Tesla will spruce some life into its longest-running car with another styling update due in US showrooms later this year, but not destined for Australia.
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Another facelift for the Tesla Model S electric car has been caught on camera testing at Germany's Nurburgring race track, nearly 13 years after the original hit US roads.
It will be the third major styling update for the Model S – after overhauls in 2016 and 2021 – which is now one of the oldest new cars on sale in Tesla's home market.
There may never be an all-new model – as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has deemed large luxury cars not a priority for the US brand – and the update is not expected to reach Australia, as the 2021-onwards Model S cannot support right-hand drive.
Photographed in high-performance Plaid trim, the 2026 Model S wears a new front bumper with more angular air intakes akin to the smaller Model 3 Performance.
New 21-inch alloy wheels are visible, bearing a multi-spoke design similar to the alloys under the aero covers on the entry-level Model 3 sedan.
A camouflage wrap over the rear of the car can't hide the new rear bumper, which is also similar to the new Model 3 Performance.
The majority of the car is unchanged – including the lights and expensive-to-change sheet metal – so the 2026 update looks to be little more than yet another mild update.
There is every possibility it will introduce mechanical changes under the skin to improve upon the current Model S Plaid's 761kW tri-motor layout and 2.1-second claimed 0-100km/h acceleration time.
A 'Plaid+' variant was planned to form part of the line-up at the car's most recent facelift in 2021, claimed to deliver 820kW, and cover a claimed 840km on a charge in US testing, up from the normal Plaid's then-628km (now rated at 560km).
Plans for updated versions of the Model S and its Model X SUV sibling were confirmed by Tesla engineering boss Lars Moravy earlier this year.
"Just give it a minute. We’ll get there. The upgrade a few years ago was bigger than most people thought in terms of architecture and structure," Moravy said on the Ride the Lightning podcast, as quoted by Carscoops.
"We’ll give it some love later this year; we’ll make sure it gets some of the stuff we’ve been putting in [Model] 3 and Y.
"Everyone here has a little place in their heart for S/X. They are not going anywhere anytime soon."
It is unclear what "some of the stuff" from the Model 3 and Model Y entails, but it could range from small items such as ambient lighting and a front camera, to changes under the skin.
Either way, neither vehicle is expected to reach Australia, as plans to sell the current Model S and Model X locally were scrapped in 2023, two years after orders opened for local customers.
"I don't know the intimate details. We were taking reservations for that vehicle because we intended to deliver it," Tesla Australia country director Thom Drew recently told Drive.
"It was obviously a change by the product planning team quite late in the development where, unfortunately, we missed out on that in right-hand drive.
"From what I understand, there are some engineering difficulties in the vehicle that make it not possible to build it in right-hand drive, due to some decisions that were made.
"So it doesn't appear to be something that's going to be made in right-hand drive anytime soon."
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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. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
