Tesla Sets to Unveil Model Y Crossover SUV

Tesla Sets to Unveil Model Y Crossover SUV

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The new car will complete the brand's S3XY vehicle lineup, which included the Model S luxury sedan, Model 3 compact sedan and Model X luxury crossover utility vehicle.

Whilst the giant electric automaker did not issue a press release for the event, the media was quick to pick up the details from the Twitter post of its outspoken CEO Elon Musk.

Design, Specs and Pricing

Musk has kept mum on the specs and pricing details of Model Y, but provided tidbits of information regarding the new car: “Model Y, being an SUV, is about 10% bigger than Model 3, so will cost about 10% more & have slightly less range for same battery".

Marketed as a mid-priced all-electric SUV crossover, Model Y shares about 75% of its parts with the Model 3 compact sedan, Tesla’s first mass-market electric vehicle. Meanwhile, the teaser images for the new car suggest styling elements from Model X, the company's long-range seven-seater SUV with falcon-wing doors that hit the Australian roads in 2016.

Bigger than Model 3, which is 185 inches long and has 97 cubic feet passenger room and 15 feet trunk room, Model Y’s larger dimension will likely come from its additional cargo space.

Musk has also revealed that Model Y will have a slightly less range on a single battery pack than Model 3, which has a 220-mile battery. This is presumably because the heavier Model Y will use the same battery as the sedan.

The price range estimate of Model Y is somewhere between $40,000 and $79,500 USD (approximately $56,530 to $112,317 AUD). As confirmed by Musk, it will cost 10% higher than Model 3, which starts at a price tag of $35,000 USD. Nevertheless, it is expected to be cheaper than Model X, which sells around $79,500 USD.

Infrastructure, Sales and Support

Model Y is expected to be exclusively offered and ordered online, following Tesla’s announcement last month that it would shift to an online-only sales strategy to cut operating costs and keep the price of its lower-margin vehicles at an affordable rate.

Apart from ceasing all retail sales, Tesla has also announced the expansion on its “return policy”, giving new owners the chance to return their cars within 7 full days and after 1,000 miles of driving. The company will also launch its first public Tesla V3.0 Supercharger Station on March 6. The next-generation chargers will feature an even faster charging rate with a power output between 200-250 kW, which is 50% higher than Tesla’s current Superchargers.

Electric Vehicles in Australia

Tesla’s Model Y is just one of the many electric cars that are coming to Australia in 2019. According to the 2018 Jaguar-sponsored study, “Driving Australia Forward”, it is estimated that two-thirds of Australians will own an electric vehicle by 2028. The report has also claimed that 84% of Aussies “would like to own an EV at some point in their life”.

The growing popularity of electric cars in Australia is due to the many advantages they bring, including environment-friendliness, affordability to own and run, sponsored financing, discount on vehicle registration cost, reduced luxury car tax, and quieter engine compared to combustion-powered cars.


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