Tesla to Inject Capital Into Model Y SUV Program, Will Leverage Learnings From Model 3

While it’s still battling production woes with the Model 3, Tesla is already looking ahead to the Model Y compact SUV.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on this week’s Q4 earnings call that capital investments for the Model Y will ramp up in the second half of 2018. He said the company still hopes to begin production in 2020 and will announce a production location within the next six months.

The Model Y hopes to avoid the manufacturing problems of the Model 3. It will be built on the same platform and hopefully Tesla will have perfected the Model 3 production before the Model Y hits the assembly line.

“We are going to make some capital investments towards the end of this year related to Model Y,” Musk said on the earnings call. “I don’t want to jump the gun on those, but I think we’ve got a good plan. I’m pretty excited about how we’re designing Model Y. It’s really taking a lot of lessons learned from Model 3 and saying how do we design something to be easy to manufacture instead of how to manufacture or difficult, really.”

 

[ACA Man]

Didn’t he also say lessons learned from S & X would be applied to 3?

 

[JeffreyR]

True, but there were further lessons. Like needing to totally rewrite the sub-pack assembly code. Should have caught that issue earlier. But, MY will benefit from all pack dev work, since current plan is to re-use M3 platform (thankfully!).

Big question for me is Falcon Wing or no. I'd prefer standard doors and cheaper & faster production.

 

[Jeff Hudson]

True, but there were further lessons. Like needing to totally rewrite the sub-pack assembly code. Should have caught that issue earlier. But, MY will benefit from all pack dev work, since current plan is to re-use M3 platform (thankfully!).

Big question for me is Falcon Wing or no. I'd prefer standard doors and cheaper & faster production.

There will absolutely be no Falcon Wing doors on future new Tesla products. Elon Musk is already on the record as stating the Model X Falcon Wing doors were a big mistake.

 

[rayng]

From a cost standpoint, falcon wind doors (FWD) should be replaced by standard doors to better compete with competitors by 2021 or 2022. Tesla's AI and supercharger network will differentiate the Y from the crowd.

FWD are great for moms with toddlers. Car seats and kids are so much easier with FWD. Wife loves them. Some love the attention of unloading passengers with FWD at the valet.

 

[Brando]

Falcon Wing Doors Model X

Let the customers decide.
- IF you need to stimulate demand/orders and lower price would help try standard doors on Model X.
(FWD might just be what allows Tesla to keep a good margin/markup on Model X.)
- Perhaps offer FWD as an upgrade option Model X version 2

 

[tomas]

They are not going to do FWD on the Y. Period. Everything they are striving for with 3 is simplification. Why would they even consider bringing back the single most complex and problematic feature they’ve ever built? No way!!!

 

[NeverFollow]

I wonder if it will build first in China?

Or will the Model Y be built on the same assembly line than the model 3 in Fremont?

Tesla Model Y update: Production plans for Model 3 based SUV to be revealed later in 2018