Tesla is reportedly set to kick off trial production of the refreshed Model Y at Giga Shanghai this week. According to report from China, the automaker will begin production of ‘Project Juniper’ as soon as October 22, 2024.
Tesla has been working on refreshing the Model Y, the world’s best-selling car that is approaching five years old already, for well over a year. The refresh, codenamed ‘Project Juniper,’ is expected to bring many of the same updates that Tesla introduced with the refresh of the Model 3, which first launched out of Giga Shanghai late last year.
In the lead up to its release, Tesla has been testing camouflaged prototypes on public roads in California, and more recently in Spain. While those test vehicles have been covered in an attempt to hide what exterior updates might be coming with the refresh, there has been some leaked photos that show the rear-end of the Model Y could be in for a significant design change.
Tesla has said on more than one occasion that they have no plans to release the new Model Y this year, and it looks like that is accurate, but it might not be far behind that schedule.
According to reports circulating on Chinese social media, Tesla is set to begin trial production of the new Model Y at Giga Shanghai on Tuesday. Those reports suggest Tesla will start with a modest production rate of just 15 units per day. This trial production will be closely monitored – employees will be kept away from others, and no phones or other devices will be allowed to prevent leaks, similar to the actions Tesla took for the new Model 3 when it entered trial production, also at Giga Shanghai.
If these reports are accurate, it could mean a potential release of the new Model Y, at least from Giga Shanghai and in international markets supplied from China, in the first quarter of 2025.
So when might we expect the new Model Y in North America? Looking back at the new Model 3, it launched in North America about three months after its debut in China, but it is difficult to estimate when Tesla’s American factories might begin production of the new Model Y using that as the baseline.
The reason it is difficult is because in North America, the Model 3 is only built at the Fremont factory in California. Tesla produces the Model Y at Fremont, as well as Giga Texas, giving them two factories to update. However, this also gives Tesla more flexibility to update production lines at their newer factory in Austin, something that is likely easier to do than in Fremont.
