Just days after Tesla unveiled the most important product in its current lineup, the refreshed 2025 Tesla Model Y, a production version of the car was spotted in Shanghai.Ā
This sighting comes just after the news of over 50,000 reservations being gathered by Tesla in just over a day of the configurator going live in China.
One of these spotted Model Y vehicles is in Teslaās new light blue which Tesla calls āGlacier Blueā. Pictures of this vehicle was shared by Xiaoteshushu, a Tesla enthusiast in Shanghai.
Pictures of the front and the rear highlight what the new Model Y could look like, although the overcast day with slight sunlight when the pictures were taken makes the car look slightly like the Quicksilver paint, which was first offered on Australian-delivered Tesla vehicles last year.
another new color comes out. pic.twitter.com/pU7Z4KLGLY
— xiaoteshushu (@xiaoteshushu) January 13, 2025
The front of the spotted car shows the new lightbar as well as protective covers on the wheels and side mirrors, highlighting that this is a recently produced unit at the Shanghai factory.
Speaking of the wheels, from the pictures, they appear to be the 19-inch wheels with aerocaps currently being offered in China for domestic deliveries.Ā
Australia, at this stage, only has the 20-inch wheel options on both locally available variants.Ā
At the rear, the new rear taillight bar can also be seen with a dark centre badge listing āTeslaā. Along with that, the car also has a Launch series badge on the right-hand side of the boot lid.
This indicates that the car is part of an initially limited production-run vehicle with a few modifications to give it a bespoke look.
Features on the Launch series cars include a rear liftgate, puddle light, doorsill plate and more. For dual-motor all-wheel-drive cars, an acceleration boost feature that increases the car’s acceleration is also added. However, this vehicle is likely to be a single-motor RWD variant.
On the back of this sighting, an Australian owner commented by saying: āNot the flattering angle lol, looks pretty bad. Still buying one though š¤·āāļøā.
A post from tonight's Tesla sales WeChat Moments. pic.twitter.com/DcAjWxvFgd
— xiaoteshushu (@xiaoteshushu) January 10, 2025
Going back to the demand that the refreshed model has generated, over 50,000 orders in just over the first 24 hours of the configurator going online on Friday.Ā
This was shared by Thinkercar, a Chinese EV market analyst on X, which showcases the demand Teslaās brand can generate despite growing fierce competition in the mid-sized SUV segment.
After Tesla's new Model Y opened for pre-orders yesterday, someone who placed an order at 9:30 AM yesterday had an order number of 810238***. As of 10 PM today, the order number has already reached 810295991, suggesting that over 50K orders have been placed so far. #TeslaModelY pic.twitter.com/WwWgkPjHSl
— ThinkerCar (@thinkercar) January 11, 2025
The new Model Y was launched in Australia on the same day last week, with prices starting fromĀ $63,400 for the single-motor RWD variant, while the dual-motor Long Range AWD variant bumps that to $73,400 before on-road costs.
This new model features many improvements over the previous model. Some of these include:Ā
- More range
- Faster acceleration
- Updated exterior styling with new paints
- Interior lightingĀ
- Ventilated seats
- Upgraded rear seats, providing greater passenger support
- Rear passenger controls and entertainment screen
- Powered second-row reclining seats
- Upgraded suspension
- Upgraded sound system with more speakers in both available variants
- Upgraded acoustic glass for a quieter ride
The refreshed car will begin deliveries in China by March, followed by markets like Australia in May.
With the new Model Y improvements, the initial demand appears to be looking strong.Ā
Tesla will need to maintain this momentum if itās aiming to sell more cars in 2025 over the last few years while ensuring the Model Y remains the worldās best-selling car with over 1.2 million annual sales.
RizĀ is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.