Tesla Model Y deliveries are underway in the UK, stepping local launch closer

The Tesla Model Y is being delivered en masse in the United Kingdom, a step that bodes well – to an extent – for the Australian EV market which is still awaiting reservations for the electric crossover to go live.

The official arrival of the Tesla Model Y in the UK, also a right-hand drive market, is significant for Australia as it indicates a local launch is stepping closer.

A video shared by Tesla Owners UK on Wednesday shows hundreds of Tesla Model Ys alongside Tesla Model 3s lined up at Southampton port on the weekend.

It followed the announcement that the first 25 Model Ys had been delivered to customers last Thursday, with confirmation from the Tesla Owners UK club that the new Model Ys include recent upgrades including acoustic glass, tinted rear windows, heated wipers and the AMD Ryzen chip which significantly speeds up touchscreen interface speed.

The momentous occasion was also announced on LinkedIn by Tesla UK and Ireland’s Tim Findlay, who shared some photos of the Delivery Day.

So, what exactly does this mean for the Model Y in Australia?

As Bryce Gaton notes in his article weighing up whether drivers should wait for the Model Y grin or “dive right in” with the Kia EV6, the arrival of many EV models on the UK market precedes a local launch.

Unfortunately for Australia though, in the case of the Model 3, there were three years between reservations opening and first deliveries as Tesla did the hard yards ramping up mass volume production. When the Model 3 arrived in the UK there were already thousands of drivers waiting for their orders to be filled locally.

For the Model Y, reservations opened in October 2021 in the UK, so there’s been a four-month wait there this time around.

While local reservations have not yet manifested here yet, we can’t take a guess the wait time will be the same for Australia but it’s pretty much certain that drivers will not be tormented with another three-year wait for the Model Y’s local launch.

Instead, a local launch date is more likely dependent on the ramping up of production at Tesla’s Berlin factory, from where UK inventory will issue once the factory is online. A video shared on Monday by Berlin watcher Tobias Lindh showed hundreds of Model Y lined up at the EV factory as the EV maker irons out production kinks ahead of the official final permit for volume production.

Which variants will be made available in Australia is also up in the air. In the UK only the Performance and Long range Model Y are availabel to order, whereas in Hong Kong (also a RHD market) it is also possible to order a standard range RWD Model Y.

As for price, based on a ratio of Hong Kong prices compared to Australia, we expect to see the Model Y starting from around $66,000 if the RWD option is available, $77,000-78,000 for the Long Range and $89,000 for the Performance variant (all before on-road costs).