Tesla starts to offer Giga Texas Model Y to some customers for faster delivery

Tesla has started to offer its new Giga Texas-built Model Y to some customers as an option to accelerate delivery.

At the Cyber Rodeo event last month, Tesla delivered its first made-in-Texas Model Y vehicles.

We noted that it was strange that Tesla didn’t reveal any details, like specs and pricing, about the new version of the electric SUV.

It is equipped with the new 4680 battery cells and structural battery pack technology, which is resulting in a significantly different car with different specs in the new Model Y trim.

Yet, Tesla never listed this new trim for sale and all we know about it was through an EPA filing that revealed it has 279 miles of range and an all-wheel-drive powertrain. It is billed as a “Model Y Standard Range AWD.”

We suspected that Tesla is only delivering the vehicle to employees for now through internal deals, which would explain why it never showed up on its website.

We were later able to confirm that based on a communication Tesla sent to employees and obtained by Electrek.

It revealed that the new Texas-built Model Y Standard starts at $59,990, has a 0-60 mph acceleration in five seconds, and is equipped with a few new features, including a magnetic center console armrest and a parcel shelf.

Now Tesla is reaching out to local buyers around Austin with a Model Y on order to offer them the new version of the Model Y:

Accelerate Yout Model Y Delivery

You have the opportunity to experience our latest configuration and take delivery within weeks.

Select Model Y All-Wheel Drive and experience one of the first vehicles built at Gigafactory Texas – and currently available in the area. Go anywhere with up to 279 miles on a single charge and accelerate from 0-60 mph in as little as 5.0 seconds.

Check your Tesla Account regularly for updated inventory, or if you would like to keep your current configuration, we will contact you to schedule a delivery appointment once a vehicle is available.

Buyers then have a few options if they want to technically “downgrade” their order to the Standard Range version.

Electrek’s Take

Interestingly, this is basically exactly how I thought it would be the best way to roll out the vehicle in a fair manner.

If you just add it as an option to the Model Y configurator, you are resulting in a lot of people skipping a long line.

That way, you are offering the option to existing buyers with a Model Y on order to consider this as an option. It might be a better one for some of them, cheaper, and you get it faster.

Considering only a few vehicles are made available as inventory right now, it’s likely that Tesla is also simultaneously still delivering the new Model Y to employees. We are likely to see this keep going for the next days and maybe even weeks until the new version becomes available to order for everyone.