Tesla officially announced the six-seat version of Model Y, which is positioned between Model Y and Model X.
On July 16, Tesla announced on its official Weibo account that "Model YL, see you in the golden autumn". The Paper learned from Tesla that Model YL is the flagship model produced by Tesla's Shanghai Super Factory. This model is a large six-seat luxury pure electric SUV with a wheelbase of more than 3 meters and a length of about 5 meters. Model YL is an all-wheel drive model with ultra-long battery life, ultra-large space and more advanced interior.
Image from Tesla's official Weibo
Image from Tesla's official Weibo
It is reported that the car is positioned between Model Y and Model X, and industry insiders expect the price to be around 400,000 yuan. The model will be launched and delivered this fall.
On the same day, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the list of new vehicle products in the "Announcement of Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturers and Products" (397th batch), and Tesla's "pure electric multi-purpose passenger car" was listed. The application details show that the model is a 6-seater model with a body length, width and height of 4997mm, 1920mm and 1668mm respectively. This model is about 200mm longer than the Model Y currently on sale in the domestic market.
Since its launch in 2021, Tesla Model Y has continued to lead the global new energy vehicle market and has also been a popular model in the domestic electric vehicle market. Many car companies, including Xiaomi, Xpeng, and Weilai, have always regarded Tesla Model Y as a benchmark and a goal to surpass.
The Model Y had just been updated. In January this year, Tesla's new version of Model Y was officially launched and started delivery in March. The model has been upgraded in appearance, cockpit, battery life, etc., with dozens of new and upgraded configurations, and the starting price is 263,500 yuan.
There have been rumors in the industry about the six-seat version of Model Y for a long time. In September last year, Reuters reported that Tesla plans to start producing the six-seat version of Model Y in China at the end of 2025 to make up for the decline in its appeal due to the slow replacement of its models. In addition, there are rumors that Model YL will be launched simultaneously in the Chinese and American markets.
Judging from sales, Tesla does need new products to stimulate consumers' purchasing desire. According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, Tesla's wholesale sales in China (including exports) from January to June this year were 364,500 vehicles, down 14.6% year-on-year; retail sales in the Chinese market were 263,400 vehicles, down 5.4% year-on-year.
It is worth mentioning that the market competition trend of large six-seat pure electric SUVs in the Chinese auto market is becoming more and more prominent. Model YL six-seat version, previously, NIO's Ledao L90, pure electric M8, and Ideal i8 are all six-seat pure electric SUVs.
