Tesla Model 3 is already available for ordering, will Model Y be far behind? Not long after the new Model 3 officially debuted for pre-sale, Tesla’s other blockbuster model Model Y also received the latest facelift information. Some media reported that the facelift Model Y will be officially launched next year, and the new car will meet the public as early as October next year. The plan is code-named “Juniper”.
Based on some changes in the new Model 3, the netizen "Ramen Master Design" even posted the new shape of the modified Model Y that he designed on X. At first glance, it looks very similar to the new Model 3, and the design concepts are similar.
Netizens spontaneously designed the appearance of Model Y (Source: Ramen Master Design)
So, will Tesla really launch a facelift of Model Y next year? It's hard to tell, but we can make some wild guesses.
Musk once said in an interview show that Model Y is Tesla's best-selling car at present. Its performance and popularity are very high, so there will be no facelift plan in the short term.
According to data recently released by the Passenger Car Association, Tesla Model Y ranked first in the wholesale passenger car market in August with 65,316 units. With this, Tesla China has also firmly ranked first in the delivery of new energy vehicles among luxury brands with a delivery volume of 84,159 vehicles in August. Similarly, Model Y sales in Europe are still strong. It previously won the best-selling pure electric vehicle in Europe in the first half of 2023. As a result, Tesla gained 24.9% of the market segment last month, becoming the first choice for green travel in 14 European countries.
However, with the launch of the new Model 3, Model Y is currently the only model among Tesla's existing models that does not have ventilated seats, rear central control screens and double-layer soundproof glass. The battery life is also slightly shorter. In comparison, Model Y may not be as popular as before. From the perspective of users, more naturally is to hope that Tesla can speed up the launch of the new Model Y to improve vehicle performance and comfort.
Some media reported that the facelifted Model Y will be officially launched next year, and the new car will be available to the public as early as October next year. The plan is code-named "Juniper".
In addition to the news that the facelifted Model Y is about to come out, Tesla also seems to be improving the integrated die-casting technology used in Model Y and applying it to affordable models.
According to a Reuters report on September 14, in order to better reduce costs, Tesla is looking for a stamping machine with greater pressure. Currently, the integrated die-casting machine that produces Model Y can output 6,000 to 9,000 tons of pressure.Tesla hopes the new machine can output 16,000 tons of pressure.
Reuters reports Tesla wants to improve integrated die-casting technology
In general, since there is some news about Model Y's facelift, it means that Model Y's facelift plan is still on the agenda. However, when will it be changed? How to change it? What's the price? These questions may require more information to be mined.
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Netizens design facelifted Model Y, Reuters reports it will be launched next year
On September 2, the day after Tesla launched the new Model 3, X netizen "Ramen Master Design" spontaneously designed a set of pictures of the new Model Y. Initially, this set of pictures only had a rough outline, and the overall look was relatively abstract.
New Model Y online picture (Source: Ramen Master Design)
On September 3, "Ramen Master Design" posted another set of pictures of the new Model 3 and the new Model Y.
New Model Y online picture (Source: Ramen Master Design)
In this set of pictures, the appearance of the new Model Y is almost completely presented, and many elements of the new Model Y are very similar to the new Model 3 in the same set of pictures, such as the headlights and front face. If it were not for the fact that the new Model Y is positioned as an SUV and has a higher body height, while the new Model 3 has a lower body shape, the two cars are simply carved out of the same mold.
New Model Y online picture (Source: Ramen Master Design)
Of course, the ramen master Design himself also said that the new Model Y in this set of pictures is modeled after the new Model 3. However, it is not surprising to have such a design idea. After all, the parts overlap rate of Model Y and Model 3 reached 75%, and they were almost produced in parallel. According to the introduction on X, "Ramen Master Design" is a car styling designer who often predicts new cars through 3D modeling.
In fact, as early as March this year, Reuters published an exclusive report stating that the new Model Y’s facelift plan was codenamed Juniper.
Screenshot of Reuters report
The article pointed out that people familiar with the matter said that Tesla will launch a modified model of Model Y in 2024, and has solicited quotes from suppliers for internal and external parts of the new Model Y. It is expected to be put into production in October 2024. The upgrade points include appearance and power system, with a focus on production efficiency. To improve production efficiency, to a large extent, it means that the new Model Y will also be upgraded on the existing integrated die-casting process.
As for other details, Musk and other executives only detailed Tesla's efforts to reduce production costs at the investor conference, but did not mention any specific details about the new Model Y.
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Only 4 years after its launch, it has become the best-selling model in the world.
Although there are media reports that the Model Y Juniper project will be launched next year, there should still be some distance before the final mass production delivery time.
Generally speaking, car companies launch facelifted cars because the performance configurations of current cars begin to lag behind, and the competitiveness gradually fails to keep up with the emerging models. The most direct manifestation is the decline in sales. To save sales, they either directly launch a new car or carry out facelifts and upgrades on the original models.
However, it takes a lot of time and economic costs to directly launch a new car. After launch, it also takes time to penetrate the market, and publicity and marketing are very important. The cost of launching a modified car will be relatively less. The positioning of the car will not change significantly, but the comfort, safety and other functions have been improved, and the good reputation established by the old model can also be continued to sell.
So let’s see if Model Y faces such a problem?
On March 15, 2019, Tesla officially launched Model Y. On January 7, 2020, Tesla announced the official launch of the China-made Model Y project.
From a sales perspective, in the global market, Tesla Model Y sold more than 400,000 units in 2021 and 747,000 units in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 91%, becoming the world's third best-selling model. In the first quarter of this year, Model Y became the world's best-selling model with sales of 267,200 units, surpassing the previous Toyota RAV4 and Corolla. In the Chinese market, in the first half of this year, Model Y sales were 203,932 units, ranking first in the Chinese market in the first half of the year.
In addition, a large part of Model Y's sales depends on its production capacity. Strictly speaking, it is not how many Model Ys are sold, but how many Model Ys can be sold. Model Y's production capacity has not kept up with its orders. According to information from Tesla China’s official website, a Model Y long-range version is now ordered, and its delivery time has been extended from the previous 2 to 6 weeks to the current 6 to 8 weeks.
In other words, Model Y is still in short supply. Looking at the configuration of Model Y, the high-performance version of CLTC has a comprehensive range of 615 kilometers, can accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers in 3.7 seconds, and can replenish 270 kilometers of energy in 15 minutes of overcharging. It can still beat the battery life and power.
ModelY high-performance version configuration information
The only shortcoming is that Model Y is currently Tesla's only model that does not have ventilated seats, rear central control screen and double-layer soundproof glass configuration. Compared with these soft features, Model Y's rough housing is still slightly worse.
Overall, Model Y's current market performance is very good, but it's hard to say how long this good situation will last.
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Conclusion: Model Y can still win
With the official debut and pre-sale of the new Model 3, netizens began to look forward to the new Model Y. Not only did they spontaneously design the appearance, but some people familiar with the matter said that they would launch a Model Y facelift plan code-named Juniper next year.
However, judging from the current market performance, Model Y became the best-selling model in the world in the first quarter of this year, and it is expected to continue throughout this year. Whether in the Chinese market or the global market, Model Y is still very capable, and it does not seem that there is so much need for a facelift.
Of course, if you want to know more about the ModelYJuniper project, you may have to wait for a while.