Model Y redesign by EOY:
Tesla CEO Elon Musk hinted the Model Y is going to get a fresh look. The car may be reimagined as a compact SUV in a bid to reach even more potential customers.
www.inverse.com
* During the company’s second-quarter 2021 earnings call this week, CEO Elon Musk explained that the firm would roll out a
“new design” of the all-electric compact SUV by the end of 2021
* During the earnings call, Musk says that “we expect to be producing the new design of the Model Y in both factories in limited production later this year.”
* The new car will feature a
cast front and rear body and — assuming tests are successful — a
new, structural battery pack that features Tesla’s radically improved cells.
* In the call, Musk says the car “will look very much like the Model Ys we currently make.”
* The cars will be made using a new casting process. Current Model Y Teslas roll out of the California factory with a cast rear body only, but the new model to be made in Texas will feature both a cast front and rear body. The
fully cast body is a big achievement for Tesla’s manufacturing processes, which began with the rear body part. Instead of building the car’s rear end out of 70 individual components, for example, the firm can stamp it as a single part using a giant pressing machine.
* Part of this new technology involves building the batteries into the car’s structure. Consequently, the firm
will use 370 fewer parts per car, and
each car will be 10 percent lighter in mass.
* The new car will also feature Tesla’s
advanced 4680 battery cells. These battery cells were first detailed at the firm’s September 2020 Battery Day. Tesla promises they will give users a
54 percent increase in battery range between charges and a 56 percent reduction in price per kilowatt-hour.
* As the cells are still under development, Tesla has a backup plan to switch the cars to their standard cells if there are too many delays.
The current design will be coming out of the Giga Factory in Texas by the end of the month. My buddy just ordered one of the current Model Y's, a 7-seater for his family...they're backlogged to November!
Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas could commence production test runs within weeks, although full-scale production is still months away.
insideevs.com
I'm curious about what the final range will be on the redesign...a 54% increase over the current long-range Y should put it over 500 miles, which is pretty amazing!