Tesla rolls out Model Y update with ambient lights and new wheels in China

Key Points

• 🚗 Tesla China released a minor update for the Model Y in China, featuring exterior and interior changes.
• ⏱️ The base Model Y from Giga Shanghai now has a faster 0-100 km/h time of 5.9 seconds.
• 🌟 Base Gemini Wheels are now painted black, enhancing their appearance.
• 💡 The updated Model Y includes ambient lighting in the form of an LED strip across the dashboard.
• 💲 The price of the base Model Y in China remains the same at RMB 263,900 ($36,100).
• 📈 Tesla aims to maintain strong sales for the Model Y with this update.
• 🔄 This update is not the highly-anticipated “Project Juniper” update, which is expected to bring more significant changes.
• ⚡ The base Model Y now accelerates faster than the base Model 3 Highland, despite being larger and heavier.

Tesla China has released a minor update to the Model Y crossover in China. The vehicle features a number of small but notable changes to its exterior and interior, allowing Tesla China to start the fourth quarter on a strong note. 

As the fourth quarter began in China, Tesla rolled out an update to its Model Y configurator. As could be seen in the vehicle’s order page, the base Model Y from Giga Shanghai now features a slightly faster 0-100 km/h time of 5.9 seconds. Its base Gemini Wheels are now painted black as well, making them more sleek and attractive. 

A look at the vehicle’s interior shows that the updated Model Y from Giga Shanghai now features ambient lighting in the form of an LED strip that spans the dashboard. The iconic wood trim on the black interior Model Y dash has also been replaced. Most importantly, the price of the base Model Y in China remains the same at RMB 263,900 ($36,100). 

A look at the update to the Model Y that Tesla China just released suggests that the electric vehicle maker is looking to keep the sales of its best-selling all-electric crossover strong in the foreseeable future. With the Model 3 Highland coming into the picture, the Model Y’s design has started to look a bit aged, but with this minor update, the vehicle becomes a bit more compelling. 

It should be noted that this is most likely not the highly-anticipated “Project Juniper” update to the Model Y that has been mentioned in previous reports. Details about Project Juniper” are scarce but expectations are high that it would implement the Model 3 Highland’s exterior and interior changes to the all-electric crossover. This recent Model Y update in China could therefore be considered more of a minor update between the current generation Model Y and Project Juniper. 

There are some details about this minor Model Y refresh that stick out. For one, the 0-100 km/h time of the base Model Y has dropped to 5.9 seconds, making it faster than the base Model 3 Highland, which features a 1-100 km/h time of 6.1 seconds. This is quite interesting since the Model Y is a larger and heavier car than the Model 3.