Tesla Model Y Deliveries Begin Six Months Ahead of Schedule

The Model Y crossover from Tesla has been anticipated since the prototype was first unveiled in March of last year. Initially it was planned to hit the market in the fall of 2020 but customers may find themselves on the road much sooner than expected.

Tesla revealed on Monday that it is already shipping out the first Model Y crossover to customers, six months ahead of schedule.

With reports of shipments being delivered last week, the company confirmed the rumours with a tweet which included a video of the car being assembled before hitting the road.

Model Y deliveries begin!https://t.co/ZhuiM5MTOf pic.twitter.com/3gX6MBPmhp

— Tesla (@Tesla) March 16, 2020

It was announced in January that the production of the Model Y had begun with the first deliveries of the all-electric compact crossover planned by the end of the first quarter of 2020. Tesla CEO Elon Musk initially said that only a limited number of the Model Y would be available.

When Musk revealed a prototype of the Model Y last March, which looked strikingly similar to the Model 3, he pinned his hopes on a fall 2020 launch.

Now that deliveries are being made, the differences and similarities between the new product and the Model 3 are observable.

For those who are interested. Model Y vs Model 3 dimensions. Key takeaways are 1. Y has more overall headroom 2. Y has slightly less legroom in front but more in rear 3. Y is surprisingly narrow in rear than 3 in terms of hip room 4. Y has 4x more cargo space pic.twitter.com/xGCaWJ56xx

— David Lim (@Lim_David) March 14, 2020

The company's approach to the Model Y was for it to share as much as possible with the Model 3, saving Tesla from having to design the Model Y from scratch, and to reuse parts of the Model 3 manufacturing process. This strategy could explain the speedy timing in which Tesla was able to get the Model Y onto the market.

A similar strategy was supposed to take place with the Model X, a premium SUV released in 2015 which was supposed to be a slight modification of the Model S.

However, the Model X came in behind schedule and above budget due to sweeping changes and additions. 

Tesla is selling the more expensive versions of the Model Y to begin with. At present, the cheapest Model Y available is a Long Range model with a starting price of $52,990.

A high-end Performance model, offering quicker 0-60 times and a higher top speed, can be purchased for an additional $8,000.