Tesla's Model Y Juniper Refresh: What to Expect & Wishlist

@TeslaTruckClub on X

With more images of the Model Y Refresh – codename Juniper – making their way onto the internet, it’s a good chance to build a little wishlist of features and upgrades we’d love to see on the refreshed Model Y.

We’ll keep it simple to start, and list some of the features we fully expect on the refreshed Model Y.

Bumper Camera

The bumper camera is already on the Cybertruck, expected to be on the Model S and Model X, and we’ve seen a covered-up Model Y with a bumper camera already. At this point, we’re fully expecting this feature.

It’ll certainly be useful when parking and it’ll be extra useful for those who want to overland or off-road their Model Ys.

Adaptive Suspension

The refreshed Model 3 Highland arrived with frequency-selective damping, softer springs, and an overall smoother ride. In addition, these options are somewhat tuneable in the Dynamics vehicle menu. We’re hoping to see the same, or perhaps even more improvements on this front for the Juniper.

Updated Steering Wheel

Like the Model 3, we expect the gear stalks to be removed from the Model Y in the Juniper refresh. Hopefully, we can even get a squircle steering wheel option like the Cybertruck.

Rear Screen

The Highland 3 brought an 8” rear screen to all variants – we’re fully expecting this to show up in the refreshed Y as well. The addition of the rear screen adds very little cost for Tesla since the screen is powered by the same computer that powers the infotainment system up front, but it adds a ton of value for customers. In turn, it likely increases the take rate of Premium Connectivity since it allows rear passengers to watch YouTube, Netflix and more while driving.

Ambient Lighting

The leaked Model Y images that came out recently confirmed that the Juniper Y has ambient lighting – and even better than the retrofit ambient lighting offered in China. These ambient lighting strips will extend onto the front doors. We’re always happy to see interior upgrades, especially improvements to the ambient lighting. Ambient lighting is something we’ll see Tesla continue to improve as we saw with update 2024.26 where owners can now adjust the brightness of the lights and choose whether they come on during the day or only at night.

Ventilated Seats

The same leak earlier late last month also confirmed that the Model Y will have ventilated seats, just like the refreshed Model 3. These were previously a Model S and Model X feature, but this helps to really cement Tesla’s luxurious interiors as industry-leading.

Rear Lightbar

We also saw a brand-new rear lightbar on the back of the leaked Model Y, and it looks pretty cool. Tesla appears to be switching back to the written branding on the rear of the vehicle, rather than just the simple, but deep Tesla logo.

Improved Speakers

The Model 3’s refresh also improved the speaker system – bringing it up from 14 speakers to 17. We’d love to see the same improvements to the Model Y, especially since Tesla takes such care in engineering their audio systems.

Wishlist

Now, let’s get into some of the features we’re hoping make it into the Juniper Model Y. Some of these might be reaching a tad far, but that’s what wishlists are for.

Increased Range

While the Model 3 did get a range increase in its refresh, we’d hope to see something similar here, with a better drag coefficient and overall better range bringing us to a 10% increase. 350mi (550km) would be the ideal range for the Long-Range Dual Motor variant.

Structural 4680 Battery

Tesla has been working on their 4680 cells recently, with the first dry-cathode Cybertruck prototype roaming Giga Texas. Tesla also announced that their dry-cathode 4680 process will begin mass production in late 2024, and a structural 4680 on the new cell could further improve the Model Y as one of the safest vehicles on the road, while also driving down its cost to manufacture.

Better Performance Model

Faster. Runs Cooler. Better Brakes. Ludicrous Seats. A better performance variant of the Model Y is likely in the works, given the improvements to the Model 3 “Ludicrous”. We’d love to see all these features come to the future Model Y performance trim. We’re probably going to have to wait a bit longer for this one, just like the Model 3.

Air Suspension

Tesla’s amazing air suspension features have also been limited to just the Model S and Model X. This is an expensive package, so we don’t expect this to arrive on the refreshed Y, which is made more as a mass-market vehicle. However, even a scaled-down or simplified air suspension would be an amazing improvement to the Model Y, especially as a premium SUV.

Tiltable Center Screen

The Model Y is the vehicle for families. And what better way to amuse or anger your passenger than tilting your screen towards you? Well, a tiltable center screen would be a slick upgrade, again previously constrained to the Model S and Model X. Many people, including the author, use a tilting center screen mod, and Tesla making it OEM would be a nice addition.

Better Charging Pads

Tesla’s wireless charging pads for its phones are… OK at best. At worst, they can get hot enough to cook you a meal, and this is especially bad with Apple devices. We’d love to see Tesla bring some improvements to its cell phone chargers and make them faster too — possibly with some integrated cooling. Most cell phones support at least 30w wireless charging today, and Tesla’s wireless charging pads aren’t exactly fast.

