Tesla, the U.S. electric car leader, is not doing well in the European market. According to Seeking Alpha earlier this month, statistics show that Tesla’s sales in Europe halved in the second quarter of this year, and its market share fell by more than 50 percent year-over-year.
In response to this situation, Tesla has launched a new, cheaper version of the Model Y in Europe. electrik reports that Tesla today launched a rear-wheel drive version of the Model Y in many European countries, which has a WLTP range of 455 kilometers.
The rear-wheel-drive version of the Model Y has a top speed of 217 km/h and an acceleration time of 6.9 seconds from 0-100 km/h. The official website shows that the car is expected to be delivered from December 2022 to February 2023.
The rear-wheel-drive version of the Model Y will start at €50,000 (about RMB343,000) in the Netherlands, which is €16,000 (about RMB109,800) less than the long-range version, and includes about €8,850 (about RMB60,711) in VAT. The current exchange rate between the euro and the dollar is about the same, which means that if the car were sold in the U.S., it would be about $20,000 (about $137,600) cheaper than the Model Y, which is currently the cheapest car in the U.S. In some European markets, the rear-wheel drive Model Y is even cheaper than the standard Model 3.
In March this year, Tesla’s Berlin factory began delivering the Model Y to customers. for the updated rear-wheel drive version of the Model Y, Tesla did not indicate whether it was locally produced in the Berlin factory or imported from the Shanghai factory, but the latter is likely.
In mid-August, Tesla China’s official website shows that the Model Y rear-wheel drive version delivery time has been shortened to 4-8 weeks, compared to 8-12 weeks previously, which may be related to the Tesla Shanghai factory’s production line transformation in July.
