Tesla Advertises The Model S For $500 A Month, But It Actually Costs $1,199 A Month

Essentially, Musk’s plan is this: Tesla and Wells Fargo will offer 10 percent down financing on a Model S, with the down payment offset by a minimum $7,500 tax credit for electric cars. From there, the loan will last for five and a half years, but there’s also a lease-like component: after 36 months, you can sell the car back to Tesla if you want to trade it out or move on. Either way, though, you’ll be paying $1,199 a month for the $72,400 85-kWh model, or $1,051 a month for the $62,400 60-kWh one. So how does Tesla get that number down to $543, as it prices the 85-kWh plan? It rolls in the savings you’ll get from owning an electric car.