Tesla Motor Company has settled on a production launch date for its Model Y crossover/SUV. The process will begin in California, USA in September 2020. The Gigafactory 3 located in China will join in later.
The all-electric Model Y, which shares the chassis design with the Model 3, debuted in March earlier this year at the company’s design HQ. The car comes equipped with two electric motors and a traction battery (you can pick from a variety of sizes). Accelerating from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) takes 3.5 seconds as far as the range-topping Performance trim is concerned. The driving range in the Long Range version is 300 miles (480 kilometers), and the top speed amounts to 150 mph (240 km/h).
In terms of visual appearance, the SUV looks much like the Model 3 it is loosely based upon. It has a sunroof and a short front overhang, among other things, but comes equipped with traditional side mirrors instead of cameras and regular doors instead of Tesla’s signature ‘falcon-wing doors’. Both latter features looked nice on paper, but, as it turned out, they increased the production complexity and costs too much to be feasible.
Customers will be able to select between five- and seven-seat versions of the SUV. Like all other Tesla EVs, the Model Y will pack a humongous 15-inch touch-enabled display providing easy access to most of the car’s functions.