Tesla Model Y low cost: is range plummeting?
This page is translated from the original post "Tesla Model Y low cost : une autonomie en chute libre ?" in French.
- 02/08/2025 8:41
According to various well-informed Chinese media, the “affordable” Tesla Model Y would be equipped with a small battery.
Sources of savings can be found everywhere, even in areas that Tesla didn’t think it could go to. That means in the field of autonomy. And yet…
Only a few hours after Elon Musk revealed that the affordable Tesla would only be a downgraded Tesla Model Y: the state CEE bonus amounts to €3180, test units were magically photographed in the wild in China.
How strange. But in the meantime, the initial concerns were confirmed: the disappearance of the panoramic glass roof (heavy and expensive), deletion of interior lighting, simplified body elements (front and rear light strips disappeared), removal of heated and ventilated seats, and the rear entertainment screen. The audio system will also be downgraded, and the tunnel between the front passengers has also been simplified.
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Less than 400 km of range?
With Tesla, it’s impossible to be categorical because the American manufacturer loves to blur the lines. But the new leak of information concerns the battery size, which would drop to 50 kWh, compared to 62.5 kWh for the Propulsion version.
By applying a simple calculation, the range would thus fall from 500 km in the European WLTP cycle to about 400 km. A threshold likely reached due to the significant weight reduction of the Model Y stripped of many features.
The question of charging power will then arise. Tesla, in a technological pyramid approach, will it limit the charging speed between 100 and 175 kW? It’s highly likely. And finally, the question of the electric motor’s power, which could drop to around 250 horsepower.
Will customers be fooled?
We repeat: there are many sources of savings in an electric vehicle, with the battery representing a significant expense. But by breaking the Model Y, Tesla takes a gigantic risk. Because the market’s expectation is not a large SUV stripped of its DNA, but a compact car packed with technology.
By failing to communicate with its customers, except through its social media X, Tesla is losing its way. A move that could truly be fatal.
ALSO READ: Tesla presents a Model Y 6-seater with an extended wheelbase
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