Tesla Model Y delivery times have quickly blown out, but the company’s CEO says more vehicles are on the way.
“We’re working on accelerating RHD Model Y production. Didn’t expect demand to be so high!” said Elon Musk on Twitter, replying to a tweet about strong demand for the electric crossover.
Model Y orders opened in Australia last Friday, and the Tesla website’s configurator quoted a delivery timeframe of between August and November for the rear-wheel drive base model, and “late 2022” for the all-wheel drive Performance.
Now, a glance at the configurator reveals a delivery timeframe of February to May 2023 for both variants.
That’s the same timeframe as all members of the Model 3 range which, like the Model Y, is sourced from Tesla’s Shanghai factory. Tesla also exports Chinese-built vehicles to markets like New Zealand.
The delivery timeframe was already shifting as early as Friday afternoon, hours after online ordering opened, when the configurator read “November 2022 to May 2023”.
The first batch of Model Ys is rumoured to consist of 3000 vehicles, while the second batch is rumoured to consist of 5000 vehicles.
For reference, Tesla has sold 4481 Model 3s this year in Australia to the end of May.
The extended wait for the Model Y and the equally long wait time for the Model 3 means your chances of getting a new Tesla in 2022 are effectively nil, unless you had already ordered one.
The Model S and Model X remain off-sale, with Tesla accepting deposits but not offering any information about pricing or delivery timeframes.
Despite its less popular sedan format, the Model 3 has become far and away Australia’s most popular electric vehicle. It stands to reason the Model Y could perform even better given Australia’s love of SUVs.
In the US, which has a similarly strong appetite for SUVs, the Model Y has overtaken the Model 3 to become the brand’s best seller.
The Model Y range opens at $68,900 before on-road costs for the unnamed base model, while the Performance costs $98,689 before on-roads.
Those prices are $5000 and roughly $10,000 higher than the corresponding Model 3 variants.
The base Model Y has a claimed 455km of range under the stricter WLTP test cycle and the Performance 514km; those figures are slightly down from the base Model 3 (491km) and Model 3 Performance (547km).
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