Steam Gaming Support

While Tesla has slowly snubbed Steam Gaming support, we’d like to see this feature make a come back to Tesla vehicles. Steam Support has previously been offered only on the Model S and Model X, but it would be perfect for the Model Y – the quintessential family EV. Tesla doesn’t necessarily need the horsepower that was in the discreet GPU of the Model S and X, but just the ability to play some Steam would be a great addition.

AI5

Given that Elon Musk just recently confirmed that AI5 is about 18 months out from mass production, there is a very good chance that the Juniper Model Y could launch alongside the official debut of the new AI5 hardware. That would be an exceptional way for Tesla to debut their new FSD hardware, right alongside the refreshed best-selling vehicle in the world.

Automatic Doors

This is a more premium feature suited for the Model S and Model X, just like Steam gaming support, but we’d love to see automatic front doors or automatic door handles on the refreshed Model Y.

Many other vehicle brands have similar auto-door features at the same price level, so it would be pretty cool to flex Tesla’s fantastic vision tech and have the doors open when the vehicle arrives after being Actually Smart Summoned to you.

48V Architecture

The Cybertruck brought 48V architecture to a vehicle for the first time. While the Model 3 Refresh was likely going on behind the scenes at the same time, 48V is now tried and tested. The Model Y Juniper offers Tesla the ideal chance to bring a 48V architecture to mass-market vehicles for the first time, and the cost savings will be huge.

Faster Supercharging & Wireless Charging

We’d love to see faster Supercharging because of better vehicle architecture and batteries, but we’d also love to see Wireless Charging. Tesla purchased Wiferion and kept its engineers to develop an in-house solution – which we expect to see on 10/10 with the Robotaxi event. Let’s hope they bring that wireless charging solution to the Model Y too.

Better 7-Seat Variant

The 7-seat variant in the Model Y is fairly cramped and takes up a lot of cargo room even when the seats are down. We’re sure Tesla can work some engineering magic and bring out some more space to help expand the rear seat legroom.

Steer-by-Wire

The Cybertruck was the steer-by-wire testbed, and it only makes sense that this same technology starts getting used on every single Tesla vehicle. Just like the 48V architecture, this likely didn’t make it in time for the Model 3 Highland, but the Model Y Juniper will offer a mass-production platform for steer-by-wire.

Starlink Integration

This one has been asked for really often – Starlink integration for Tesla vehicles. There’s no reason not to have it – except for the cost of the hardware. Starlink integration would be far more reliable than cellular and could be used globally. If you’re out camping with your Model Y Air Mattress, you’d appreciate some built-in Starlink too. A cellular connection would need to remain in place for when the vehicle doesn’t have a clear view of the sky, but this would certainly be a nice add-on.

Smart Electro-Optical Glass

Back in 2019, Tesla filed a patent for an “electro-optical” sunroof. This is pretty much a touch-button sunroof that activates or deactivates a tint but with a smart twist. Tesla’s version of this, which was included in the patent, could automatically adjust how much light is let in. It could also provide more light at night with a built-in LED layer.

Cyber-Y

Ok, put down the pitchforks and hear me out. Cyber. Y.

We already know the Model Y will likely not become angular and metal, but getting some Cybertruck-style vibes would be pretty cool – lightbar in the front, with wicked-cool Cyber styling throughout the interior.

Tesla’s Model Y refresh isn’t expected at least until early 2025, but as leaks and renderings start flowing, it’s hard not to get excited.

Now, we’re sure you’ve all got more ideas – so come and discuss them in our forum.

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Tesla's 2025 Q1 Earnings Call: How to Listen [Stream Links Added]

Not a Tesla App

Tesla is holding its 2025 Q1 earnings call today at 2:30 pm PT / 5:30 pm ET / 9:30 pm UTC. The earnings call will be followed by a Q&A session with Tesla executives, including Elon Musk.

We expect the focus to be on Tesla sales for the quarter, FSD Unsupservised and the Robotaxi network. Tesla may also discuss its upcoming, more affordable model, Optimus, and other products.

Listen Live

The event will be live-streamed on Tesla’s site. It is also expected to be streamed on X and YouTube like it has been in the past. Tesla has changed this from an Earnings Call to a Company Update, but it’s unclear whether the phrase change holds any significance in what will be shared.

Update: You can listen to Tesla’s earnings call live below. If you prefer, you can also listen live on Tesla’s website.

Start Time

Tesla's live stream starts at 2:30 pm PT, which is the following times around the world:

2:30 pm Pacific Time

5:30 pm Eastern Time

10:30 pm UTC

10:30 pm - London, England

11:30 pm - Berlin, Germany

9:30 am (April 23rd) - Sydney, Australia

Q&A Questions

The questions asked during the Q&A portion of the call come directly from investors. These are currently the top-voted questions, so we’ll likely see answers to several of these questions:

1. What are the highest risk items on the critical path to robotaxi launch and scaling?

2. When will FSD unsupervised be available for personal use on personally-owned cars?

3. Is Tesla still on track for releasing “more affordable models” this year? Or will you be focusing on simplified versions to enhance affordability, similar to the RWD Cybertruck?

