After a long wait, Tesla has finally launched the refreshed Model Y - the world’s best-selling vehicle - in China. The vehicle is available for pre-order throughout the Asia-Pacific market, so let’s dive into everything new.
Currently, Tesla’s order page expects the first vehicles - the Launch Series - to begin deliveries to customers in May 2025, just about four months away. For now, there are just two variants - the Rear Wheel Drive, and the Long Range, All Wheel Drive model.
Launch Series Edition
Similar to the Foundation Series Cybertrucks, the Launch Series Model Y’s are a limited release and include a set of additional options.
You’ll get an exclusive Launch Series badge on the rear liftgate and doorsill plate. Plus, the Launch Series badging shows up in the puddle lights too. The charging console also has “LAUNCH” as a wordmark on the trim, and the interior comes with an exclusive black vegan suede finish.
Launch Series for the Long Range AWD also comes with Acceleration Boost, the first time Tesla has ever included the feature outside of an “in-app” purchase.
What’s New
There are a lot of new things in the 2025 Model Y, from a new and sharp-looking exterior, an improved interior, and even better specs to round off the whole package. There are even several surprises that we didn’t know about. There’s a lot to like here.
Exterior
Tesla has redesigned the front and rear of the vehicle with iconic new light bars, which they mention increase vehicle aerodynamics, efficiency, and range. Part of this includes redesigned body castings for the Model Y refresh, reducing parts from 70… to just one. That’s fewer gaps, all designed to make an even quieter ride than before. We’re excited to see how all these improvements perform - after all, increasing stiffness is the key to a better ride.
The front bumper camera is also visible - so that’ll be the first for a Tesla vehicle outside of the Cybertruck. Hopefully, they’ll include it in FSD and Actually Smart Summon as well, but right now, at least on the Cybertruck, it’s only used for Autopark or, of course, to use it manually.
The refreshed Giga Casting
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Indirect Rear Light Bar
The rear light bar is actually not aimed away from the car - but at it. According to Tesla, it's the first indirect reflective body panel taillight - and it looks cool. Tesla has also redesigned several curves on the car - it looks far more aerodynamic and cuts a sharp figure over the original Model Y. These changes will improve range and performance.
The rear light bar
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Tesla has also introduced a new color - Glacier Blue - exclusive to the 2025 Model Y Refresh for now. The standard color option is Stealth Grey, while Pearl White Multicoat, Glacier Blue, Quicksilver, and Ultra Red are all available as options.
The new Glacier Blue
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Tesla has also removed the hitch option from the Model Y Refresh. This is a big change - it was the only non-premium level Tesla vehicle to include a tow hitch. We’re hoping that Tesla does include a tow hitch in versions coming to North America and Europe - as many users do use them. If it is indeed gone, that’ll mean the only vehicles left in the lineup with tow hitches will be the Cybertruck, Model S, and Model X.
Interior
First up - ventilated seats and ambient lighting will be the first two things you see, along with new soft-touch finishes across the interior. Tesla has really hit the mark with the interior of the Model Y Refresh - it looks clean and sharp.
Updated interior with ambient lighting
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The updated interior still features a 15.4-inch touchscreen - the same size as previous models but also includes an 8” rear touchscreen for all versions of the vehicle, similar to the refreshed Model 3.
Tesla has added improved connectivity to the vehicle - improving the range for the Phone Key, clearer calls, and faster cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity. This is likely a chipset improvement for the infotainment module - and includes a newer version of Bluetooth, as well as support for 5G. We’ll dig into these details once we know more.
The updated speakers are cleverly hidden away inside the trims, and we expect a lot of improvements for Tesla’s already fantastic audio - especially in the Long Range AWD version.
One of the coolest features is power reclining seats - you’ll be able to recline or raise your rear seats at the touch of a button in the rear of the vehicle and potentially in the vehicle menu, too. That’s going to be an amazing convenience feature for families and those moving luggage around.
Turn Signal Stalk
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In a surprising move, Tesla says they have listened to customer feedback and added a precision-engineered turn signal stalk. There’s only a single stalk on the left side of the steering wheel while the gear shifter remains on the screen and Autopilot remains as a steering wheel button.
