The updated Tesla Model Y first appeared in its original form during winter tests

Tesla owes its survival to the first mass-produced electric car model, Model 3, and it managed to update it as part of restyling in the fall of the year before. Considering the intense competition in China, an update to the more popular Tesla Model Y crossover has long been overdue, but the pre-production version of the electric bestseller was only recently photographed without camouflage during winter testing.

Image source: CnEVPost, Weibo

Alleged prototypes of the updated Tesla Model Y were caught by spy photographers every now and then, but before that, their exterior was covered with thick camouflage overlays in the most intriguing places. The authors of the images were only able to speculate that the new version of the Tesla Model Y would receive narrower lighting technology at the front and rear in the spirit of the restyled version of the Model 3. One of the recent videos even managed to capture a fragment of a continuous LED strip in the area of ​​the trunk lid.

This week, at the instigation of the Chinese social network Weibo, the restyled Tesla Model Y was demonstrated for the first time in photographs without camouflage overlays. The front optics have practically transformed into a narrow strip with an extended section of LED running lights in the manner of the Li Auto (Li Xiang) hybrids or the XPeng G6 crossover. A continuous LED strip is also provided at the rear, but it is predictably red in color.

According to rumors, the production of the updated Tesla Model Y in Shanghai will begin in January, but this does not yet mean that the new product will immediately enter the market. At least, the restyled version of the Tesla Model 3 was presented at the beginning of September 2023, and it went on sale in the Chinese market only at the end of October of the same year. Last year, the Tesla Model Y accounted for about 73% of the brand’s electric vehicle deliveries in China. Accordingly, it is important for the company to improve the characteristics of its bestseller to the level of its closest Chinese competitors while maintaining an attractive price.