Rumor of Tesla Model Y with 400-mile range explained

There are rumors of a Tesla Model Y coming with a range of 400 miles after the automaker filed for new versions of the electric SUV to be produced at Gigafactory Shanghai.

The rumors are exaggerated.

As we reported last week, Tesla filed with the Chinese government to produce five more versions of Model Y at Gigafactory Shanghai.

A publication based in Australia, The Driven, published a report stating that one of those versions will feature a “super long range” of 640 km (398 miles) of range on a single charge.

Several other publications spun the news into stating that Tesla is about to release a 400-mile Model Y.

That’s misleading because that 640 km figure is based on the NEDC driving cycle used in the Chinese market.

It is notoriously not representative of real-world range in most normal driving conditions.

In Europe, Tesla uses the WLTP standard and lists the range of the Model Y Dual Motor Long Range at 505 km (314 miles) on a single charge.

As for the EPA driving cycle used in the US, it enables Tesla to advertise a range of 326 miles (525 km) for the Model Y Dual Motor Long Range.

In China, Tesla currently lists its longest-range version of the Model Y, Long Range AWD, as having a range of 594 km (369 miles) based on the NEDC standard.

Electrek’s Take

Based on that information, if this new version of the Model Y does perform better by ~46 km on the NEDC standard, it should have a longer range, but it shouldn’t be anywhere near 640 km or 400 miles of real-world driving range.

In my opinion, it should get between 525 and 535 km (325 to 332-miles) of real-world range or about the same as the EPA range in the US for the current version of the Model Y.

You can ignore the reports claiming that the new Model Y will get 400 miles of range.

That’s reserved for the Model S for now.

Though, it will be interesting to see what Tesla can do with the new Model Y with 4680 cells and a structural battery pack to be produced at Gigafactory Berlin and Texas.

I don’t think that Tesla will push much higher than 300-miles, but you never know.