The steering wheel buttons are similar to the Cybertruck, which provide “clicky” feedback. Since the turn signals have moved over to a stalk, Tesla is introducing customizable steering wheel buttons. You’ll likely be able to set them to features like turning on the front or rear cameras, voice commands or other features.
Handling
Just like the Model 3 refresh, Tesla has worked some magic on the suspension, improving vehicle handling and comfort while also offering more responsive steering and an even quieter ride. This includes updated tires, wheels, and a new suspension.
New Wheels, New Suspension
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No word yet on Adaptive Suspension - that’ll likely be a hold-out for the Performance variant, which will show up later in 2025.
Specs
Vehicle
Range*
0-60mph
Charging Speed (15m)
2024 AWD
501 km / 310 mi
5.0s
239km
2024 LR RWD
525 km / 326 mi
7.9s
250km
2025 AWD (Juniper)
551 km / 342 mi
4.3s
266km
2025 RWD (Juniper)
466 km / 289 mi
5.9s
229km
*Range for the Model Y Refresh is WLTP, while for the 2024 vehicle, it is EPA estimates. WLTP estimates are generally on the higher side owing to geography and temperature in the Asia-Pacific.
There’s a lot to take in right here, spec-wise. The Model Y Refresh AWD is faster than its predecessor and has a considerably longer range. According to Tesla’s spec sheet, it also charges slightly faster - even faster than the current LR RWD with its LFP battery. That’s a great improvement across the board.
Beautiful Curves
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The RWD is less of an immediate improvement - but this is a Standard Range RWD - not a Long Range RWD, so the comparison isn’t exactly comparable to the 2024 LR RWD. It seems likely that Tesla will replace the Long Range RWD with the 2025 Standard Range RWD once it arrives in North America and Europe. However, even the RWD has a pretty hefty improvement in the 0-60 section.
When Does It Arrive
Tesla says that it’ll be shipping the Model Y Refresh in just a few short months - customer deliveries of the Launch Series should begin deliveries in May - if you’re in the Asia-Pacific region. For customers in Europe and North America, we’ll probably have to wait a few months before the 2025 Refresh arrives here - likely in the early summer months.
Tesla won’t keep people waiting too long - after all, it's the much-awaited refresh of the world’s best-selling vehicle. We’re super excited to see more of it and hopefully get our hands on it for a test drive in the future.
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While we haven’t even seen AI5, Tesla is already thinking about its next set of chips that will power Tesla’s future FSD computers. In a set of posts on X, Elon Musk outlined the future of Tesla’s AI hardware, stating that its “strategic importance is hard to overstate.” He also revealed that Samsung, the current manufacturer of Tesla’s AI4 chip, will produce the next-generation AI6 chip at a new, dedicated fabrication facility in Texas.
While AI4 is already used in Tesla’s Robotaxis, which are practically driving autonomously, it’s hard to imagine where the company will be with a computer that’s many more times as powerful. Things like the recent video of a Tesla stopping at a toll booth, waiting for the driver to pay, and then taking off will become commonplace, not only at booths but also in various nuanced scenarios, such as someone waving you by, or stopping for a friendly neighbor that waves you down.
Samsung’s giant new Texas fab will be dedicated to making Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chip. The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate.
Samsung currently makes AI4.
TSMC will make AI5, which just finished design, initially in Taiwan and then Arizona.
To understand the need and brilliance behind why Tesla is doing what it's doing with AI6, we need to take a look at the problem it is being engineered to eliminate. Currently, Tesla, like many others, faces a real two-language problem in its AI development.
The vast majority of its AI training is done on a supercomputer cluster, Cortex, which is built around Nvidia’s powerful H200 GPUs. However, the vehicles that run the software use Tesla’s custom-designed hardware - HW3/AI3 or HW4/AI4. This means that every time the AI model is improved - whether the vision neural nets or the ones that determine distance, or any of the many little parts that come together to build FSD as a whole - there’s a whole second step. It must be developed and validated on Nvidia’s architecture, then rebuilt and re-validated to run on Tesla’s own AI hardware.
