Tesla Model Y News

Tesla has confirmed the pricing and specifications for the updated Model Y Performance in Australia ahead of deliveries commencing in late 2025.

The Federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communication and the Arts has issued a safety recall notice impacting 7301 examples of the Tesla Model Y sold new in Australia in 2025.

Tesla has officially revealed its updated version of the Model Y Performance in Europe.

Tesla has announced it’s revealing something today over in Europe and if reports and speculation are accurate, it could be the return of the Model Y Performance.The US carmaker published a short teaser video on social media captioned, “Spoiler alert”. It shows a close-up shot of a red car with what appears to be a pronounced rear spoiler.Currently, the Tesla Model Y ‘Juniper’ is without a sporty Performance trim in the line-up. There are only regular RWD and Long Range AWD trims in Australia.A Model Y Performance was offered in the pre-update guise and it has been expected to rejoin the line-up at some point. It was around a year before the Model 3 ‘Highland’ received its current Performance trim.It’s expected the new Model Y Performance will have a dual-motor all-wheel drive set-up, though total system outputs are unclear. The pre-update model could do the 0-100km/h sprint in 3.7 seconds.The current Model 3 Performance’s dual-motor all-wheel drive set-up produces 380kW and 740Nm, which is good for a 0-100km/h sprint in 3.0 seconds.For now we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.Tesla just announced it’ll soon launch Full Self Driving (Supervised) in Australia.No exact timeline has been detailed yet, but it will be rolled out first to Model 3 and Model Y vehicles with the latest ‘Hardware 4’ camera systems.Older Teslas with ‘Hardware 3’ tech will need to get the newer cameras retrofitted.This will finally allow owners to take advantage of the Level 2 semi-autonomous driving aid that costs an additional $10,100 to purchase.Tesla sales have been fluctuating in Australia in 2025, though over the first seven months of the year it has sold 15,063 vehicles, which is down 41.4 per cent year-on-year.The brand’s best-seller is the Model Y (10,986 sales YTD) by far, followed by the Model 3 (4077 sales YTD).

The future is here and it’s going to blow your mind. Tesla is about to launch its Full Self Driving (Supervised) in Australia, and CarsGuide was among the first people to trial it on Australian roads.

Tesla has officially revealed the long-wheelbase version of its top-selling Model Y electric SUV in China.Dubbed the Tesla Model Y L, this long-wheelbase electric SUV offers six seats as standard in a 2+2+2 seating configuration.It’s worth noting this isn’t the first time Tesla has fitted a third row of seating into the Model Y. In pre-update form, a seven-seat option with the standard wheelbase was offered in certain markets, including the U.S. It wasn’t offered in Australia.The Model Y L measures in at 4976mm long, 1982mm wide and 1668mm tall, which is 179mm longer and 45mm taller than the standard Model Y, with a 150mm longer wheelbase.Compared to the standard Model Y, the Model Y L has longer rear doors, a lengthened three-quarter panel, as well as a higher roof line. These all contribute to being able to package the third row of seating.There are also unique 19-inch ‘Rotating Mecha’ alloy wheels and ‘Model YYY’ badging on the tailgate.At this stage the Tesla Model Y L is only being offered with a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive powertrain. Tesla hasn’t confirmed the total system output, though previous reports say it produces 340kW, which is 9kW more than the standard-wheelbase Long Range AWD.Tesla claims the Model Y L can do the 0-100km/h sprint in 4.5 seconds, which is 0.2 seconds slower than the regular Model Y Long Range AWD. Top speed is 201km/h.While the company hasn’t detailed what battery specifications the Model Y L has, it’s claimed to have up to 751km of range, according to lenient CLTC testing.Inside, there are second-row captain’s chairs that have electrically folding armrests. Both the front- and second-row seats offer heating and ventilation. The third-row seats also offer heating.The Model Y L also picks up air vents mounted on the pillars for the second- and third-row, as well as an 18-speaker sound system (up from 14 speakers in the Model Y Long Range AWD).Long-wheelbase versions of cars are very popular in China, with a number of vehicles gaining stretched body styles exclusively for that market.While all versions of the Tesla Model Y that are sold in Australia are produced in China, it’s still unclear whether the Model Y L will be offered locally."Model Y L is a China specific product for now, we will continue to assess new products for our market as they become available," said a Tesla spokesperson.

Leaked images of a stripped-down Model Y, which Tesla supremo Elon Musk said would be the brand’s more attainable new model, have appeared in China.The Model Y looks exactly the same dimensionally as the current car, but has a few notable changes.Tesla has pulled out the panoramic sunroof, rear entertainment screen, the light bar across the front, and likely the light bar across the rear too (although this isn’t seen in the images).A stripped-down specification for the Americas already existed, with Mexican Model 3s once being available with cloth seats and the rear multimedia screen taken out. This variant was hardly revolutionary on the price front, wiping around the equivalent of $4000 off the price-tag.The Chinese images show the Model Y maintaining the synthetic leather interior, pointing to continued production and equipment differences between the Chinese-built vehicles, which arrive in Australia, and the cars built in and for the Americas.Chinese media is claimed inside sources said the new low-cost Model Y is already in production and will launch, at least domestically, before the end of 2025.A six-seat Model Y with an extended wheelbase was also recently revealed by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) as a Chinese-market special variant. It is 180mm longer, 45mm taller, with an additional 150mm in the wheelbase. In addition, the six-seat version scores a unique set of wheels and an alternate bumper design.Expect increased diversity from the Model Y in the future as Musk earmarks it for future sales growth. The controversial CEO confirmed the more affordable new model coming from the brand would be a variation of the Model Y and warned investors there would be more “rough” financial quarters ahead.Musk said the biggest obstacle isn’t whether people want the Model Y, it’s simply that they can’t afford it.“The more affordable we can make it, the better,” he told investors.In Australia, Tesla had a significant boost year-on-year thanks to the new and heavily updated Model Y earlier in 2025.The Model Y currently starts from $58,900 for a base rear-wheel drive, it used to be one of the most affordable new electric cars on sale in Australia. It is now comfortably beaten in the SUV space by the Leapmotor C10 (from $45,888) and Geely EX5 (from $40,990). It is also facing stiff competition from the BYD Sealion 7 (from $54,990) and XPeng G6 (from $54,800).BYD’s Sealion 7 has done impressive numbers since its recent arrival, the Leapmotor C10 has yet to set the charts on fire despite its bargain pricing, having moved just 309 units this year. The Geely has fared much better, having moved 1845 units.

