Image: Tesla
Tesla’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, Lars Moravy, has revealed exactly how the company managed to cut nearly 400 pounds from the 2026 Model X — a major engineering win that makes the refreshed SUV lighter, more efficient, and cheaper to build than ever. The details come from a new interview with Car and Driver published this week, and they offer one of the most granular breakdowns of Tesla’s weight-saving efforts to date.
According to Car and Driver, the updated Model X comes in at 5,219 pounds today — almost 400 pounds lighter than the early units tested back in 2016. Moravy told the publication that the original Model X was rushed to market, resulting in “less-than-elegant” engineering solutions and too many inherited Model S components. Years later, Tesla has gone back and re-engineered nearly every corner of the vehicle.
Moravy even joked during the interview that he incentivized his engineers by offering a case of beer for every kilogram saved. In a follow-up post on X, he clarified that he wasn’t joking at all, adding: “Mass is serious. I really do care that much. Mass is everything, safety, efficiency, attributes (like NVH), energy, consumption, cost, EVERYthing. If you don’t care about mass you don’t care about your customer… Hats off to the team that cut all that mass AND made a better and less expensive car.”
Image: Tesla
Some of the biggest savings came from the battery pack and motors. Switching the rear motor from induction to a permanent-magnet design, along with optimizing the half-shafts, removed about 100 pounds. A major battery pack overhaul — including denser cells, vertical module orientation, structural tweaks, and roughly 300 fewer cells — cut another 90 pounds without reducing usable capacity.
Interior revisions shaved almost 80 pounds thanks to thinner components, process changes, integrated airbag structures, and redesigned seating configurations. Tesla also trimmed 44 pounds with a high-voltage wiring redesign that swaps copper for aluminum, simplified the cooling system to drop 30 pounds, and introduced larger front and rear megacastings to go from eight castings to four, saving over 20 pounds while boosting stiffness by 10%.
Image: Tesla
Other changes include the shift to a lithium-ion 12-volt battery (-14 lbs), suspension tweaks (-10 lbs), thinner fascias (-10 lbs), and Tesla’s first cast refrigerant manifold (-3 lbs).
Tesla debuted the refreshed Model X and Model S in Europe last month, featuring more range and quieter cabins. And this isn’t the first time Moravy has given a fascinating glimpse into Tesla’s design philosophy as of late — last month, he explained why the new entry-level Model Y Standard ditches the panoramic glass roof found on pricier trims.
With the 2026 Model X now lighter than many gas-powered SUVs in its class, and offering more range than ever, Tesla’s relentless focus on mass reduction is clearly paying off.
