Tesla has officially opened the Online Design Studio for Model Y customers in the United Kingdom and expects deliveries to begin in early 2022.
Tesla started delivering the Model Y in the United States in March 2020, while deliveries of the all-electric crossover began in January 2021 in China. While Tesla’s Fremont facility in the United States and Gigafactory Shanghai in China produce the Model Y for their respective markets, the automaker did not plan to export units to the European market from either factory. Instead, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was adamant that Gigafactory Berlin would produce Model Y builds for the market, bringing in the newly-engineered design of the crossover utilizing the structural battery pack.
However, Tesla decided that it would import Model Ys to Europe from China earlier this year. In September 2021, the Model Y finally landed in Europe. Now, customers in the U.K. have access to the Model Y Design Studio, which gives the impression that production of the car at Gigafactory Berlin is imminent, supporting comments made by Musk last weekend at the facility’s Giga Fest event.
Credit: Tesla
The Model Y Design Studio for the United Kingdom only offers the five-seat Model Y interior as of right now. The seven-seat variant may come later but is not an option at the current time. The Model Y Long Range starts at £54,990 and the Performance at £64,990.
Interestingly, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving are also available for purchase in the U.K. Enhanced Autopilot features Navigate on Autopilot, Auto Lane Change, Autopark, Summon, and Smart Summon for an additional charge of £3,400. Full Self-Driving equips all of the Basic and Enhanced Autopilot functionalities, and Autosteer on City Streets is listed as “Upcoming.”
Tesla has confirmed that the Model Y will be the first vehicle produced at Gigafactory Berlin. Last week at the Giga Fest event, Tesla unveiled new details regarding the engineering of the Berlin-built Model Y, including the introduction of the 4680 battery cell and the structural battery pack, to things that were unveiled at Tesla’s Battery Day event in September 2020. Tesla has engineered the Model Y differently for the European market than the U.S. market, essentially making it an entirely new car. The design is geared toward improved safety, as the structural battery pack also contributes to the Model Y’s overall rigidity and strength, making it one of the safest cars Tesla currently offers.
The Design Studio for the U.K. Model Y does not currently show the new color that Tesla has hinted toward for the European market for several months. The Dark Crimson color is still missing from the Online Design Studio, but it is likely that Tesla could offer this after production begins at the factory.
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