On January 10, Tesla's revamped Model Y commenced pre-sales, with the inaugural edition available online at a starting pre-sale price of RMB 263,500.

Indeed, as a model that undergoes a refresh every few years, the revamped Model Y suddenly appeared on the official website without even a launch event (saving tens of millions in marketing costs).

Nonetheless, interest in Tesla's revamped Model Y remains exceptionally high.

Firstly, it's Tesla, the undisputed leader in the new energy field, driving the advancement of the industry.

Secondly, Model Y is Tesla's biggest revenue generator. In 2024, Tesla sold over 657,000 vehicles in China, with over 480,000 being Model Y alone. Notably, this is the sales performance of a single model in a single year, underscoring its immense popularity.

Thirdly, whenever a new mid-size SUV model is introduced in China, Tesla's Model Y is invariably used as a benchmark. Everyone is eager to see how competitive the revamped Model Y will be and how other automakers will position their new products and benchmark their value accordingly.

Without further ado, let's delve into the details.

01 What's New?

In summary, the new car offers extended range, lower energy consumption, enhanced acceleration, a more comfortable cabin, a quieter driving experience, and improved convenience features. Additionally, safety and intelligent features have been further bolstered.

Major Exterior Changes

Let's start with the exterior.

To be frank, I believe the revamped exterior is not as timeless as the current version. Let's take a look at the images:

The changes in the revamped version are primarily concentrated on the front and rear, with the middle section remaining largely unchanged. The front fascia, headlights, rear diffuser, wheels, and rearview mirrors have all been revised. If you cover the logo, you might mistake it for a new product from a domestic automaker. The front fascia features a through-type light strip design. I know many might say upon seeing this exterior that Tesla has copied Xiaopeng's design, but that's not the case. Tesla's design is inspired by its own Cybertruck.

Moreover, the revamped Model Y's taillights have also been replaced with a popular through-type design, echoing the front fascia. Upon closer inspection, you'll notice that the overall appearance resembles Tesla's Cybercab, a cyberpunk autonomous electric vehicle.

While it's a unification of family design elements, I'm curious how car reviewers will describe this car. Very futuristic? Very cyberpunk?

Energy Efficiency and Range Improvement

In Tesla's words, the revamped Model Y's exterior is designed for efficiency. Despite numerous changes, the drag coefficient remains at 0.23Cd. However, the key improvements lie in driving efficiency and range capabilities: 1. 0-100km/h acceleration is now as fast as 4.3 seconds; 2. With multiple optimizations throughout the vehicle, the new car achieves an increase of over 30 kilometers in range, with a maximum range of 719 kilometers (CLTC estimate), making it the Model Y with the longest range in Tesla's history; 3. The lowest energy consumption is as low as 11.9Wh/km (CLTC conditions). If I'm not mistaken, LeTao previously claimed an energy consumption of 11.97kW per hundred kilometers, and Tesla has reclaimed the top spot.

When it comes to energy consumption, you can always trust Tesla. I've driven the revamped Model 3 and the current Model Y directly from Beijing to Shanxi. Tesla's energy consumption performance truly impressed me. Tesla's remarkable energy efficiency is not only due to the displayed energy consumption being very close to actual performance, giving people peace of mind, but also because the range is genuinely solid. Last October, when I drove to Shanxi, I had less than 10 kilometers of range left before entering a service area to recharge.

I wouldn't dare to do that with an electric car from another brand. Now that the energy efficiency of the revamped Model Y has been improved, I believe the overall performance will be even better. I'd love to borrow a test car to evaluate its energy consumption and range performance if the opportunity arises.

Improved Ride Comfort

The suspension system of the revamped Model Y has been newly tuned, coupled with an enhanced vehicle stability system, making it less bumpy on mountain roads and more stable at high speeds. Through coordinated tuning of steering, suspension, and shock absorbers, the vehicle's handling is smoother, providing better vibration damping effects, with a 51% improvement in vibration filtering on rough roads. Referencing the change from the previous Model 3 to the revamped Model 3, I boldly speculate that the revamped Model Y will be more oriented towards comfort and family use. The current version feels a bit stiff, and I believe the ride experience of the revamped Model Y will be superior.

