The Model Y Unveil at the Tesla Design Studio: Another Historic Cash Machine Model for a Once Again Cash Strapped Tesla

Tesla last night formally introduced its fifth product for immediate sale since the beginning of car production in 2007, the Tesla Model Y. The only surprise CEO Elon Musk gave Tesla fans last night was that the car has the option to hold seven passengers, albeit it a tight proposition, a unique feature for a compact CUV in segments where to be a three rower you usually have to be at least spaciously mid-sized. Other than having a performance model available when it gets delivered hopefully late next year, there will be no falcon wings, ludicrous mode, fancy leather, or sophisticated James Bond features usually reserved for more expensive Tesla models like S and X, or the President’s State Car in Cadillac One, for that matter. Like the song, what you see is what you get, is really what you get. And that just might be all that it takes for Tesla to find that winning formula like it did with Model 3, for it to get out of its debt draining cash funk:

About Model Y:

• Tesla says Model Y is an all-electric, mid-size SUV. It’s actually a compact CUV.
• Starts at $39,000 for the Standard Range version, and will also come in Long Range, Dual-Motor All-Wheel Drive, and Performance variants. 
• Like Base Model 3 that came way after the first variants, so it shall be for Base Model Y.
• Model Y carries 4 adults in reasonable comfort. Almost reasonable with a fifth.
• It can be optioned and is barely spacious enough to carry seven adults and their gear albeit tightly. Hurry up getting there.
• 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds, tops to 150 mph depending on variant.
• Model Y Standard battery will have 230 miles of range, while Model Y Long Range will be able to travel up to 300 miles on a single charge. 
• Panoramic glass roof and high seating.  
• The front trunk and split-folding second-row seats provide a total of 66 cubic feet (1.9 cubic meters) of storage space.
• Like Model 3, Model Y requires no keys, but instead connects to your smartphone for seamless entry and exit.
• A single 15-inch touchscreen interface inside for all of the car’s controls.
• Model Y also connects with the Tesla Mobile app for unique, easy-to-access features like remote unlock, Summon, remote pre-conditioning, location tracking, Speed Limit Mode, and much more.
• Built from the ground up as an electric vehicle, it has a low center of gravity, rigid body structure and large crumple zones.
• Aerodynamic design and leading battery technology also make it highly-efficient in terms of better range with less energy.
• Model Y is also compatible with the Tesla branded based charger network of more than 12,000 Superchargers in 36 countries.
• Compatible with new V3 Superchargers which can charge at rates up to 1,000 miles per hour.
• Deliveries: Fall 2020 for Model Y Performance, Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive, and Dual-Motor All-Wheel Drive variants, and Spring 2021 for the $39,000 Model Y Standard Range.
• All above dates are in “Tesla Time” which means these are very rough estimates; your actual mileage may vary, and so it is with delivery times, so don’t hold your breath. But in “GM Time” terms it has a better chance of happening with Tesla

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Although there was no live performance, fanfare, or frills Iike there usually are at product unveils like the ones at the Steve Jobs Theater with Tim Apple, Tesla CEO Elon Musk provided free rides and closer looks at present and upcoming vehicles at his. What was the most unique thing about last night’s Tesla Y unveil was that there weren’t any surprises and anything fancy that was either a car feature, or came out of nowhere from the dark, other than Elon himself. Ironically it was none other than Elon, who was last night’s “the next big thing.”

The fact that he was standing there, with a somewhat tepid audience who themselves as well I don’t think realized, was itself an accomplishment after all he has been through this past year, albeit some of it self imposed. I thought that deserved an ovation that he didn’t get.

Elon took us down memory lane to the beginning of Tesla Car One, VIN #1, Black Beauty, a Lotus glider that magically transformed, although roughly at the beginning with new Tesla technology freshly developed, into their first production car rolled off a Tesla assembly line that became the Tesla Roadster, now known as Tesla Roadster 1. My, have times changed. The first thing you realized that the audience did, is how the two seater is so small compared to the entire model range, and compared to her next generation younger sister, Roadster 2. But Elon and company had to think big but start small.

He took us down the whole lineup to show how far we’ve come and to go by ending the unveiling with the most boring vehicle compared to the rest of the range, that ironically has the formula to become the hottest selling vehicle Tesla ever made. And they’re counting on this.
 
Severely cash strapped again, this time not from making mistakes but from paying off the bills of making previous mistakes, Tesla now needs an additional money making machine car to pay off all the bills of bills. They may have found the recipe to even outdo Model 3.

By using 75 percent of Model 3, this is probably the most inexpensive vehicle Tesla has ever made for production thus far. By doing this Tesla might be able to get ahead of its massive $10 billion USD debt curve by introducing a new vehicle for production while keeping costs low. Bringing a new vehicle to market for a manufacturer usually is a $1 billion dollar proposition.

Tesla is severely hoping that a Model 3 CUV that won’t be their fastest most sexiest most luxurious most economical nor largest nor smallest nor most expensive nor cheapest vehicle, will be their hottest seller to outsell all its other vehicles combined. Like this previous sentence I wrote, that’s a tall proposition for any car maker to invest in just one car like that.

And you know, given what Tesla has already given us, from the junk bonds to the overly high now volatile stock price to the uneven body panels to Tweetgate to the podcasted toke to the tent right up to finally delivering us the Base Model 3 a lot of us really want, and to remember how much it’s fan base is so loyal to their brand, they just might be able to pull this off as well.

I just hope other “all electric” car makers like GM are watching. If they had the same passion like Tesla does, this could have been their unveil as well. Note the three more years GM says it’ll take for the first electric Cadillac, and the 12 years since Elon rolled that first Lotus glider off a Tesla assembly line. That’s not anything about passion to build an electric car like Tesla. That’s about an eventual no choice but you have to.

The Tesla Model Y is now available for order at tesla.com.

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Photos are from Tesla Media and the Tesla unveil broadcast. Images are published here and all under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, and news reporting.

UPDATED NOTICE: I am so grateful that my publisher allows me the generous privilege within reason to either report the news or express my opinions about matters related to the auto industry. I try to be judicious and respectful about the content. I ask you do the same in the comments section by refraining from inappropriate language and content. Please be nice, there’s no reason to get nasty, this is only about cars. The irony is if you came up on me on the street to recognize me I’d grab a beer or coffee with you and we’d talk about cars for me to thank you for being a reader! I may disagree but I truly do love you all, I’d take a bullet for many of you. And please keep in mind that the opinions expressed here are solely mine, and not those of Hareyan Publishing or its employees, including my staff colleagues.

Al Castro is a security expert and a retired LEO who is a staff and opinion piece writer on electric and autonomous vehicles for Torque News.

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