The Model S Is Gone, but Tesla Just Patented Its Design

The Model S may be out of production, but Tesla is making sure nobody else can copy its look. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Tesla a design patent for an “automobile body” that matches the latest Model S, months after the sedan’s production ended.

The patent, US-D1156251-S, was granted on November 3. It doesn’t mention the Model S by name, but the drawings make it pretty clear.

What the Patent Covers

Drawings inside the patent show the car from every angle, including the front, rear, both sides, top, bottom, and multiple 3D views. They show the Model S’s fastback roofline along with a front lip, side skirts, a rear spoiler, and a rear diffuser. Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s chief designer, and Julien Bilodeau are listed as the inventors.

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Interestingly, Tesla filed for the patent back in May 2025, well before Musk announced the end of the Model S and Model X during Tesla’s Q4 2025 earnings call in January of this year. The patent’s term is 15 years, which means the Model S’s design is protected until 2041.

A design patent only covers how something looks, not how it works. In this case, it would let Tesla go after any automaker that releases a car with a body that looks too much like the Model S.

A Fitting Sendoff

The patent closes another chapter for Tesla’s first flagship. Tesla stopped taking Model S and Model X orders on March 31 and sent them off with a special Signature Edition. Tesla delivered over 400,000 Model S sedans since they began shipping in June 2012. The model that proved EVs could go mainstream stayed in the market for about 14 years.

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Tesla executives later explained why both models were discontinued. According to them, updating the 2012-era platform to keep up with stricter safety standards would have cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and Tesla needed factory space for Optimus. The Model S and X lines in Fremont have since been torn down to make room for Optimus, which has now entered production.

Patents vs. Open Source

The move is a bit unusual for Tesla, which has a long history of avoiding patents. Back in 2014, Tesla famously pledged not to file patent lawsuits against anyone using its technology in good faith.

It also comes after Musk said Tesla would open-source the Model S and Model X. “Just as Tesla made the original Roadster design & software open source, we plan to do the same with Model S & X,” he said in July.

Those two things don’t necessarily conflict. Tesla could still publish engineering documents, service manuals, and software for owners and repair shops while keeping the car’s exterior design protected.

Tesla still hasn’t said when those Model S and X files will go public. For now, the car’s look is protected by patent, while enthusiasts keep waiting on the open-source release.