4. Does Tesla see robotaxi as a winner-take-most market, and as you approach the Austin launch, how do you expect to compare against Waymo’s offering, especially regarding pricing, geofencing and regulatory flexibility?

5. Can you please provide an update on the unboxed method and how that is progressing?

6. How is Tesla positioning itself to flexibly adapt to global economic risks in the form of tariffs, political biases, etc.?

7. Does Tesla still have a battery supply constraint (noted on Q4 ER call) and how does this change w/tariffs?

8. Did Tesla experience any meaningful changes in order inflow rate in Q1 relating to all of the rumors of “brand damage”?

9. Regarding the Tesla Optimus pilot line, could you confirm if it is currently operational? If so, what is the current production rate of Optimus bots per week? Additionally, how might the recent tariffs impact the scalability of this production line moving forward?

10. Robotaxi still on track for this year?’

Look Back at 2025 Q1 Numbers

Most of Tesla’s Q1 deliveries, 323,800 units, were unsurprisingly for the Model 3 and Model Y, while the “Other Models” category (including the Cybertruck, Model S, and Model X) accounted for 12,881 deliveries.

Comparing these numbers to Q1 2024, the Model 3/Y is down about 13%, while the Model S/X and Cybertruck are down about 24%.

In terms of production, Tesla built 345,454 Model 3/Y vehicles and 17,161 from its “Other Models” line. The company attributed the production drop to the Model Y changeover but stated that the ramp is “going well.” However, deliveries and production were both down year over year.

Although Tesla doesn’t officially break down its numbers by region, Troy Teslike, who closely monitors Tesla's delivery and production numbers has provided estimates that show Tesla’s deliveries across regions. Tesla delivered the most vehicles in China this past quarter, so it’ll be interesting to see if this trend continues.

His estimates for the regional break down are below:

We expect a large portion of Tesla’s earnings call to focus on the long-awaited launch of its Robotaxi, and we will hopefully receive an update on its upcoming, more affordable model, which is rumored to be delayed.

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New Castings Spotted at Giga Texas Likely Intended for Tesla Cybercab

@JoeTegtmeyer

Tesla’s Giga Texas factory usually gives us the first site of Tesla’s upcoming products. We first saw the Cybertruck and Model Y castings here. With Giga Texas being one of Tesla’s largest factories, it’s logical that most products would originate here.

Tesla has also stated that it intends to manufacture the Cybercab, Semi, the next-generation vehicle, and Optimus at Giga Texas over the coming years. The affordable vehicle and Cybercab were originally intended to be manufactured at Giga Mexico, but the plans for that facility were waylaid by changes in economic policy.

Robotaxi Castings

These new castings were spotted by Joe Tegtmeyer, who regularly does drone flights of Giga Texas. Joe pointed out that these castings don’t look like the usual Model Y or Cybertruck castings usually seen outside Giga Texas.

With an eagle eye, @minusYCore on X also spotted some interesting text on the frames holding the castings up. In particular, the castings say “RTTX050” and “W68-RSF AS-CAST”. These could be interpreted as ‘Robotaxi Texas’ and ‘Rear SubFrame,’ as Tesla marks Cybertruck castings as “CTTX.” The as-cast portion indicates that these particular castings haven’t been trimmed yet, according to the X user.

The castings laid out.

@JoeTegtmeyer

The size and shape of these castings—combined with rumors that Tesla’s more affordable vehicle has been delayed—suggest that these castings are intended for the Cybercab.

These castings are much flatter and appear to be a different size than the castings found throughout Giga Texas, indicating that they are intended for an entirely different product.

It’s possible that these are the first castings used by Tesla to test their unboxed assembly process, which the Cybercab is expected to rely on. If you take a closer look at the video below, you’ll note that these new castings look very similar to the ones in the unboxed assembly video.

Interestingly, Tesla did say that they don’t intend to have the Cybercab available for customers before late 2026 or early 2027, but we’ll likely hear updated timelines as Tesla’s Q1 2025 Earnings Call tomorrow.

A more vertical look at the castings.

@JoeTegtmeyer

New Giga Presses

To top it all off, new parts for a Giga Press - the machine Tesla uses to make these castings - were also sighted in Texas. These machines are few and far between, and each one is highly specialized for the particular vehicle it produces. Seeing new parts coming in usually indicates that a new assembly line is under construction, or that changes are being made to an existing line to either expand it or update it.

There’s a lot happening and we will hopefully know more tomorrow evening.

New Giga Press parts

@JoeTegtmeyer

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