Within the recently released Model Y owner manual is one potentially disappointing detail: it is not rated for towing!
Given some Model 3 buyers have been awaiting the Model Y in the hope it would make a better get-away EV hatchback/SUV option over the Model 3 booted sedan (which is tow rated)*, there will be some consternation over this detail.
Especially since Tesla’s chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, has previously been quoted by the Norwegian Tesla Owners Club (when they spoke to him at the Model Y launch) that – like the Model 3 – the Model Y would be rated for towing. On top of this, several Model Y test mules being snapped with tow hitches fitted.
As can be seen below in the Model Y specification page of the owner manual, under ‘Towing Capacity’ it says: ‘Model Y is not equipped with towing’.
So will it be rated for towing at a later date, as was done for the Model 3 when it reached Europe, or has it been quietly ditched?
It is certainly a question that could impact on Model Y sales here in Australia: after all, we love our long-weekends and the ability to tow is an integral part of that. Seems like we may have to wait until the Model Y is released in Europe as well as here to find out.
Note: * Even though the Model 3 is rated for up to 920kg towing in Australia – see Tesla Model 3 now has a tow bar. Has Elon Musk saved the weekend? – Tesla have yet to open the option in the Australian Model 3 Configurator for ordering one.
Bryce Gaton is an expert on electric vehicles and contributor for The Driven and Renew Economy. He has been working in the EV sector for 10 years, and also is editor of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association newsletter.
