Tesla Model Y Performance model is on the horizon

The Tesla Model Y update in January failed to mention a seven-seater version, base-model rear drive or Performance model. 

Now the company has announced that they will all join the line-up later this year. Well, in some places at any rate.

The former seven-seater option was only available as an all-wheel drive, Long Range variant. And it didn’t make it down our neck of the woods. 

As for the new Performance model, it will likely utilise the same hardware as the old car but receive a power bump to 415kW from its dual-motor set-up. That translates to a 0-100km/h time down from 3.7sec to around 3.4sec. A top speed of nearly 250km/h is expected but range may drop slightly to just under 500km. 

It will likely come with stiffer springs, adaptive damping and larger brakes, as seen on the Model 3 Performance. And an indicator stalk by popular demand.

Less expensive rear-wheel drive and dual-motor variants (than the launch series) are expected to become available later this year too. 

Whether the seven-seater comes our way or not is unclear; it didn’t before. It was primarily available as a $US2k upgrade on the Long Range dual-motor variant in the US. It is thought that the latest seven-seater uses the same wheelbase as the five seater, so it comprises essentially the same third-row install. 

Likely as not there would be good demand for a seven-seater Model 3 variant in the Australasian market, given how popular they are for larger families down under. 

Whether the new models are enough to pull Tesla out of its current sales decline remains to be seen. More affordable models are in the wings though, apparently.