2026 Tesla Model 2, seven-seat Model Y, Cybertruck and a cheaper, bigger model range: Tesla Australia spills on model plans as Chinese competitors, including BYD loom

Tesla in Australia has lifted the lid on its model plans, and its wish list, for our market, with the brand touching on everything from the long-rumoured Tesla Model 2 or cheaper EV products to the seven-seat Model Y.

And it's a good news/bad news scenario for Australian Tesla fans, with some of the above firmly in the brand's sights, and some almost no chance of turning up.

Here's where we stand on each of them.

Tesla Cybertruck

The brand's most controversial vehicle is looking more certain than ever for an Australian launch, with the stainless-steel giant having now toured Australia as part of a 12-month roadshow, and Tesla's local executive being briefed on what ADR changes will be required to launch the vehicle here.

They are two big steps towards launching the vehicle, and a confident Thom Drew, Tesla's Australian chief, said it "has always been on the roadmap".

"Locally, me and the team – and we've been garnering feedback from the public as well – are very, very interested in the product. It has never been off the table, to be clear. It's always been on the roadmap," he said.

"Cybertruck is a conversation that we're having ongoing. I can't tell you a timeline, or if or when, but we're advocating for it as much as we can.

"I have had a briefing on what needs to change. It's not what people think. I know there's been comments previously made, for example...pedestrian safety and some of the things that need to change.

"Australian design rules are different for this classification of vehicle, and the vehicle you see today, it would look the same. Maybe a few minor changes, but as far as the core structure of the vehicle, it's not dramatically different.

"It's really just the harmonisation to the ADRs. There are small changes to bumper widths, some external lighting requirements, and obviously left- to right-hand drive, and just a few engineering changes like that, but fundamentally the same vehicle.

"We've been doing a 12-month-plus roadshow with the vehicle around the country, and the feedback that we're getting directly from Australian and Kiwi consumers is they want it desperately.

"Look, it's never gonna be a high-volume product for us. We need to be realistic – with its price point and size and all that – but there is a market here that is very keen for the product."

Tesla Model Y seven seater

Less positive is news around the seven-seat Model Y on offer in America. In order to secure production for Australia from Tesla's Shanghai plant, it needs to also be accepted by China – something Drew said simply won't happen.

"The seven-seat version that's available in other markets, or in North America, is not built in our Shanghai factory," Drew said.

"Unless they change their mind in China, which I don't believe they will, because I don't think that the size of the rear seats really suits the Chinese market, it's very unlikely that they're going to manufacture it.

"So we won't be getting that product."

Tesla Model 2 and cheaper Tesla EVs

This one is shrouded in a little more grey. Tesla in Australia says it is advocating for more and cheaper EVs, and a general expansion of the lineup here from two to several models, but Drew said he – like the rest of us – is being kept in the dark as to exactly what Elon Musk is planning.

He does concede the company is "actively looking at less-expensive vehicles", presumably to counter the rapid arrival of BYD and other cut-price brands from China.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but outside of the comments that you're hearing, that is exactly the information I have to hand that they are actively looking at less-expensive vehicles, but what form that takes, I don't know.

"I think it'd be great to see more variations to suit segments that we don't currently cater to. What that exactly looks like, I don't know," he said.