263,000, Tesla's refreshed Model Y suddenly launched, Lei Jun "sent a congratulatory message"

Two years ago, Tesla, which first initiated a price war in the Chinese market, has decided not to engage this time.

On January 10th, Beijing time, Tesla China officially launched the refreshed Model Y. The refreshed version is available in two variants: rear-wheel drive (standard version) and all-wheel drive (long range), with pre-sale prices starting at 263,500 yuan and 303,500 yuan respectively, an increase of 13,600 yuan and 12,600 yuan compared to the current models, and pre-sales began immediately after the launch.

The debut version of the refreshed Model Y does not include the rumored three-row seven-seat version. However, Tesla's official website in China has deliberately marked "5-seat version" in several prominent places, leading the market to believe that the "seven-seat version" will still arrive in the future.

In 2024, Tesla's global delivery volume saw its first decline in nearly a decade. However, thanks to the rising demand in the domestic new energy market, Tesla still maintained an 8.8% growth in the Chinese region. The Model Y, with an average price above 250,000 yuan, achieved a delivery volume of 480,000 units, surpassing models like BYD Seagull, Nissan Sylphy, and Volkswagen Lavida, becoming the best-selling model in the domestic market in 2024 .

Tesla has taken the first shot for 2025 with new products. This "AI company" with a price-to-earnings ratio of 108 times will need to present more compelling technologies and tangible products in areas such as autonomous driving and robotics to maintain its ultra-high market value in an increasingly competitive automotive market—after all, its market value currently far exceeds the total market value of major global automakers.

Can the refreshed Model Y maintain its record as the best-selling new energy vehicle in China?

01 The New Model Y: Both Willful and Receptive

The refreshed Model Y is available in two SKUs: rear-wheel drive (single motor, 62.5kWh battery) and long-range all-wheel drive (dual motor, 78.4kWh battery), with a starting pre-sale price of 263,500 yuan, which is an increase of 13,600 yuan compared to the official guide price of the current model.

In terms of appearance, the refreshed Model Y has increased in length by 47mm compared to the current model. The front features a through-light design similar to that of the Cybertruck, and a new ice blue paint option has been added, presenting a different visual feel compared to the current model.

Refreshed Model Y exterior | Source: Tesla China official website

The interior is where the most significant changes have occurred. Renderings on Tesla's official website show that the refreshed Model Y has eliminated the physical gear lever for the gear shift, which will now be integrated into the central control screen. The left turn signal lever appears to have been removed as well, replaced by two physical buttons on the steering wheel for operation.

Previously, Tesla's 2024 refreshed Model 3 also adopted a similar design, which stems from Musk's understanding of future automotive interaction methods Elon Musk stated on his personal account in 2021 that he believes future cars should be able to "automatically switch gears" based on obstacles, road conditions, and navigation routes. He even wrote, "When you drive a car for a few days without a gear lever/shifter, switching back to a car with a shifting mechanism feels annoying."

The two models under ZEEKR, ZEEKR 001 and ZEEKR 007, also adopted a similar cockpit design language. However, such an advanced design language naturally sparked numerous controversies.

At the end of last year, there were rumors suggesting that the refreshed Model Y would reinstate the gear shifter. However, it is clear that Tesla's largest product manager, Elon Musk, did not agree with this viewpoint.

As for the turn signal stalk, I consulted two different Tesla salespeople and received two different answers: one said it would be retained, while the other said it had been removed. Currently, there are no relevant detail close-ups in the images on the official website.

Rendering of the cockpit of the refreshed Model Y | Source: Tesla China official website

Of course, aside from being willful, there are also many aspects where they "listen to advice." In terms of comfort, the refreshed Model Y, which debuted in the Chinese market, has added double-layer glass, which the official claims can reduce road noise and wind resistance by 22% and 20%, respectively; at the same time, the refreshed Model Y has added front seat ventilation; provided longer seats for the second row, and added an 8-inch control screen for the rear seats.

Of course, the above features have almost become standard in the fiercely competitive domestic market. The refreshed Model Y finally aligns with domestic manufacturers in terms of granularity through this upgrade.

The refreshed Model Y continues Tesla's excellent range management, with the official claiming that the CLTC working condition energy consumption has dropped to 11.9 kWh per 100 kilometers, and the standard version's range has increased from 554 km to 593 km. In addition, Tesla is also one of the most actively deploying charging facilities among car manufacturers, with over 60,000 charging piles deployed globally. Li Auto CEO Li Xiang also mentioned last year during the review of the MEGA product that the number of charging piles is one of the keys to selling high-end pure electric products well.

