Breaking! Tesla Model Y Production to Start ~Q1 2020 (Unofficial Leak)

This information is going to cause some controversy, because everything we knew, or thought we knew, about Tesla’s Model Y timeline is about to change.  Originally, the Model Y was supposed to start shipping in “late 2020.”  Currently, Tesla’s website says new orders will ship in Q1 2021.  However, according to an anonymous source with a proven and reliable track record, Tesla is about to accelerate its plans and start production sometime around Q1 2020 at its Fremont factory.  (We’ve also received the same information independently through a second-hand source.)

The Model Y is expected to launch with the Long Range all-wheel drive (AWD) trim, according to this source, and Tesla will release the Standard Range Plus (SR+) version once production has been ramped up and the Model Y SR+ has a large enough gross margin.  That is how Tesla has done it previously.

Tesla has learned a lot since it started manufacturing the Model 3, and it’s possible that the ramp up will be much quicker than with the Model 3, but we don’t have a firm estimate of when the SR+ would start rolling off the line.

One other bit of important speculation here is that GF1 is still supply constrained.  In that case, Tesla would want to focus customers as much as possible on the Model Y Performance and Long Range variants to ensure overall profitability.  (Just as a quick side note, for any critic reading this article, this doesn’t mean that Tesla is unprofitable — it simply means the company is being logical and responsible in order to maximize profitability while expanding its lineup.)

Another fun little tidbit of technical information we have been told is that the Model Y will indeed use the new revolutionary flex-cable circuitry that reduces the length of wires needed throughout the car and also gives every component a redundant connection to the battery and the computer.  This makes it possible for robots to install more of the “guts and veins” of the car and cut down on the manual labor involved in installing cables.  As Elon Musk has said multiple times, robots suck at placing normal cables into the vehicle. 

Many Model Y components will be similar to those in the Model 3, but not identical, including the battery packs.

Read more at Breaking!  Tesla Model Y Production to Start ~Q1 2020 (Unofficial Leak)