Tesla News

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.

Stellantis, parent company of Jeep, Ram, Peugeot and Leapmotor, has reportedly put its ‘AutoDrive’ self-driving software on hold over concerns there is no demand for it among buyers.

New Chinese carmakers such as Xiaomi, Xpeng and Nio are leaving established manufacturers such as Toyota, Nissan and Mazda behind when it comes to technology a new report has found, leaving doubts about whether the traditional players can ever catch up.

For the longest time, I would have sworn black and blue that auto giant Toyota was the world’s most boring car company. But not anymore...

It seems Tesla is listening to customer feedback after all and is willing to right its wrongs.

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.

The Australian new car landscape is getting reformed in front of our eyes. July sales figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), showed the cars and brands Aussies are loving and the ones we are falling out of love with.

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.

The polarising Tesla Cybertruck electric pickup could soon be getting a little sibling.Speaking with Business Insiders, Tesla Engineering Vice President Lars Moravy confirmed the company is already looking at a mini Cybertruck.“We always talked about making a smaller pickup,” said Moravy.“I think in the future, as more and more of the Robotaxi comes into the world, we look at those options and we think about, OK, that kind of service is useful not just for people, but also for goods.“We've definitely been churning in the design studio about what we might do to serve that need for sure.”This potential mini Tesla Cybertruck could be perfect for international markets, like Europe and the UK, as the current full-size Cybertruck isn’t being offered in certain markets due to its hefty kerb weight and trapezoidal design.Currently the Tesla Cybertruck is only offered in the US, Canada and Mexico, as well as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.The regular Cybertruck still hasn’t launched in Australia yet, though Tesla’s Country Director for Australia and New Zealand Thom Drew said earlier this year it’s “never been off the table”.Tesla Australia has also been briefed on changes required for the Cybertruck to be approved for sale locally, though there’s no timeframe of when it’ll actually go on sale.If this potential mini Cybertruck is offered in Australia, it could sit alongside the full-size Cybertruck and align more closely in size to the top-selling Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger.There’s only one electric mid-size ute offered in Australia currently, the LDV eT60. The full-size Ford F-150 Lightning is also offered and converted from left- to right-hand drive by AusEV.Looking to the future, LDV has previously locked in the new eTerron 9 electric ute for Australia and there’s an electric version of the Isuzu D-Max coming.