Tesla Model Y Juniper Revealed In China – CleanTechnica

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The long awaited Tesla Model Y refresh — code named Juniper — has broken cover in China. The car is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, which makes sense if you are talking about the best selling electric car in the world (and the best selling car in the world overall in 2023). The prices now start at 263,500 yuan (around 34,900 euros or $35,900), with deliveries scheduled to begin in March. However, there are hardly any details on the technology, Electrive reports.

The updated car was expected before the end of 2024, but that didn’t happen. We are only 10 days into the new year, so perhaps we can squint a bit and say Tesla completed it in 2024, for all practical purposes. The revised Model 3 Highland arrived at the end of 2023, and now it has been joined by the refreshed Model Y. Prototypes of the Model Y Juniper have been spotted in China, and Tesla has published photos and info about the new model on its Chinese website.

As expected, many features of the Model 3 Highland have been incorporated into the Model Y Juniper. These include improvements to the acoustics, which lead to a quieter interior. There is now also new ambient lighting and an additional screen for rear seat passengers. There will also be new ventilated seats and the rear-seat backrests now fold down electrically. A steering wheel with the look of the new Model 3 is also installed in the Juniper Model Y, but with one difference. In some photos of the interior, a traditional turn signal stalk can be seen. The other controls have been replaced by steering wheel buttons in the Model 3 Highland.

Tesla Model Y Juniper Changes

Tesla has not yet released any technical details, other than to say that the Model Y Juniper will be more efficient and have more power. The efficiency can only be deduced from the range figures. For the Model Y Long Range with all wheel drive and 19 inch rims, Tesla now claims 719 kilometers (447 miles) in the Chinese CLTC cycle. It was 688 kilometers (428 miles) previously. It is not known whether this is achieved purely through efficiency measures in the drivetrain or a slightly larger battery. After 4.5 years with no material changes, the improvement is relatively modest. On the other hand, the Model Y was already one of the more efficient models in its class before the Juniper modifications.

There is no information yet on charging performance. With the Model 3 Highland, there were no significant changes to the familiar “Tesla charging curve,” which starts with a high peak at a very low charge level and then drops off almost linearly. According to the information from China, the 400 volt system will remain in place, which means that the maximum charging power will likely remain at 250 kW.

The Model Y Juniper can accelerate better. The all wheel drive Model Y is now expected to go from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.3 seconds — six tenths of a second faster than the original model. That would indicate a significant increase in performance, as 0.6 seconds are not saved with just a slightly larger battery. Improved control of the all wheel drive system could also improve traction and thus shorten the sprint time without needing more power.

The chassis has also been revised to enable “smoother driving,” which entails new springs and changes to the dampers. New wheel and tire combinations are now offered. All these changes are intended to remedy one of the frequent criticisms of the original Model Y — a somewhat bumpy ride. A performance version of the updated car is not yet available, but it is expected that Tesla will introduce one later this year, accompanied by some minor cosmetic changes.

Updated But Still Familiar

The new design is the first thing that stands out with the Juniper version of the Model Y. Tesla has fundamentally revised the look of the car, even if the familiar curved roofline of the Model Y remains. Instead of borrowing from the design of the Model 3 Highland, Tesla has chosen to emulate design elements of the Cybertruck and the Cybercab. At the front, there are extremely narrow headlight units and a continuous LED light strip. The main headlights appear to be integrated into the narrow LEDs and are not hidden in a separate unit underneath, as is the case with XPENG and NIO vehicles. The fog lights have also been moved upwards a little. There is a new continuous light strip at the rear, a design feature missing from the refreshed Modal 3.

Regarding the indicator lever, which is the subject of much discussion on the internet, it is striking that the steering column lever can only be seen in photos of the right hand drive version for markets such as Hong Kong. In the pictures of the Chinese version with the steering wheel on the left side, no lever can be seen on the right hand side of the steering column. This suggests the gear selector lever (and Autopilot lever) has been removed, but that a simple indicator lever is still fitted on the left.

Another important new feature is a camera integrated into the redesigned front bumper. Previously, the Model Y did not have a front camera in the bumper, only in the interior mirror unit. A 360 degree view was previously not possible, so the image was not as accurate when parking because there was no information available from directly in front of the vehicle. The Juniper models should offer a more precise image thanks to the new camera and provide more accurate data when parking.

The Model Y Juniper model is not yet listed on the German Tesla website or the US Tesla website. The pictures and specifications pertaining to the Juniper version are only available on the company’s China website, because the refreshed version is only being manufactured at Giga Shanghai, where production of the Juniper model has reportedly already started. For a premiere in Europe and the US, the factories there must first be converted, which is expected to happen in the weeks and months ahead.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, but the refreshed styling of the Model Y is quite appealing — cleaner, crisper, and more in the modern idiom of other cars, especially from Chinese companies. The improvements are significant, but the car is still clearly recognizable as the Model Y so many drivers know and love. It will be interesting to see what the prices are in different markets as the factories in Germany and the US put this updated model into production.