TESLA MODEL Y REFRESH UNCEREMONIOUSLY REVEALED ON BRAND'S CHINA SITE

Generally speaking, when Tesla unveils a new product, it hosts a flashy primetime live event and streams it across the world. That product is then, generally, not actually produced for a year... or a few years... or, in the case of the second-generation Roadster, still not available more than seven years after reservations were first opened.

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.

Mechanical updates seem to be 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 as spotted by a spy photographer yesterday. Handsome new lights replace the ovular non-grille shape at the front of the outgoing Model Y, greatly helping with some of the car's visual problems. Tesla buyers hoping for a change in the car's awkward proportions will be disappointed, but the previous Model Y had no issues selling at high volumes even with its oddly-shaped roof — it was the world's second-best-selling car 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 actually been announced in any formal way, the refreshed Model Y has not necessarily been confirmed for the U.S. market yet. We can probably assume it will arrive in the coming months, just as the refreshed Model 3 did after it was unveiled in China. Pricing, performance, and range information will be revealed when the car (presumably) comes to North America either later this year or early next.

Looking to purchase a car? Find your match on the MSN Autos Marketplace

2025-01-10T17:39:01Z