Tesla just dropped a six-passenger SUV for $47,000
American buyers will have the option of a stripped-back, budget-minded version of the best-selling Tesla Model Y this year. However, the electric car marque just broke cover on a stretched, six-seater version of the Model Y, something sure to sell well among the brand’s faithful. But Elon Musk has other plans.
The Tesla Model Y L is a new six-seater version of the brand’s best-seller
Last year, the Tesla Model Y dominated the American EV market. And now, the electric car manufacturer is set to roll out a more accommodating, six-passenger version of the best-selling SUV.
It’s called the Model Y L, a stretched-out version of the production Model Y with three rows of seats, of which some are foldable for cargo space reasons. The growing Model Y punches the dimensions out to about 16.32 feet, an increase of around 7.3 inches. Better yet, the Model YL is set to start at around $47,000. In China, that is.
But Elon Musk says you can’t have one
A more accommodating version of the best-selling EV in the United States? Should sell like crazy, right? Not so fast. As of now, this is a Chinese market-only affair.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the Model Y L will likely never come to the United States. And it’s not because Musk is worried about messing up the “S-3-X-Y” model name lineup. It’s Musk’s vision for autonomous vehicles.
Musk, in response to an influencer’s social media post, confirmed that the Model Y L isn’t slated for production in the US until the end of next year, per Electrek. That is, if the stretched Model Y reaches American buyers at all.
“This variant of the Model Y doesn’t start production in the US until the end of next year. Might not ever, given the advent of self-driving in America,” Musk said of the six-seat SUV. This, from a CEO with unfettered confidence in the brand’s ability to crack the self-driving car dilemma.
Still, American buyers will be able to shop the diet Model Y as it were later this year. While it won’t be a stretched variant of the EV SUV, it will lower the cost of entry for would-be Tesla adopters.
