Tesla is continuing to tweak its best-selling EVs in China in the hopes that it can boost its sales amid rising competition from BYD and other domestic manufacturers.
Tesla applied for a new sales license with China’s Ministry of Information Technology for a longer range Model 3 Plus sedan. Likewise, it applied for a license for the Model YL, a longer version of the electric SUV with three rows of seats. The licenses were first reported in CarNewsChina.
The Model YL, which will be available in China this fall, has six seats and is 7 inches longer and over an inch taller than the current Model Y. In addition to the longer wheelbase, the Model YL has new wheels, new seats, a modified rear, and a new spoiler. Tesla sells the Model Y with an optional third row in the US, but with very limited legroom.
The new EV is all-wheel drive with dual motors, one located on the front axle producing 142 kW and a second in the rear with 198 kW, providing a combined peak power of 340 kW (456 hp). Top speed is 201 km/h (125 mph).
According to Electrek, the more expansive Model YL could be seen as a response to a slew of new three-row EVs that were recently introduced in China, including NIO’s Onvo L90, which starts at the equivalent of USD $39,000. The Model YL is expected to start at over USD $50,000, which may make it a tougher sell for Tesla. Indeed, a long-gestating price war between Tesla, BYD, Xiaomi, and others is driving Western automakers out of China’s lucrative market.
Meanwhile, the new Model 3 Plus features a single motor on the rear axel and an LG-supplied NMC (nickel cobalt manganese) battery, which are typically more expensive chemistry that’s only available on the automaker’s all-wheel drive Long-range or performance versions. According to CarNewsChina, Tesla currently offers three versions of the Model 3 sedan in China: RWD, Long Range AWD, and Performance AWD.
With its higher capacity NMC battery, the Model 3 Plus is expected to have a longer range than the other versions of the electric sedan — although Tesla didn’t disclose any numbers in its filings.
Tesla’s new variants are clearly a shot across the bow of China’s domestic automakers, which have been eating Elon Musk’s lunch for quite a while now. The EV price war is getting so intense that China’s government is starting to worry that all the “irrational competition” will inevitably harm the country’s economy, according to Bloomberg.
