AutoCensus
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Makes / Tesla / Model S

Model S

Tesla · on record 2014 to 2025

The Tesla Model S was the car that established Tesla as a serious premium manufacturer, combining a large hatchback body with long battery range, strong performance and over the air software updates. Early British buyers were often technology enthusiasts or premium car users willing to adopt electric driving before it became mainstream. The model's significance is greater than its volume because it demonstrated that an electric car could replace a fast executive saloon.

DECLINING

Red List classification, from population, five year trajectory and survival against peak. Reviewed each census.

10,090 licensed vehicles
2025 census

97.5% of the peak fleet remains licensed

290
declared SORN
 
total surviving

peak 10,349 in 2021  ·  −52 vehicles a year, five year trend

Population history

Licensed and SORN vehicles at each census. The filters below apply to the family population, MOT and registration figures. They do not alter the generation history above.

Licensed SORN Latest census observation SOURCE DVLA VEH0120 / VEH0220

At the average decline recorded over the latest five years, the licensed fleet would reach zero around 2220.

Illustrative projection only; vehicle populations rarely decline linearly. Late fleets typically flatten as surviving examples enter preservation.

Inside the surviving fleet

AutoCensus parses every DVLA variant description, so the fleet can be read by fuel and specification rather than as one number.

First registrations by year

When surviving examples first joined the British fleet.

New registrations

Vehicles first registered each year. A fleet still being sold shows here; a finished one shows only imports.

MOT reliability

DVSA test results for this family, 2014 to 2025.

 
Pass rate by year
Failure reason Failures Share of all tests
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements 2,566 3.9%
A tyre cords visible or damaged 2,023 3.1%
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view 1,039 1.6%
A tyre seriously damaged 1,010 1.5%
Wiper blade defective 786 1.2%
A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn 774 1.2%
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen 765 1.2%
A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn 748 1.1%

Counted across every recorded test, 2014 to 2025. Advisories are excluded.

Where the Model S remains

Based on MOT test locations, 2025. Test location is a proxy: a vehicle is counted where it was last tested, not where it is kept.

Postcode area Vehicles tested Pass rate
GL 358 70%
B 273 86%
GU 257 82%
RG 252 83%
NW 251 89%
OX 208 79%
MK 195 79%
KT 184 82%
UB 183 93%
RH 169 77%
SW 167 89%
W 166 87%
LE 165 84%
E 163 93%
SL 163 83%
Show all 118 areas

How this record was calculated

LATEST CENSUS2025
POPULATION SOURCEDVLA VEH0220 annual
HISTORY SOURCEDVLA VEH0120 GB · to 2013
MOT SOURCEDVSA results · to 2025
FAMILY DEFINITIONTESLA MODEL S
PROCESSED20 Sep 2026
Full methodology

Population history combines DVLA VEH0120 Q4 census observations through 2013 with the annual VEH0220 census from 2014 onward. Figures before 2014 cover Great Britain only. Historical VEH0120 is used only when its overlapping UK observations reconcile to the current canonical family definition. Vehicles are grouped into this family using the DVLA GenModel together with durable routing rules for known inconsistencies.

Variant figures are parsed from raw DVLA model descriptions and the original string is always retained. Configuration is only assigned where the model description explicitly identifies it; a blank configuration is not treated as a two door Wrangler. Blank transmission fields are shown as manual because DVLA records the field for automatic vehicles.

MOT figures count tests, not vehicles, and geographic figures count each vehicle at its most recent test location. The decline projection is a straight line fitted to the latest five years and is illustrative only.