Tesla runs AI4 chips side-by-side with the H200 GPUs in Cortex to minimize this, but that still means there is a step in between the training getting completed and the actual model being able to run on a vehicle. This slows down the feedback loop from training to deployment, even if Tesla has built a Universal Translator to help move FSD from one piece of hardware to another.
AI6 Solution: One Chip to Rule Them All
AI6 is the definitive solution to this problem. While the upcoming AI5 chip (to be made by TSMC) represents a performance leap over AI4, AI6 will be a transformative leap in architecture.
The key innovation of AI6 is the direct integration of Tesla’s Dojo Supercomputer chip architecture into the same hardware that will be in Tesla’s vehicles and Optimus. The goal is to closely integrate the training and vehicle hardware.
By having the same Dojo architecture in the data center for training and in the vehicle for inference, Tesla will have a single, unified hardware pipeline. The two-language problem vanishes, drastically simplifying Tesla’s development process and enabling a much faster pace of innovation and updates.
Manufacturing Collaboration
The plan for AI6 goes beyond just chip design. Elon’s announcement revealed that Tesla plans to build a strong manufacturing partnership with Samsung. After all, much of Tesla’s expertise is focused on the machines that build the machines.
Samsung has agreed to allow Tesla to assist in maximizing manufacturing efficiency at the new Texas fab. It’s unusual to see this kind of relationship between the fabricator and the client. Elon doubled down on this - he wants to walk the fab lines to personally accelerate the pace of progress.
Samsung agreed to allow Tesla to assist in maximizing manufacturing efficiency.
This is a critical point, as I will walk the line personally to accelerate the pace of progress. And the fab is conveniently located not far from my house 😃
Tesla isn’t just designing the chip, but helping to make sure it’s made in the most efficient and optimal way possible, all while leveraging Tesla’s experience and Samsung’s fab skills in one facility.
Fully Integrated
Tesla’s AI6 announcements come as a surprise since Tesla is still a year out from releasing AI5, but it shows that Tesla plans to integrate even more of its AI stack. From influencing the manufacturing process of the chip itself to designing a unified hardware architecture for both training and inference, Tesla is building a self-reinforcing ecosystem.
This approach will create a feedback loop that allows for rapid improvement. While AI5 will be a big step up from the current generation, AI6 is revolutionary as it becomes Tesla’s major AI platform.
At the recent X Takeover event this past weekend, two of Tesla’s most important leaders gave in-depth interviews that provided a unique view into Tesla’s path forward and how everything comes together internally.
An interview with Elon Musk laid out the grand vision for Tesla and his other companies, focusing on the ambitious “what and why.” Later, Head of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy provided the more grounded, engineering-focused “how,” detailing the immense work it takes to turn the vision into a reality.
What emerged from these conversations was a clearer picture of Tesla’s strategy: a relentless, long-term vision for the future of transportation, AI, robotics, and energy, supported by a world-class engineering team capable of developing the processes to turn these products into a reality.
Robotaxi & Cybercab
For years, the concept of Unsupervised FSD, as well as Robotaxis, has been the focal point of Tesla’s future. In his interview, Elon provided fresh details on the way they expect the business model to work. Tesla plans to operate a fleet where some vehicles are company-owned, while others are owned by customers. This is essentially a combination of Uber and Airbnb, taking a bit of a hybrid approach between the two different styles.
He also went on to confirm that the purpose-built, two-seater Cybercab would complement, but not replace, Tesla’s existing models. This is key, because many have thought that Tesla would end their consumer vehicle sales or drastically reduce them as they transitioned to an AI services company, and became less of a car company. Now, it seems we know that they’ll have a lasting stake in personal car ownership.
The Cybercab, which is a revolutionary vehicle without driver controls, requires an equally revolutionary process to build it. In his interview, Lars Moravy provided the answer and detailed the unboxed manufacturing process that Tesla has been developing.
The unboxed method challenges a century of established automotive assembly by breaking the vehicle down into smaller, parallel sub-assemblies, allowing more work to be done simultaneously. The goal is to drastically shorten the main assembly line, enabling vehicle sections to be built in parallel and come together at the end.
