Tesla confirmed for the first time where they plan to produce Model Y, their upcoming all-electric crossover, though they don’t appear completely certain despite plans to reach volume production as soon as next year.
The automaker has made it clear that Model Y will be their priority after Model 3, but they haven’t confirmed the production plans beyond vague timelines.
In its Q4 shareholder’s letter released today, Tesla has now confirmed plans to achieve “volume production by the end of 2020” and that it would “most likely” happen at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada:
“Additionally, this year we will start tooling for Model Y to achieve volume production by the end of 2020, most likely at Gigafactory 1.”
That’s the first time Tesla officially mentioned a location for Model Y production in the US.
The company did confirm plans for Model Y production at Gigafactory 3 in China at the ground-breaking ceremony earlier this month.
In October 2018, CEO Elon Musk announced that he approved Tesla’s Model Y prototype for production and stated that they target 2020.
The Model Y is expected to be a higher and bigger version of the Model 3 and feature a hatchback.
Tesla has been debating making on a new platform or using the Model 3 platform over the past few years and it’s unclear where they have landed on the issue.
Electrek’s Take
Ok. If they can make it happen this is actually great news because I think we were all expecting low production at best in late 2020 and a slow ramp up in 2021 – much like Model 3 in 2017 and 2018.
Volume production in 2020 would be incredible, but I am a little concern about the “most likely at Gigafactory 1” comment.
They are telling us that they are not entirely sure where a major multi-billion vehicle program is going to be built even though production is expected to reach volume quantities by the end of next year?
That makes no sense to me.
I assume that they are working on a potential deal for another location, but it’s a long shot and therefore, they feel like it will “most likely” fall back on Gigafactory 1 to get the job done.
Maybe there are still interested in a deal for a GM factory? I don’t know. Either way, Model Y talk always gets me excited.
What about you? What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments