During the recent Cyber Rodeo event, held on April 7 at the Tesla Giga Texas plant, the company delivered the first batch of Made-in-Texas (MIT) Tesla Model Y cars to customers.
However, over the past few days, we haven't heard much about the first cars from customers. TeslaNorth recently discovered some info posted by one of the first users of the MIT Tesla Model Y - Regan Janssen, which happens to be also a Tesla employee (Process Engineering Technician at the plant).
According to the message, she appears to be quite happy with the car and confirms that it's equipped with Tesla's latest 4680-type cylindrical battery cells:
“I’m excited to be one of the first to receive the new Texas made Tesla Model Y with the 4680 cells. It’s been an incredible opportunity starting my career with Tesla and I’m looking forward to all the opportunities to come!”
The main question is whether it's just a single case or if perhaps most of the entire first batch of the cars was envisioned for employees.
We don't know, but such practice would not be a surprise, especially since the specs/prices of the new cars were not yet announced. For reference, recently Rivian also began deliveries of its two first models - R1S and R1T - starting with employees.
An interesting thing has been reported by Tesla_Adri, which often provides invaluable insights. According to the info, Tesla already is preparing its order page (for the US market), to include the Model Y Standard AWD version:
The Tesla Model Y AWD is described as follows:
- 279 miles (449 km) of EPA range - the same as in the case of the EPA page, found by InsideEVs on March 12
- top speed of 135 mph (217 km/h)
A few days ago we saw also a Tesla Model Y "AWD Standard Dual Motor", shown by Tesla Raj at the Cyber Rodeo. The car showed 53 miles of range (85 km) at 19% SOC, which means almost exactly 279 miles (449 km) at full charge.
We guess that this is the first version produced at the plant - an entry-level Tesla Model Y with all-wheel-drive and "Standard" range.
Many things remain a mystery about the Model Y from the Gigafactory in Texas, but maybe that's a good thing in the sense that the company has something special that it would like to keep secret for as long as possible.
Considering the 4680-type batteries and structural battery packs, which were expected to provide a substantial increase in energy density, we are pretty sure that "Long Range" MIT Tesla Model Ys are in the pipeline too.
