to be honest i understand where he's coming from. the Model S for example has had constant incremental improvements, but it's still basically the same car from 2012 in terms of interior and exterior styling (nosecone excepted).
the counterarguments are:
- The software has improved by leaps and bounds
- The battery and drivetrain (performance, reliability, life expectancy, and range) have improved by leaps and bounds
- The electronics hardware (computer capabilities and responsiveness) have improved dramatically
- The self-driving capabilities (both hardware and software) have improved tremendously as well, and cars built today with the 3.0 computer and camera suite are phenomenally, revolutionarily more capable than 2012 Model S vehicles.
although the cars LOOK virtually identical to the 2012 car (again, nosecone aside), every tangible feature -- performance, range, reliability, self-driving, UI, even handling and ride feel, have improved a ton.
it's not fair, but humans just aren't going to fully register all those accomplishments without a significant visible refresh of the interior and/or exterior of the vehicle. it's dumb, but unless Elon has a plan to make humans less dumb, it's something that has to be accounted for and catered to (assuming the plan is still to sell cars to humans).