In terms of intelligence, the new car is equipped with Tesla's latest driver assistance hardware AI 4 across the entire lineup, with computing power five times that of the previous generation HW3.0, approximately between 300-500 TOPS. However, for Chinese users, this upgrade currently reflects more in the participation of data tables. Due to regulatory and other reasons, Tesla has not officially opened the FSD function in China. Moreover, unlike the "free trial" policy commonly adopted by domestic car manufacturers, Tesla's FSD and Autopilot functions still show as paid purchases, priced at 64,000 yuan and 32,000 yuan, respectively It is worth mentioning that Tesla China has marked "five-seat version" in several key promotional positions this time. Combined with various messages from the industry and supply chain, Tesla may also release a three-row, seven-seat global Model Y upgrade model in the future.

02 How will Tesla respond to the increasingly competitive market?

In 2024, Tesla delivered a total of 1.79 million vehicles in the global market, a year-on-year decrease of 1.1%. This marks the first annual decline for Tesla in nearly a decade. However, Tesla's deliveries in the Chinese market still maintained growth, completing 657,000 deliveries, a year-on-year increase of 8.8%.

Moreover, the Model Y remains the best-selling single model in the Chinese market in 2024 (regardless of power type or price range), with a total of 480,000 deliveries.

Sales ranking over the past year, Model Y ranks first | Source: Dongche Di

This is mainly attributed to the relatively stable demand growth in the Chinese electric vehicle market. In Europe, due to changes in subsidy policies in various countries and the slow layout of charging infrastructure, the sales of pure electric vehicles have shown a significant slowdown or even decline.

However, while maintaining stable demand in the domestic market, competition is also rapidly intensifying. In September last year, brands such as IM Motors, ZEEKR, Leado, and Avita simultaneously launched new products in a short period, targeting the mid-size SUV market where the Model Y is located, humorously referred to as "the six major factions attacking the Bright Summit."

Although the Model Y still maintains sales leadership, current observations indicate that the challengers to the Model Y have also delivered impressive initial results, including:

IM Motors R7: Launched for 100 days, with over 58,000 pre-orders

ZEEKR 7X: Launched for 75 days, with cumulative deliveries exceeding 30,000 units

Leado L60: Cumulative deliveries surpassed 20,000 units by December 27

Each company's approach varies. In contrast, the Model Y is still a vehicle developed for the global market, with energy consumption management, intelligent driving, and optimizing production costs and efficiency being Tesla's high-priority tasks; domestic new forces place greater emphasis on localized research and development and operations. After filling in some basic capabilities (such as energy consumption management), they are expected to exert greater pressure on the leading Tesla.

In 2024, Xiaomi showcased such a case for everyone. After the launch of its first model, the Xiaomi SU7, it quickly became a hit, breaking a series of doubts about "pure electric sedans cannot sell well," ultimately achieving over 135,000 deliveries for the year, closely following Tesla Model 3's 177,000 deliveries.

In 2025, Xiaomi will also launch its second SUV model, the YU7. Interestingly, when Tesla China refreshed the Model Y's promotional materials, they used the phrase "despite the comparison," to which Xiaomi Group founder Lei Jun responded on Weibo with "Okay," and used the hashtag "# Xiaomi SU7#." After that, Huawei's Richard Yu, LeDao's Ai Tiecheng, and other executives, as well as brands like ZEEKR and Avita, responded on social media to Tesla's slogan of "despite the comparison."

For Tesla, their efforts must extend far beyond the optimization of individual products. After all, Tesla's current market value of $1.24 trillion is approximately equal to 6 Toyotas, 13 BYDs, and far exceeds the total market value of major global automakers.

The current stock price indicates that Musk's long-standing visions for autonomous driving, robotics, and Robotaxi can still find support. However, the key is that these technologies need to be quickly implemented in commercial scenarios; otherwise, in the increasingly competitive global smart electric vehicle market, if Tesla gets caught up in the competition of products, costs, and supply chains, their situation may not be so favorable.

Author of this article: Cao Siqi, Source: Geek Park, Original title: "263,000, Tesla's refreshed Model Y suddenly launched, Lei Jun 'sends congratulations'"

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