Lars also noted that Tesla has already done the initial batch of crash testing for the Cybercab prototypes, and the vehicle has passed with flying colors. This isn’t surprising for Tesla, which integrates vehicle safety right into the structure of the vehicle, building castings that transfer force away from occupants.
The Semi
While Elon’s interview focused on some of his grander ambitions like Mars colonization, Lars provided some tangible updates on two of Tesla’s most anticipated vehicles.
On the Tesla Semi, Lars confirmed that progress is well underway at the Semi factory in Reno, Nevada. After years of focusing on engineering prototypes to ensure the reliability of a commercial workhorse vehicle, Tesla is now expected to ramp up production by the end of 2025, continuing through into early 2026. The business case for the Semi is crystal clear - build a no-brainer choice for shipping and logistics companies, who need to weigh the initial buy-in and infrastructure costs against operating costs per mile.
The Semi, just like other EVs, absolutely trumps diesel trucks in cost per mile, due to lower energy costs and less maintenance. However, the somewhat hidden advantage here is that truck drivers drastically prefer to drive the Tesla Semi over other diesel trucks, citing things such as better visibility, a smoother ride, and easier driving. These are advantages that could lead to improved employee retention and easier driver recruitment.
Meanwhile, the Semi simply needs to have infrastructure installed at the starting and ending locations for major delivery companies, enabling end-to-end supply chain handover.
The Roadster
Lars also talked about Tesla’s upcoming Roadster, confirming that it’s still in development, with the team preparing for a mind-blowing demo sometime soon. Elon previously hinted at this demo during a visit to the Tesla Design Studio, where he said a mind-blowing demo would be coming by the end of the year.
The goal for Tesla is to make it the last, best driver’s car before the world begins transitioning to full autonomy. Lars also touched on one of the biggest challenges with the Roadster. There is an immense engineering challenge being taken on now - and it's the SpaceX package. This package is set to use cold-gas thrusters to push the Roadster past what is conventionally possible. In fact, just as Elon has previously mentioned, the Roaster may be able to “fly a little.”
Last, best driver’s car
Lars Moravy
You can watch the full interview below. Lar’s portion on the Roadster starts at 26:30.
Optimus: Sustainable Abundance
One of the most ambitious parts of Elon’s vision is the Optimus humanoid robot. He has stated his belief many times that the robotics business could be many times more valuable than Tesla’s entire automotive business, and if it works as planned, it definitely will be.
The current Optimus V3 design is intended for volume production, with Elon foreseeing a future market of billions of humanoid robots - not made just by Tesla, but the market as a whole. That many units could simply eliminate human poverty and usher in an age of sustainable abundance.
That grand vision is built on top of the manufacturing and automation expertise that Lars’ team is pioneering every day. With volume production of Optimus to begin next year, and real work already being done in Tesla’s factories, we may see humanoid robots making a real impact on the lifestyle and livelihood of people within the next few years.
The Unfair Advantage: Getting Sh*t Done
All of these ambitious ideas and products are enabled what what is perhaps Tesla’s true sauce - its unique internal culture of getting sh*t done. Lars’ interview provided us with a rare look inside to see just how it all comes together.
He described working with Elon as unique - the discussions are grounded in physics, and Elon trusts his teams to turn his dreams and ambitions into reality. This, in turn, creates a culture of mutual respect and high expectations.
The collaborative spirit extends to the relationship between engineering and design, which Lars described as highly unusual for the auto industry. Rather than the two teams being hostile to each other, they work together to make bold design and engineering choices, like the Cybertruck, into reality.
Underpinning all of this is what Lars himself calls Tesla’s superpower: in-house automation and manufacturing engineering teams. These teams work to design the machine that builds the machines - innovating and solving problems at a level and speed that is simply not possible when relying on external vendors.
This combination of a relentless long-term vision, alongside a first-principles engineering culture, allows Tesla to take big risks and make big plays that define its future path. While all of Tesla’s timelines are ambitious, these interviews make it clear that the ambitious vision is paired with a concrete and innovative plan for execution.
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