Tesla Model Y Refresh Unceremoniously Revealed on Brand's China Site

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Typically, when Tesla introduces a new product, it hosts a live event in prime time and broadcasts it around the world. This product isn’t in production for a year. . . or a few years. . . or, in the case of the second generation Roadster, you still can’t have it more than seven years after pre-orders open.

The company handles mid-cycle refreshes of tangible and popular current products in the opposite way, however: by surprise-dropping them on a website, often in just one region. The latest update to the Model Y follows in that grand tradition. The new Model Y, code-named “Juniper,” appears to have been officially unveiled… via an unceremonious update to the brand’s Chinese website.

The mechanical updates seem minor, or at least not significant enough for Tesla to note on the car’s site. Visually, the big changes are the front and rear light bars spotted by a spy photographer. Stunning new headers update the grilleless oval shape at the front of the outgoing Model Y, going a long way toward solving some of the car’s visual problems. Tesla buyers hoping to improve on the car’s strange proportions will be disappointed, but the old Model Y had no problem selling in high volumes, even with its oddly shaped roof: it was the second best-selling car in the world in 2024.

While the light bars bring the Model Y in line with the very real Cybertruck and mostly theoretical Cybercab, Tesla’s move to the design cue actually follows other established automakers. Companies like Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Volkswagen, and Chevrolet have all used a full-length LED light bar as a kind of visual shorthand for an electric variant of a car; Rivian and Lucid also use full-length light bars on the front and rear of all their production cars. It may not be original, but it works well here.

A video on the Chinese site shows an interior updated to match the facelifted Model 3, complete with ventilated seats and rear screen displays. The images also share a pleasant surprise: a turn signal stalk. The updated Model 3 previously dropped the ubiquitous feature for a pair of much-maligned capacitive touch signaling buttons.

Since the car has not yet been officially announced, the updated Model Y has not necessarily been shown in the US market yet. We can assume that it will arrive in the coming months, like the renewed Model 3 after its presentation in China. Pricing, performance, and diversity data will be revealed when the car (presumably) arrives in North America, either late this year or early next year.

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Tesla Model Y Refresh Unceremoniously Revealed on Brand’s China Site

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