A Tesla Model Y prototype was spotted in Florida, the farthest we have seen one from Tesla’s home in California, and it looks pretty banged up.
In March, Tesla unveiled the Model Y, an all-electric crossover based on the Model 3, with up to 300 miles of range.
Over the second half of the year, Tesla has been conducting some Model Y road tests on public roads.
The Model Y prototype sightings ramped up with several different vehicles spotted mainly in California and on the West Coast.
Now a Model Y prototype has been spotted the farthest away yet from California: in Florida.
It’s unclear whether the electric crossover drove all the way from Florida, but one thing is clear: It got pretty banged up on the way there (pictures via John Kraus on Twitter):
Looks like a pitot tube on the front of the Model Y? Testing aerodynamics, @elonmusk? pic.twitter.com/AYChEJIpxY
— John Kraus (@johnkrausphotos) December 19, 2019
As you can see, there are several visible marks on the side of the Model Y prototype.
Kraus noted:
Looks like a pitot tube on the front of the Model Y? Testing aerodynamics, Elon Musk?
He shared this other picture of the Model Y:
I spotted a @Tesla Model Y on the way to KSC this morning. pic.twitter.com/AjZHnpoEh7
— John Kraus (@johnkrausphotos) December 19, 2019
Like all of Tesla’s vehicles, Model Y will rely on strong aerodynamic performance to achieve great efficiency and longer range.
At the launch, Tesla said that the Model Y will have a 0.23 drag coefficient, which could be segment-leading.
This particular Model Y prototype is also equipped with an unreleased wheel that Tesla first unveiled on a Model 3 prototype at the launch of the vehicle in 2013.
It’s the second Model Y prototype spotted with those wheels, leading us to believe that Tesla might finally launch them.
The ones on the beat-up Model Y prototype were missing their wheel hubs.
I spotted a @Tesla Model Y on the way to KSC this morning. pic.twitter.com/AjZHnpoEh7
— John Kraus (@johnkrausphotos) December 19, 2019
After the original unveiling, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that they “spent a lot of time on those wheels,” and that they plan on bringing them to production.
Tesla ended up bringing to production the aero wheels as 18-inch standard wheels on the Model 3 and a few of the unveiled ones didn’t make it to market.
This design was credited to Joonas Vartola, a car designer who left Tesla in 2016 to become an independent designer in Finland.
When unveiling the Model Y earlier this year, Tesla said that it plans to bring the vehicle to production in fall 2020.
The automaker has since accelerated the Model Y production program.
Musk said that he expects Tesla to hit volume Model Y production by mid-2020, which means that production would start in the next few months.
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