Tesla has announced that its redesigned Model Y SUV is coming to the United States, Canada and Mexico in March, with a starting price just under $60,000.
The news comes just two weeks after Tesla revealed the new Model Y and said the SUV was coming to China and other Asian markets, also in March. Thursday’s announcement means the company is effectively launching the revamped SUV simultaneously around the world – a departure from the months-long gap between the Asian and North American launches of the Model 3 sedan in late 2023 and early of 2024.
The redesigned Model Y is launching at a crucial time for Tesla, which delivered fewer vehicles in 2024 than in 2023. Tesla has repeatedly warned investors that it is between “two major growth waves” that have rolled out on the success of the Model Y and promised it would roll out the mysterious new models intended to be built on existing production lines. These models will likely be cheaper than Tesla’s current offerings (which start in the $40,000 range), but it’s not clear by how much.
CEO Elon Musk implied these new models, along with the Cybercab that was teased last October, will help bridge the company’s evolution from an automaker into a robotics and AI player.
But at the same time, Tesla’s vehicle lineup is aging. Tesla has now refreshed each of its core vehicles – the Model S and 3 sedans and the Model X and Y SUVs. It has only launched one truly new model in the last four years, the CyberTruck. Despite becoming the best-selling electric truck in the United States in 2024, the CyberTruck didn’t do much to boost the company’s bottom line last year, and it doesn’t appear to be the hit Funway that Musk had hoped for.
The new Model Y could offer some relief, although it comes at a higher price than existing versions. The starting price for the special edition “Launch Series,” which is an all-wheel-drive variant, is $59,990. This gets buyers a 320-mile battery range and it includes Tesla’s most advanced driver-assist software, which it calls “complete (supervised) self-driving” — usually an $8,000 option . The old Model Y currently starts at $44,990 for a 337-mile rear-wheel-drive version.
The most noticeable changes to the new Model Y come on the exterior, where the bubbly front fascia has been ditched in favor of a more arched nose with a slim light bar that extends across the hood. The rear of the vehicle also has a light strip that extends the entire width.
Inside the refreshed SUV, Tesla added a configurable light strip that rims the cabin. There’s a new rear pass-through touchscreen and some quality-of-life upgrades like powered rear seats and an upgraded suspension.
