Tesla Model Y: A New Model Coming From Tesla Sooner Than Expected [News]

tesla model 3 official

At the end of March, Tesla finally revealed their affordable new electric vehicle called the Model 3. Within a week of the Model 3 reveal, Tesla received over 300,000 reservations for the $35,000 EV. However, some people may be reserved about the Model 3 because it is a sedan. For those of you that wish for a bit more room in their affordable EV, there is hope.

Sometime in October of 2015 Tesla Motors CEO, Elon Musk, let slip a Tweet in which he mentioned a previously unknown Tesla Model Y. However, Musk quickly deleted his Twitter post shortly after posting it. Since October, neither Tesla or Musk have said much about a Model Y in the works, but rumors have had some time to develop. Thus far we know that Tesla has secured the trademark for “Model Y” so all guesses would point to that being the name of the new model. At first, rumors said that the Model Y would be revealed alongside the Model 3, but Tesla quickly shot that down and clearly, we still don’t know a whole lot about the supposed Model Y. However, we can make some educated guesses based on the information available to us now.

The best guesses we can make are that the Model Y will share a platform with the Model 3 and, subsequently, be priced at a similar number to the Model 3. However, the Model Y should come in a crossover platform similar to the Model X. This guess makes a lot of sense given that the Model X came out following the Model S, and uses the same platform as the Model S. Heck, the model X is even priced very close to the Model S.

It would make plenty of sense for Tesla to offer a crossover — a la Model 3 — for the buyer that wants an electric crossover vehicle at an affordable price point, but can do without the bells and whistles offered by the Model X. This rumor is further corroborated by a slide used by Tesla’s Straubel that displays a graphic showing off the “Model 3 Platform” and includes the text “Tesla Model 3 Sedan & Crossover”

Tesla Model Y Hint Slide
Source: Slideshare

While this guarantees nothing, it does point heavily towards a crossover at or around the price and size of the Model 3. Unfortunately, this is all we know at the moment. Given Musk’s propensity to reveal information via Twitter, it may be worth paying attention to see if he lets any more information slip. Until then, we are forced to speculate what exactly this Model Y will have in store.

While you wait, why not check out our video covering the debut of the much-anticipated Model 3: