Electric car: Tesla to sell updated Model Y from March
Tesla is revamping its popular mid-range e-car after five years. Substantially unchanged, it gets a few decisive improvements on the way.
Tesla Model Y, vintage 2025
(Image: Tesla)
After Tesla revised the Model Y, it was initially sold in China. Now Tesla has announced the date for the European market launch, from which the world's most successful car in 2023 will be sold in its updated form from March. Tesla will produce its Model Y for Europe at the Grünheide plant.
The revision of the mid-range electric car in the globally popular crossover style after just five years brought little new, but a few notable improvements. For example, with apparently unchanged drive and battery technology, improvements to the aerodynamics alone should reduce the energy consumption of the first available all-wheel drive version from 16.9 to 15.3 kWh/100 km. The modified vehicle front should help to reduce the drag coefficient from cW 0.23 to 0.22. The length of the Model Y increases minimally to 4.79 meters due to the changes.
Tesla Model Y Exterior (7 Bilder)
Tesla
)The blinker lever remains as usual and has not been relocated to the steering wheel in the form of buttons, as was the case with the facelift of the Model 3. However, the P, N, D and R gearshifts are selected by swiping on the touchscreen in the center of the dashboard. A new feature is the eight-inch screen for climate, entertainment and seat settings in the rear.
More seating, operating and driving comfort
The redesigned front seats now also have ventilation, while the rear seats can be electrically adjusted and folded down. This means that the luggage compartment can be increased to a total of more than 2130 liters. To increase acoustic comfort, Tesla claims to have improved the noise insulation, which is not particularly surprising given the rather bumpy Model Y to date.
Tesla Model Y Interior (7 Bilder)
Tesla
)Another new feature is an additional front camera, which is intended to make the Model Y fit for autonomous driving – at least as soon as the developers have a version of it at the start that can convince the European authorities. Initially, Tesla wants to bring "Supervised Full Self-Driving" (FSD) to Europe.
35 kilometers more range
The launch version accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.3 seconds and is limited to 201 km/h. Tesla gives the all-wheel drive car a range of 568 kilometers in the WLTP –, which is around 35 kilometers more than the comparable, current long-range version. The manufacturer advertises the fast-charging capability with "up to 266 km range in 15 minutes at a Tesla Supercharger". The maximum charging power is specified as 250 kW for the initially available all-wheel drive version, while the Model Y with rear-wheel drive should therefore remain at 170 kW.
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Tesla promises a warranty of four years or 80,000 km on the car, and eight years or 192,000 km on the battery and drive. The new Model Y costs at least 60,990 euros in the launch version, which is equipped with two motors, all-wheel drive, 20-inch rims and a few other extras. Variants with a rear engine and basic equipment will be offered later and are likely to be somewhat more expensive than the current 44,900 euros. Tesla has not yet announced a price or any dates other than March as the first month of sales.
(fpi)