Tesla announces it won’t close majority of stores which means smaller price drops

Only two weeks ago the electric car maker announced store closures and big price drops but now it has done a U-turn.

2019 Tesla Model 3.

Tesla’s prices are on the way back up.

Two weeks ago Tesla announced that it would be closing all but a few of its most trafficked stores and switching to online sales.

This move was designed to make its vehicles about six per cent cheaper on average. More expensive versions experienced price drops significantly larger than six per cent — a top of the range Model S P100D was reportedly about $80,000 cheaper, a 33 per cent discount.

But Tesla boss Elon Musk announced today he would be keeping the majority of store locations open.

Only 10 per cent will close, while a further 20 per cent will be placed under review for several months to judge their effectiveness.

The backflip means prices will only drop by about three per cent on average.

The most affordable Tesla Model 3 won’t be affected by the price rise.

The brand’s cheapest car, the US$35,000 ($49,450) Standard Range Model 3 will remain the same price and all other Model 3, S and X versions will affected by the smaller price drop.

The formerly announced larger price drop is still valid on orders placed before March 18.

The brand remains committed to its online-only sales strategy, though. In store you can get details of the vehicles and be shown how to order online.

Tesla has also announced that it has cut charging times by an average of 50 per cent by upgrading its Supercharger network. The Superchargers can now pump 250kW of power per hour.

Top shelf Model S versions have received big discounts.

The new version three Supercharger can add 120km of range in just five minutes in the best case scenario. Tesla anticipates that the average charge time should now be about 15 minutes.

To aid the faster charging Tesla has added tech to warm the battery to optimal charging temperature when you put a Supercharger location into the navigation.

Porsche is claiming that its future Taycan electric sports car can charge its batteries to 80 per cent capacity in 15 minutes when hooked-up to a 350kW charger.

Audi’s coming e-tron electric SUV has a claimed charging rate of 80 per cent in 30 minutes when hooked up to a 150kW charging point. The Mercedes EQ C’s charging rate is a little slower than the Audi.