Nearly a year after its launch in the United States, the Tesla Model Y now comes with a third option and would-be buyers get to drive home the electric SUV as a 7-seater. And the seating reconfiguration prompted Tesla to adjust the sticker price that now stands at $42,000.
Specifically, the slightly cheaper Model Y offer is for the Standard Range RWD variant and according to the automaker, the crossover should be ready for delivery in a month's time at the earliest. The EV's estimated range is at 244 miles per charge, which is a significant improvement from the earlier announced coverage of 230 miles.
The addition of a 7-seater Model Y came as a surprise as the model was thought to have been canceled due to its delayed arrival. As Electrek noted, Tesla CEO Elon Musk talked about the Standard Range version when the Model Y was introduced in March 2019.
However, Musk then clarified that the SUV will not be released until Tesla engineers can extend its intended coverage range. It seemed that the target was to achieve a range not lower than 250 miles but with the decision to finally roll out the Model Y Standard Range, it looked like Tesla has hit a sweet spot.
In any case, the additional seats for the latest Model Y will accommodate two more passengers and Tesla said it would be an easy entry for the third-row as the middle seats can be adjusted. Owners can also collapse the last two seats if there is a need for extra storage space.
As mentioned, the Tesla Model Y delivery in the U.S. will only require a short wait, perhaps a few weeks after confirming the order, but that will not be the case in China where the electrified SUV is locally assembled at the Gigafactory in Shanghai.
Initially, when Tesla China started taking orders for the EV this January, the delivery schedule was set around February. That is not the case anymore and per the report by Automotive News, the automaker was forced to delay the fulfillment of deliveries.
For the base models ordered by Chinese buyers, the timeline for delivery will be in the second quarter of 2021 while the Performance edition will only start to come out of the production line. The pushback may be disappointing but not surprising at all. As Tesla earlier reported, the Model Y was greeted with a rousing welcome in China.
The SUV was made available with a huge markdown plus incentives from the government so buyers raced to grab the limited available units. Tesla said Giga Shanghai has commenced mass producing the Model Y but not in full capacity so the delayed delivery was somehow expected.
