Last week, Tesla launched an updated version of Tesla’s most popular car, the single-motor Model Y RWD. The update made the current Model Y RWD a second faster to sprint to 100 km/h and added a few changes that improved the car’s appearance.
Now a video has appeared showing some of these changes on the inside, hinting that the new upgraded model was already in production in China.
The video was shared by Tesla investor and enthusiast Ray on Twitter/X, highlighting the key changes to the dash along with the ambient lighting setup new customers will have access to.
MY UPDATE: 4 days ago, Tesla CN announced a few minor changes to MIC Model Y, including 0-100 acceleration boost, new interior materials. ambient lighting, etc.
Now we have the 1st video showing the ambient lighting in Model Y. Unlike the ambient lighting extended around all… pic.twitter.com/p7d0Vx68KE
— Ray (@ray4tesla) October 5, 2023
On the left-hand-drive vehicle seen in the video, the driver door’s trim no longer includes the wood-like section. This has also been removed from the entire front dash as well and replaced with a nano-fabric-like material.
Green ambient lighting can also be seen spread across the entire dash and on the screen, any of the 256 colours can be selected. Previously, Tesla has showcased the red colour in the interior of the refreshed Model 3 which also has ambient lighting.
There is a difference between the Model Y and the new Model 3 ambient lighting. The differences are that the Model Y’s ambient lighting is on the wooden panel and quite minimal while the Model 3 Highland’s ambient lighting is more so throughout than the Model Y.
The Model Y being filmed appears to be at a Tesla showroom before customers get to see it in person, hinting that the first customer deliveries are not too far away in China.
These new changes come in at no additional cost to customers. When the update was announced over a week ago, Tesla China’s design studio for the Model Y showed that Chinese customers can take delivery of the updated cars in 2-6 weeks’ time. That’s why it’s not surprising that these upgraded Model Y vehicles are already in production.
Tesla has come out with their updated Model Y ambient lighting and new interior design after launching the refreshed Model 3 last month in September.
Other changes being made for the Chinese market (to start with) include new wheels and a new motor which has improved the acceleration of the base single-motor variant to 5.9 seconds.
With these new ambient lighting features and changes, the aim is to freshen up one of the most popular EVs in China along with export markets like ours in Australia.
This will encourage more buyers to upgrade or make the switch to Tesla, driving more sales for Tesla as they aim to hit 1.8 million vehicle sales in 2023.
With Model Y sales standing at 23,457 in the first 9 months of the year, we look forward to seeing when the updated version of Australia’s best-selling EV comes into our market in the coming months.
Riz 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.