Tesla has began taking orders for its cheaper rear-wheel drive Mannequin Y within the US. The $45,990 car prices $37,490 after federal tax subsidies (so long as they nonetheless exist), making it the second-cheapest EV within the firm’s lineup after the RWD Mannequin 3.
The brand new choice, which Tesla says will begin US supply throughout the subsequent few weeks, comes with 357 miles of vary, or 30 miles greater than the all-wheel drive Mannequin Y. It has a single motor on the rear axel, and accelerates from zero to 60 in 5.4 seconds, which is just a little slower than the 4.6 seconds of its AWD counterpart.
Tesla wants cheaper EVs to spice up gross sales. Amid rising protests in opposition to Tesla CEO Elon Musk focused Tesla showrooms, Tesla reported its worst gross sales in three years. Ideally for Tesla, this cheaper EV would reverse its fortunes, though the cheaper Mannequin Ys haven’t had that impact in Europe, the place they launched in February. CNN reports that gross sales proceed to drop there, even within the extra Tesla-friendly UK, the place the corporate’s April gross sales plummeted by 62 p.c.
Issues aren’t trying any higher in China, the place deliveries dropped by 26 p.c in comparison with March, one thing the South China Morning Post attributes to a choice for “cheaper, tech-laden” Chinese language home fashions.