In a bit of a surprising turn of events, it looks like Tesla has been running two production lines at Giga Texas and is preparing to begin deliveries of the Model Y Long Range (LR) built in Austin.
In the last few days there have been multiple reports on social media of owners with reservations for the LR variant receiving VINs with an ‘A’ in the eleventh position, indicating it was built in Austin and not Fremont, where they have been built for the North American market up until this point.
Tesla has been offering existing reservation holders the option for a faster delivery by switching to the 4680 Model Y, but none of these reservation holders have said they were given that offer, let alone accepted it and switched to the new variant.
According a reservation holder ddhir on TMC, his Model Y LR built in Austin has an estimated delivery date of between June 28 and July 1.
A separate user on TMC decoded the VIN and it was validated as a Model Y LR built at Giga Texas.
Another reservation holder shared on the Tesla Model Y Facebook group that he also received an Austin VIN and has a delivery date scheduled for June 28 at 5:00pm.
Unfortunately there is no information to confirm if these LR vehicles built at Giga Texas will feature the 4680 battery cells inside a structural battery pack, but it is unlikely considering we have received no information that Tesla planned to use the new cells in the Long Range variant at this point.
It is also unlikely because there is a very large backlog of orders for the LR variant with delivery wait times extending close to one full year, and Tesla has a limited supply of 4680 cells that would want to reserve for the new variant.
However, the addition of another production line for the LR variant is huge news for Tesla and even better news for existing reservation holders with an extended delivery timeframe, as some of the orders ahead of them will now be fulfilled through Austin.
If you have received an Austin VIN for a Model Y Long Range, let us know in the comments below or reach out to us at tips@driveteslacanada.ca.
