We are waiting on the Tesla Model Y since July last year when Tesla Motors CEO, Elon Musk tweeted about it. According to reports, this supposed to be a company’s crossover SUV version of the Model 3, and basically their first mass-market car for that segment. Unfortunately, everything remained at this, and at a whole bunch of rumors of which most were started by Mr. Musk himself to be honest. To make matters worse the product isn’t even on the company’s website, meaning we are no near to it now than we were in July last year.
The rumors and claims do not rest, and now they are steering towards the Model Y being in the advanced stages of development. If everything goes according to plan it will go to production a little bit after the Model 3, sometime 2018 most likely, but that is nothing official, yet I’m afraid. In the vast sea of rumor regarding this vehicle, we can only try to separate the more likely one of them from the impossible ones. And here they are:
Autonomous driving system
A sure bet is that the Model Y will have, like other Tesla vehicles, an autonomous driving system, and I mean a fully autonomous system nonetheless. As it turns out, that system will set you back for $8,000 at the time of purchase and will include all of the Enhanced Autopilot features. But this is one of the things Mr. Musk isn’t tweeting about, while his company states that this Level 5 autonomy will depend on software validation and regulatory approval.
Solar roof technology
Model Y will incorporate company’s solar roof technology, which is possible courtesy of successful merger with SolarCity. Why is this so sure, well the fact is that this tech is already being used in other vehicles in the lineup, so it is almost a sure thing it will find its way to the new SUV. On this topic Musk said that the solar glass on a car would be net positive, meaning that it would create more energy than it uses.
Falcon-wing doors
Those fancy falcon-wing doors present in the Model X made a conundrum online, and the reason for that is the fact that some of you out there though that those would make the Model Y even better looking while others thought that they would simply be a nuisance and unnecessary addition to the vehicle. The falcon-wing doors were “hinted” by Mr. Musk himself, again, over a tweet, but he, unfortunately, did not specify if the doors will actually find their way on the Model 3 or the Model Y. Later he deleted that Tweet, which was kinda weird, but OK we can handle that.
Since the design of Model 3 is already out one thing is for sure – no falcon-wing doors, which can mean that the Model Y might host them. But again this does not have to be a sure thing. Maybe the Model Y buyers will be given a choice to choose between the said doors or regular ones, especially since the topic has the future customers divided on the subject.
Interior look
The Model Y is expected to bring a serious competition, especially to the Chevrolet’s electric SUV with more cargo space than its sedan cousins, and an option to offer a heads-up display. Since the Model 3’s dashboard hasn’t been unveiled yet we can’t speculate on what the one on Model Y will look like, but thanks to Musk’s Tweet from April that the Model 3 will have a steering system that “feels like a spaceship” made us all wonder.
In the end, every sane human would ask – well, how much will all that cost?! Since Musk is secretive and isn’t sharing anything on the topic, we can only presume it will be considerably more than the Model 3’s base price of $35,000. All of these rumors and speculations actually make this one a highly expected and interesting SUV, but unfortunately, nothing said above is a sure thing. One thing though makes us optimistic, and that is the fact that this is all about Tesla Motors company, and from them, you can definitely expect a surprise or two, and that is why we are teeing up for a few as well.
