Tesla officially welcomed the seven-seat Model Y into its family on Thursday. Yes, the Model Y is evidently based on the Model 3 and shares up to 75 per cent of its components with the mass-market sedan.
At the launch, Tesla CEO Elon Musk showed off the new Model Y claiming a range of 482km. An impressive figure considering that it would seat seven fully grown adults. In terms of design, the Model Y derives major inspiration from Model 3 as well as Model X.
The Model Y crashed the compact crossover party and will lock horns against models such as the BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC. At the launch, Musk said that the Model Y had “the functionality of an SUV but rides like a sports car”. Thanks to the low centre of gravity and a drag coefficient of 0.23Cd.
The first version to hit the showrooms will be the Long Range model that will be available in rear-wheel as well as all-wheel drivetrain. Available at a price of $47,000 the rear-wheel-drive Long Range model was launched with 482km of range, 210kph of top speed and a 0-100kph time of 5.5 seconds. Meanwhile, the dual motor all-wheel drive model was launched at $51,000 with 450km of range. It cracks a ton in 4.8 seconds and goes on to top out at 217kph.
At the top rung is the Performance Model that will arrive with the Standard Range in 2021. Returning 450km of range, the Performance variant sprints from 0 to 100kph in 3.5 seconds with a top speed of 241kph. All this comes at a price of $60,000.
Step inside the cabin, and you can notice the similarities it shares with the Model 3. We are talking about a 15-inch touchscreen interface containing all of the car's controls and no tradition instrument cluster.