – the car's second major update of its now nine-year lifecycle, following an exterior update in 2016 – to debut in full in the coming months, though an official date has yet to be locked in.

Drive
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Alex Misoyannis

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.

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