Ambient lighting has been added inside the car, mirroring the revamped Model 3. Seat ventilation has been added to the front row, which is indeed a welcome addition. The rear seats have also been lengthened by 15mm, paired with wider and better-fitting headrests that are 17mm wider. The current cushion is indeed a bit short, and I'm curious to see how the ride experience will be after the lengthening. Additionally, it comes standard with a 15.4-inch touchscreen in the front and an 8-inch touchscreen in the rear. The rear row also features two USB-C fast charging ports that support fast charging and can simultaneously charge two Macbooks.

Moreover, the newly upgraded rear electric adjustable seats can be adjusted to a comfortable angle with a side button, enabling quick "one-touch adjustment," and can be folded or reclined. After "one-touch folding," it provides a huge storage space of over 2130 liters, with the industry's largest 117L front trunk in front.

A new panoramic glass roof with a silver-plated coating has been added, and its sunscreen and heat insulation capabilities have also been upgraded. Previously, Tesla faced criticism for excessive sunlight inside the car. I believe with the silver-plated coated glass roof, this issue will improve significantly. Furthermore, the overall quietness of the car has been greatly enhanced. Based on the double-layer acoustic glass on the front, rear, and side windows, the sealing strips and sound insulation materials of the entire car have been optimized, effectively isolating external road noise, reducing road noise by 22% and wind noise by 20%, making the ride quieter.

It's just unclear how significant the sensory improvement will be. Additionally, a UWB near-field communication module has been added, providing faster and more stable Wi-Fi connection speeds, improving the performance of the phone key by 10 times, and extending the range of the phone key. Coupled with a comprehensively optimized microphone, in-car calls are clearer.

Safety Improvements

Tesla's prowess in safety doesn't need much elaboration. In addition to the standard large buffer zone and distal airbags, the use of high-strength materials (martensitic steel, high-strength steel) in a large proportion and the ultra-rigid body crafted through integral die-casting technology further enhance the rigidity of the revamped Model Y's body, significantly improving the vehicle's safety in collision accidents.

Furthermore, the front seat belt position has been lowered by 27mm, and the rear seat belt position has been optimized, providing better protection for users of different heights and body types.

Autonomous Driving Improvements

On the revamped Model Y, the most noteworthy aspect is autonomous driving. The Model Y comes standard with Tesla's most advanced Autopilot hardware (AI 4), equipped with a total of 8 cameras and a computing power of up to 720TOPS, enabling it to see farther, clearer, and calculate faster. Currently, in foreign countries, Tesla's FSD has achieved true "point-to-point autonomous driving" (i.e., parking anywhere, not limited to a parking space, and selecting any point on the map to automatically drive to, even supporting maneuvers such as reversing in autonomous driving mode). However, the fastest progress in domestic autonomous driving is still in the "parking space to parking space" stage.

If Tesla can successfully enter the Chinese market with this technology, the autonomous driving performance of the revamped Model Y will be worth paying close attention to. A while ago, Tesla China has already launched the Advanced Smart Summon (ASS) feature, which is derived from the same technology as FSD, and FSD should not be far off.

Additionally, a new blind spot camera has been added under the front bumper. The blind spot directly below the front of the car can be seen on the in-car center console screen, allowing drivers to intuitively and clearly see the image in front of the car. It also supports a self-cleaning function. Inside the car, a new blind spot monitoring function has been added, with blind spot warning lights on the inside of the doors, which cooperate with visual images on the touchscreen to check the surroundings for safety.

02 Can Only Tesla Beat Tesla?

Just half an hour after the pre-sale of the revamped Model Y, Lei Jun, Chairman of Xiaomi, shared it with only two words: "Good," along with the Xiaomi YU7 hashtag. Less is more in this case.

In March 2024, Xiaomi's SU7 was launched and immediately became a phenomenon-level hit product. In just eight months, sales exceeded 135,000 units, successfully dethroning the Tesla Model 3 to become the new king of electric sedans. Now, Xiaomi's first SUV model, the YU7, is here, with a similar launch strategy to the Model 3 and Model Y. Compared to sedans, it will be much more challenging for the Xiaomi YU7 to replace the revamped Model Y. Ultimately, it will depend on its product strength and pricing.

Although many automakers use the Model Y as their benchmark and aim to become Tesla killers, the fact remains that the more automakers try to become Tesla killers, the more they push the Model Y to its pedestal, resulting in such outstanding sales performance for the Model Y.

The revamped Model Y brings dozens of new and upgraded features, undoubtedly enhancing the competitiveness of the Model Y. There was once a saying: "Only Tesla can beat Tesla." I'm not sure if this saying still holds true today. Let's wait and see. End.