{"id":5797,"date":"2021-10-20T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-20T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/?p=5797"},"modified":"2026-10-30T10:25:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T10:25:47","slug":"model-x-rinnovamento-2021-prime-consegne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/model-x-rinnovamento-2021-prime-consegne\/","title":{"rendered":"Model X: the 2021 refresh reaches its first customers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>News from 20 October 2021.<\/strong> This archive article was prepared in October 2026. We revisit the Model X refresh announced in January and the first deliveries confirmed in the third-quarter update.<\/p>\n<p>The 2021 <strong>Model X<\/strong> retained a familiar name, but the move to the new version went well beyond a few cosmetic changes. Tesla was reworking the SUV\u2019s electrical systems and cabin, opening a second phase in the model\u2019s history. The change also required a new industrial start: presenting a car and delivering it to customers remained two separate milestones.<\/p>\n<nav aria-label=\"Contents\">\n<p><strong>In this article<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#progetto\">The design changes beneath the bodywork<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#plaid\">What Plaid meant for Model X<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#consegne\">From announcement to first deliveries<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav>\n<h2 id=\"progetto\">Model X: a thoroughly revised design<\/h2>\n<p>On 27 January 2021, alongside its 2020 results, Tesla presented the Model S and Model X update. The programme included all-new interiors, exterior changes and a revised powertrain. It was therefore more than a different arrangement of controls: the work involved central vehicle components.<\/p>\n<p>The battery pack and modules had been redesigned, while the motors adopted technology developed for Model 3 and Model Y. A heat pump was also introduced, aiming to improve winter range. The interest was mainly practical: making better use of available energy in cold months, when heating adds to driving requirements. The actual benefit would still depend on usage conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Understanding the scale of the change means separating this revision from a software update. A new battery pack or thermal system is part of how a car is built; an earlier Model X does not receive those components by downloading a new software version. Continuity in the commercial name does not make all generations interchangeable.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"plaid\">Plaid replaces Performance<\/h2>\n<p>Another change concerned the top version. Performance gave way to the <strong>Model X Plaid<\/strong>, with three motors and a new rotor solution for high speed and power. Plaid therefore identified a technical configuration as well as becoming the best-known name for the performance variant.<\/p>\n<p>This is also useful when reading news from the period: the acceleration figures advertised for the Model S Plaid cannot automatically be applied to the SUV. The two cars shared the refresh programme but remained different models. Similarly, a recent photograph of a Plaid does not by itself document the exact configuration of the first cars delivered in 2021.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"consegne\">October\u2019s confirmation and the work in Fremont<\/h2>\n<p>On 20 October, in its third-quarter update, Tesla said the Model X production ramp and first deliveries had begun. In January, restarting production and subsequently increasing volumes were still forecasts; by autumn, the model\u2019s return to customers was confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>This did not mean immediate availability in every market. The restart took place at the Fremont factory in California, in a context still affected by supplies, transport and production. Model availability therefore had to be distinguished from the status of an individual order: no single schedule had been announced for every destination, including Italy.<\/p>\n<p>2021 thus marked a specific transition: the Model X\u2019s fundamental components were renewed, and deliveries resumed after the industrial changeover. Read today, that news helps separate the project\u2019s announcement from its actual introduction, without turning expectations from that time into promises that still apply.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><small><strong>Sources:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalassets.tesla.com\/tesla-contents\/image\/upload\/IR\/TSLA-Q4-2020-Update\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tesla\u2019s Q4 and full-year 2020 update, 27 January 2021<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalassets.tesla.com\/tesla-contents\/image\/upload\/IR\/TSLA-Q3-2021-Quarterly-Update\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tesla\u2019s Q3 2021 update, 20 October 2021<\/a>.<\/small><\/p>\n<p><small><strong>Cover:<\/strong> 2023 Model X Plaid, an archive photograph by <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:23_Tesla_Model_X_Plaid.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HJUdall<\/a>, taken on 27 September 2023 and made available under <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC0<\/a>. It does not depict the first 2021 deliveries. The photograph has been cropped and overlaid with Teslhub graphics.<\/small><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tesla announced a deeply revised Model X in January 2021 and confirmed the first deliveries in October. A look at its powertrain, cabin and production transition.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-model-x"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5797"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5800,"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5797\/revisions\/5800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teslhub.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}