We had a wild week in the world of Tesla Model Y. To recap, Tesla cut the SR RWD by $2,000 on Thursday to the delight of many people (including shareholders). This made the lowest cost Model Y competitive in price to the VW ID.4 and the Ford Mach-e.
Then on Saturday, Tesla took many by surprise by removing the SR RWD option from the vehicle configurator online. Many people thought it was a glitch and that it would come back shortly. On Sunday, showrooms were told the change was permanent and that’s all the info they had. We posted an alternative way to order by requesting for an inventory vehicle but that will be exhausted shortly.
Many people turned to Twitter where Elon Musk is extremely active and occasionally does answer questions about SpaceX, Tesla or other ventures when not posting memes. Jason LRRWD Y (@jgrano305) managed to get a response from @elonmusk himself on Twitter. This was Elon Musk’s response.
It is still available off menu, but I don’t think the range, in many drive conditions, yet meets the Tesla standard of excellence
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2021
This tweet gave a lot of people a sigh of relief as it hints that the SR RWD Model Y was still available just not through the website. If you recall, the $35,000 Model 3 was available only through “off menu”. It was a stripped down version of the Standard Range Model 3 that was available through the website. People assumed that it was the same process where they can still order the SR RWD Model Y by calling Tesla or in person at a showroom.
However, a few people tried this and found that the only option available was inventory vehicles. Today, Tesla held a all hands meeting with their front line staff to re-affirm that the SR RWD Model Y was NOT available to order off menu and to redirect customers to inventory vehicles or AWD options.
What a disappointment!
Later the same evening, @jgrano305 inquired if this means they will produce the much awaited LR RWD Model Y? Here is Elon’s answer:
We have too much product complexity already
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2021
The answer is cryptic but it hints that Tesla has no immediate plans to offer another trim but will focus on what they have.
My take is that Fremont is over capacity and they want to streamline the production lines as much as possible. SR RWD Model Y was a test and very soon they realized that the benefit did not warrant another trim. I suspect things may change whey GigaTexas opens towards the end of 2021 or early 2022 but that may be too far away for those who have been waiting for LR RWD from two years ago.