Tesla has issued a warning to Australian owners about driving their vehicles through tunnels with the cruise control system activated, warning that it is a “known-limitation” of the model’s Traffic-Aware Cruise Control. The situation came to light most recently through user complaints of phantom braking when the cruise system is active in a tunnel, with a complaint to Tesla eliciting the warning. It is also included in Tesla’s user manual.

If you need any more proof that China is becoming the dominant force in Australia’s automotive landscape, consider this.In the first six months of this year, 102,938 Chinese-made vehicles have been sold in Australia. Flash back five years to 2020, Chinese vehicle sales totalled just 11,055 in the same six-month period.That’s an 831 per cent increase in just five years. At this rate, China will overtake Thailand as the number two country of origin in Australia by next year. Japan is currently number one for imports, but for how long?Clearly a large number of Australians have no issue buying Chinese-built cars.The top 10 car brands for the first half of the year include Chinese giants GWM and BYD in seventh and eighth place respectively, while Tesla - which only imports cars to Australia from China - is ninth and SAIC-owned MG is just outside the table in eleventh.Yet looking at some of the commentary around this trend you’d be mistaken for thinking otherwise. There’s still a lot of negativity around Chinese brands and models despite the appetite for them here in Australia. But is it warranted?Honestly, it’s complicated.I appreciate some people have a moral issue buying a Chinese car given the long list of alleged current and historical human rights abuses carried out by the Chinese government. This is understandable.However, you could argue that if you take a stand against a particular country for historical human rights abuses there wouldn't be many countries left to buy cars from. The US isn’t exactly covering itself in glory when it comes to human rights at the moment.Other people take issue with the perceived quality of Chinese-made vehicles, in terms of build quality, materials and what they’re like to drive. And some of this concern is absolutely valid.The first crop of Chinese cars to hit Australia were, largely, awful. GWM, back in 2009 when it was just called Great Wall, served up some stinkers. The V240 SUV and X240 ute were terrible to drive, had poor build quality and the ute was even engulfed in an asbestos scandal.MG’s reboot as a Chinese-owned marque started in 2013 with the already dated MG6 sedan, but before it, Chery’s terrible trio of the J1 and J3 hatches and the J11 SUV ensured an early exit for the brand.Even some more recent attempts have been less than successful. Poorly calibrated advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) impacted Chery’s relaunch here a few years back with the Omoda 5, while even Deepal’s own company executives admitted the S07 EV was the most annoying car on sale in Australia thanks to incessant beeping and ADAS intervention.And, having driven a large number of Chinese cars currently on sale in Australia, I can confirm it is a mixed bag of good, bad and in between.But things are changing fast. I spent some time recently in China driving a raft of new models from BYD. While the test track was far too limited to develop decent drive impressions, it’s clear the overall quality of their cars has improved significantly. The interior design, materials used and even things like seat design impressed a lot of us hardened Aussie motoring writers.MG is on a roll at the minute, too. While I am yet to drive one myself, everyone that’s tested the MGS5 EV, including our very own Laura Berry, has raved about it. It’s like an SUV version of the already impressive MG4, only even better.GWM is consistently improving its models as it goes and having driven cars like the Tank 300 diesel and Haval H6 GT PHEV, I can confirm this to be true. Hiring noted former GM Holden engineer Rob Trubiani to tune its products will only help further.The quality of Tesla’s product improved greatly when Australian sourcing shifted from the USA to China a few years back.Granted, there are still some decidedly average cars in many of the Chinese brands’ model range.But to dismiss all cars from China is to fight a losing battle. Check those sales numbers again. Very soon half of the brands in the top 10 will be from China. GWM, MG and BYD all have ambitions for the top five or top three and some of the legacy brands aren’t doing much to stop them.I have had some alarming conversations with executives from legacy brands about China’s rise. I won’t name names, but multiple execs from top 10 brands have dismissed the popularity of Chinese brands in Australia and their potential to take over the industry. There is a sense from some that buyer loyalty will ultimately lead people back to long-standing brands.But this ignores the fact that hundreds of thousands of Australians don’t care about loyalty and they just want a good deal. And they are getting that in spades from the Chinese carmakers, much more than they are from the Japanese, Korean and European brands that have dominated for so long.So I guess what I am saying is, it might be time to get over the anti-China bias. Because you’re missing out on some pretty good cars. And in a few years there might not be as many non-Chinese brands to choose from.

The exciting cheap new Tesla model will just be a stripped-back Model Y.