Yesterday’s appearance of spy shots of the updated version of the Tesla Model Y turned out to be the forerunner of the official announcement of this electric crossover, which will be delivered in China from March of this year and is already available for order in the debut Launch Series. The car has become a little more expensive, but has received a number of important improvements in characteristics and equipment.
As expected, the front part of the body received a new hood, bumper and lighting equipment. In addition, restyling brought the Tesla Model Y a front camera in the bumper, which helps more accurately park in automatic mode and generally move on autopilot. New front optics are designed in the design of the Cybertruck and the Cybercab taxi; a solid LED strip is located between the headlights. LED fog lights are located in special niches under the main optics.
The rear optics also received a solid LED strip, but in red. In addition, following the example of the restyled Tesla Model 3, the related crossover is equipped with an adjustable atmospheric lighting system in the cabin. It is difficult to judge this from photographs, but after the update, the interior of the Tesla Model Y switched to the use of higher quality materials, the seats became more comfortable and received ventilation, and improved sound insulation, among other things, was achieved through the use of thicker glass.
So far, the restyled Tesla Model Y is offered to Chinese buyers in only two modifications: basic rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive with an increased range. In the first case, a single 220 kW traction motor is located on the rear axle, which reduced the acceleration time to 100 km/h from 5.9 s for its predecessor to 5.3 s. This vehicle is equipped with a traction battery with a capacity of 62.5 kWh, providing a range of 593 km on the CLTC cycle, which is 39 km more than the previous generation crossover. The maximum charging power of the rear-wheel drive Tesla Model Y is limited to 170 kW. In China, such a crossover is offered at a price of $35,940, which is 5.44% higher than the price of its predecessor.
It is noteworthy that both versions of the updated Tesla Model Y available in China have a maximum speed of 201 km/h, which is 16 km/h lower than their predecessor. The all-wheel drive version of the Tesla Model Y after an update in China increased in price by 4.33% to $41,395. The car is equipped with two traction electric motors with a power of 137 kW (front) and 194 kW (rear), its acceleration time to 100 km/h has been reduced from 5 to 4.3 s. A traction battery with a capacity of 78.4 kWh provides a cruising range of 719 km on the CLTC cycle, which makes it the longest-range version of Model Y in the history of the brand. The previous version provided a cruising range of 31 km less. The maximum power of the charging station, to which it makes sense to connect the all-wheel drive version of the Tesla Model Y, reaches 250 kW. The range can be increased by 250 km in just 15 minutes.
In terms of on-board automation, the new Tesla Model Y is equipped with the latest fourth-generation AI4 hardware, and an additional camera in the front bumper should provide increased maneuvering accuracy and compensate for the elimination of additional sensors. In China, you can only get a gray body color without additional payment; white and blue will require an additional payment of $1,100, and red and silver will increase the cost of the car by $1,634.
The interior of the updated Tesla Model Y has been modernized with an eye on both the restyled Model 3 and its Chinese competitors. It remains minimalist in terms of controls, but the steering wheel retains its round shape. Of the steering column levers, only the one responsible for the direction indicators is left, and the choice of the direction of rotation of the traction motors is carried out through the menu on the central display. Well, this is still an ergonomic progress compared to the Tesla Model 3, updated in the fall of 2023, which lost both steering column levers.
The rear row of seats in the five-seater version of the Tesla Model Y after restyling received an electric folding drive, controlled by a button from the trunk. In addition, rear row passengers now have their own multimedia system screen in the area of the central tunnel, on which they can even play games if desired. Most likely, later the Tesla Model Y in China will have a third modification of the Performance series with more outstanding dynamic characteristics. Typically, the right-hand drive version of the new Tesla Model Y for Australia will go on sale by May of this year. The company’s Chinese customers who order a new product before February 28 will receive a two-year additional warranty with a mileage limit of no more than 40,000 km. The timing of the appearance of the updated Tesla Model Y in Europe and the USA will depend on the start of local assembly of the crossover in Germany and Texas, respectively. Tesla has traditionally covered part of the European market’s demand for its electric vehicles through supplies from China, but in the context of rising customs duties, this is not entirely rational.