Tesla (TSLA) finally revealed a stripped-down version of its Model Y dubbed the “Standard,” and in a surprise move announced the Model 3 Standard well.
The two cars are now available for order on Tesla’s US website. The Model Y Standard is rear-wheel drive and will start at $39,990, and has an estimated range of 321 miles with standard 18-inch wheels. The Model 3 Standard comes in even cheaper at $36,990 and has the same range. While the Model Y Standard is available for November/December delivery, the Model 3 Standard comes a little later with December – January delivery range.
Appearance-wise, the Standard trim omits the front and rear light bars on the Model Y, and comes in only three colors: Stealth Grey, white, and Diamond Black. The only interior color available is black.
Tesla stock gained more than 5% on Monday after the EV maker posted gifs on Sunday of a spinning company logo with the date “10/7” and what appeared to be car headlights shining through smoke. Shares pulled back nearly 4% on Tuesday following the update to Tesla’s website.
Inside both Standard trims feature the same 15.4-inch infotainment screen in the more expensive cars, but no second-row screen, as well as the removal of ambient lighting, and use of cheaper cloth seating inserts surrounding vegan leather, per the Tesla website. Interestingly Tesla removed the AM/FM radio tuners for the Standard cars, and the two Standard models are only able to perform “traffic aware cruise control,” Tesla’s version of adaptive cruise control, and unable to perform “autosteer” functions like Autopilot and Full-Self Driving (FSD).
It is also likely that Tesla wrung out costs from its batteries and electric motors to make the vehicles cheaper.
The Model Y and Model 3 Standard versions come after the federal EV tax credit expired in the US on Sept. 30. CEO Elon Musk said in the company’s second quarter earnings call that the cheaper Model Y would come out after the tax credit expires.
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Tesla said following Q2 earnings that the first builds of a more affordable model occurred in June, with volume production planned for the second half of 2025.
Tesla’s release of the cheaper vehicles is expected to help grow volume for the automaker, which has seen sales dip in recent quarters, although Q3 sales jumped as buyers bought EVs ahead of the tax credit expiration.
Last quarter, Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja said he expected a pull forward of sales in Q3 because of the tax credit expiration, and the numbers back up that claim.