- Tesla's China website has listed the facelifted Model Y and began offering two variants it calls the “Launch Series,” with deliveries expected to begin in March.
- The Model Y's starting price is up 5.44 percent from its predecessor, and it brings longer range, better performance, and design tweaks.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has launched the much-anticipated facelifted Model Y in China, with design tweaks and a price hike over its predecessor.
The US electric vehicle (EV) maker's Chinese website today listed the revamped five-seat Model Y and began offering two variants it calls the “Launch Series,” with deliveries expected to start in March.
The two variants include a rear-wheel-drive version that starts at RMB 263,500 yuan ($35,940), and a long-range all-wheel-drive version that starts at RMB 303,500 yuan.
For comparison, the previously available Model Y in China had three variants -- a rear-wheel-drive version, a long-range all-wheel-drive version, and an all-wheel-drive performance version -- with starting prices of RMB 249,900, RMB 290,900, and RMB 354,900, respectively.
This means that the entry-level version of the facelifted Model Y is priced up by RMB 13,600, or 5.44 percent, over its predecessor, while the long-range all-wheel-drive version is up by RMB 12,600, or 4.33 percent.
The sales deadline for the Launch Series of the facelifted Model Y is February 28, and customers who order the model before then can get an additional 2 years or 40,000 kilometers of extended warranty.
The most notable change to the facelifted Model Y is the exterior design, which draws inspiration from the Cybertruck and Cybercab robotaxi.
It uses a cut-through light cluster design for both the head and tail, a design that is already common on models from local Chinese EV makers.
Tesla said the revamped Model Y has longer range, a new design, a higher-quality interior, and a quieter ride.
The model measures 4,797 mm in length, 1,920 mm in width and 1,624 mm in height, and has a wheelbase of 2,890 mm. The two variants weigh in at 1,921 kg and 1,992 kg, respectively.
Its rear-wheel-drive version is powered by a battery pack with a capacity of 62.5 kWh and has a CLTC range of 593 kilometers, up 39 kilometers from its predecessor's 554 kilometers.
The variant is powered by a rear electric motor with a peak power of 220 kW and is capable of sprinting from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 5.3 seconds, a better performance than its predecessor's 5.9 seconds.
The long-range all-wheel-drive version is powered by a battery pack with a capacity of 78.4 kWh and has a CLTC range of 719 kilometers, an increase of 31 kilometers over its predecessor's 688 kilometers. Tesla said that this is the longest-range Model Y in history.
The long-range variant can sprint from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 4.3 seconds. As a comparison, its predecessor was 5.0 seconds.
The front motor of this variant has a peak power of 137 kW and the rear motor has a peak power of 194 kW.
Both variants support a top speed of 201 kilometers per hour, slightly lower than their predecessors' 217 kilometers per hour.
The rear-wheel drive variant of the facelifted Model Y has a charging power of up to 170 kW and the long-range version has up to 250 kW. Tesla said that the model can get a 250-kilometer range on a 15-minute charge.
It comes standard with Tesla's current state-of-the-art Hardware 4.0 (AI4) Autopilot hardware.
The free exterior color for the facelifted Model Y is grey, while other colors require a fee of RMB 8,000 for white and blue, and RMB 12,000 for red and silver.
The Model Y's facelift is crucial for Tesla to consolidate its position in the Chinese EV market.
The US EV maker has a factory in Shanghai, its largest in the world, with an annual capacity of about 1 million vehicles.
The plant produces the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover, both five-seat models.
Giga Shanghai began operations in late 2019 and began deliveries of the locally produced Model 3 in January 2020 and the locally produced Model Y in January 2021.
The Model Y is one of the best-selling models in China and has become an anchor point for the pricing of many local electric SUVs.
The Tesla crossover delivered 61,881 units in China in December, bringing full-year 2024 deliveries to 480,309, contributing 73.10 percent of Tesla's 657,102 full-year deliveries in China, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.
For the full year 2024, Tesla delivered 1,789,226 vehicles globally, down 1.07 percent from 1,808,581 in 2023, its first decline in more than a decade, according to data it released earlier this month.
For comparison, it had retail sales of 657,102 vehicles in China in 2024, up 8.85 percent from 2023.
Model Y deliveries in China in 2024 were up 5.24 percent from 456,394 in the same period in 2023.
Model 3 deliveries in China for all of last year were 176,793 units, up 20.05 percent from 147,270 for the same period in 2023.
($1 = RMB 7.3322)
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