Tesla has launched the seven-seat option for the Model Y Juniper in Europe, adding a €2,500 third-row option to the Long Range All-Wheel Drive configuration. Deliveries are expected to begin in April.
The problem is that no one was really asking for this. The Model Y’s third row remains comically small, and with the stretched Model YL, which has an actual usable third row, in China, the timing of this launch is questionable at best.
A third row only a child can use
The seven-seat Model Y is now available to order across European markets including Germany, France, Spain, and the Netherlands. The option bumps the price of the Premium Long Range AWD from €52,990 to €55,490.
Tesla says the configuration retains 381 liters of cargo space behind the third row — enough for two carry-on suitcases. Fold those rear seats down, and you get 894 liters, on par with the standard five-seat version.
But the issue has always been the third row itself. This is the same Model Y platform with the same 2,890 mm wheelbase. Tesla has essentially crammed two forward-facing seats into the cargo area. When we first saw the third row in the US back in January, we called it “tiny”, and nothing has changed. The seats are realistically only suitable for small children.
The $2,500 option (or €2,500 in Europe) is exclusively available on the Long Range AWD variant, and early take rates in the US have not been impressive. The original seven-seat Model Y had a notoriously low take rate in North America, and Tesla actually removed the option in China due to lack of demand before replacing it with something much better.
The Model YL is the real answer
That “something much better” is the Model YL, a stretched version of the Model Y with a wheelbase extended by 150 mm (about 6 inches), bringing it to 3,040 mm. Tesla launched the Model YL in China last August starting at roughly $47,000, and it offers a fundamentally different proposition.
The Model YL features a 2-2-2 captain’s chair configuration instead of the 2-3-2 bench layout. The extra length and individual second-row seats make third-row access significantly easier, and adults can actually sit in the back without their knees hitting their chin.
Early reviews of the Model YL in China noted that while the third row is still not spacious compared to purpose-built three-row SUVs, it’s a massive improvement over the regular Model Y’s afterthought of a third row. The YL also packs an 88.2 kWh battery delivering up to 751 km of CLTC range (681 km WLTP).
Here’s the critical part: the Model YL has already received EU type approval. Documents from the Dutch vehicle authority (RDW) confirm the approval, and Tesla was expected to launch it in Europe as early as Q1 2026. It has been spotted testing near the Nürburgring, signaling an imminent European debut.
So Tesla is now selling a €2,500 third-row option that squeezes two tiny seats into existing cargo space, while simultaneously preparing to launch a proper extended-wheelbase vehicle with actual third-row legroom. The overlap makes the seven-seat Model Y a tough sell for anyone paying attention.
Model YL sales in China tell the story
The data from China reinforces that when buyers have a real three-row option, they take it. According to CPCA data from November, the Model YL accounted for over 12,800 units, nearly a third of all Model Y sales in China that month (roughly 47,000 total). That’s significant demand for a vehicle that’s only been on sale for a few months.
Meanwhile, the original seven-seat Model Y had such poor take rates in China that Tesla discontinued the option entirely. The message from Chinese buyers is clear: give us a real third row and we’ll buy it, but don’t insult us with cargo-area seats.
Electrek’s Take
We’ve been skeptical of the Model Y third row since Tesla first teased the seven-seater option last year, and this European launch doesn’t change that view. The physics simply don’t work, you can’t create meaningful third-row space in a vehicle this size without extending the wheelbase, which is exactly what Tesla did with the Model YL.
The timing makes this even more puzzling. Tesla already has EU type approval for the Model YL, which would point to a European launch being imminent. Any buyer who actually needs third-row seating would be far better served waiting a few months for the YL than spending €2,500 on what amounts to emergency seating for small children.
Either way, it’s not like this is the most puzzling Tesla decision regarding its automotive division lately. And the 7-seater, or Model YL, is not what is going to reverse Tesla’s disastrous demand trend in Europe.
Nor the expected FSD launch.
Tesla needs more models and especially cheaper ones, but as I wrote in my ‘Tesla is committing automotive suicide‘ piece, that’s simply not in the cards right now.
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