Tesla will hold the Signature Edition delivery event for the final Model S and Model X ever built on Tuesday, May 12, 2026 at its Fremont, California factory, according to the official invitation shared by Sawyer Merritt on X. The invitation has started going out to the 350 buyers who ordered one of the Plaid-only farewell cars: 250 Model S and 100 Model X units, each stickered at $159,420 before a $1,390 destination fee.
The email describes the event as an “invite-only celebration of the first of the last deliveries of Model S and Model X Signature Edition, ever.” Attendees can purchase Signature Edition merchandise, enjoy refreshments, and potentially take delivery on-site. RSVPs close at midnight on Friday, April 24. Tickets are non-transferable, IDs are checked at the door, attendees must be 18 or older, and plus-ones are permitted. For a company that has avoided public delivery events since the Cybertruck handover in November 2023, the Fremont gathering is the last one Tesla is ever likely to hold for these two cars.
The 350 Signature Editions Are The End Of A 14-Year Production Run
The Signature Edition is the last production run of the Model S and Model X before the Fremont assembly lines are converted for Optimus humanoid robot manufacturing. Elon Musk announced the discontinuation on the Q4 2025 earnings call in January, confirming the two flagships would be retired this year.
Both Signature cars are Plaid tri-motor variants painted in Garnet Red with a white premium interior. The Model S Signature rides on 21-inch Velarium wheels, with carbon ceramic brakes carrying gold calipers, color-matched Garnet Red door handles, and gold-piped Alcantara sport seats. Tesla rates it at 309 miles EPA estimated, with a top speed of 200 mph and a claimed 0-60 mph in 1.99 seconds.
The Model X Signature is offered only in the six-seat configuration, rides on 22-inch Machina wheels, and carries an EPA estimated range of 303 miles. Tesla quotes a top speed of 163 mph and 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds. Both cars include gold Tesla badges, gold Plaid badging, Signature edition numbering on the dash, a Signature liftgate appliqué, and a dedicated key fob.
Every Signature Edition is bundled with the Luxe Package: four years of premium service, lifetime Full Self-Driving (Supervised), lifetime Supercharging, and lifetime premium connectivity. The total out-the-door price, before tax and registration, is $160,810.
A $50,000 No-Resale Clause Is Baked Into The Purchase Agreement
Each Signature Edition contract includes a no-resale provision for the first year after delivery. If an owner tries to sell, Tesla has right of first refusal at the original price minus 25 cents per mile plus refurbishment costs. Breach triggers liquidated damages of $50,000, and Tesla has reserved the right to seek injunctive relief to block title transfers. The structure is designed to keep the cars with the people who ordered them, not collectors flipping them on Bring a Trailer in July. Ferrari uses something similar on limited builds, but explicit $50,000 penalty language is aggressive by mainstream automotive standards.
The Fremont Line Pivots To Optimus Immediately After
Tesla stopped custom Model S and Model X orders at the end of March and ended regular production in early April. The Fremont assembly area that built these cars is being retooled for Optimus, with Musk targeting one million humanoid robots per year. As EVXL noted in our March analysis of Tesla’s business mix, the company is shutting down proven revenue from the S and X to bet on a product that has not yet demonstrated reliable commercial performance.
Sales of the two cars had already collapsed. Combined annual deliveries fell to fewer than 19,000 units in 2025, a fraction of the Fremont line’s roughly 100,000-unit capacity. Buyers now face a narrower Tesla lineup dominated by the Model 3, Model Y, and Cybertruck. Competitors filling the high-end void include the Lucid Air, Lucid Gravity, and Rivian R1S. The 2025 Model S Plaid refresh was a surface update rather than a structural one, and those incremental improvements now close out the platform’s life.
EVXL’s Take
A proper send-off for the car that made Tesla a real company is the right move. The 2012 Model S is the single most important EV of the modern era. It is the car that proved a long-range electric luxury sedan could exist, work, and embarrass established German luxury brands at the stoplight.
The contrarian read is harder. Tesla is winding down two of the most iconic EVs in history to build humanoid robots, and the product pipeline that should replace them does not exist. No refreshed S and X successor. No new flagship. The Model Y refresh is complete. The Cybertruck is fading. We covered the 620,000-unit gap BYD opened over Tesla in 2025, and the competitive pressure is building, not easing.
I drove a 2023 Model S Plaid for a weekend in upstate New York the summer before last. The acceleration is what everyone talks about, but what stuck with me was the quiet at 80 mph on the Taconic, the one-pedal regen feel through the hills near Rhinebeck, and the then-new 17-inch landscape screen that made the older portrait unit feel like a different car. The platform earned its legacy. It also showed its age. A decade-old interior architecture cannot hide forever, no matter how quick the car is in a straight line.
Here is my prediction: within 24 months, Tesla will quietly revive the Model S and Model X nameplates on the new unboxed-production platform when Optimus revenue fails to materialize at the pace Musk has promised. The S and X are not gone because buyers stopped wanting flagships. They are gone because Tesla wants the factory floor for a bet that has not paid off yet. The May 12 event is a goodbye. It may not be a permanent one.
EVXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo.
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