Model Y

Make
Tesla
Segment
SUV

Tesla has quietly updated its estimated driving range for the new Model Y Long Range AWD ever so slightly, bumping it by a single mile to 316 miles on a full battery charge, as spotted by electrek, as it awaits final certification from the US Environmental Protection Agency. That's important, as legally, the vehicle requires a final EPA number before it can be delivered to customers.

This one-mile bump to the Tesla Model Y's range estimate, then, could mean that it's close to receiving a finalized figure from the EPA. The other Y variant that's slated to begin deliveries soon, the Model Y Performance, has already received an official EPA range estimate of 315 miles.

Of course, if those figures are accurate, then outside of price, there's very little reason not to get the Tesla Model Y Performance over the Long Range AWD. Both are motivated by dual-motor all-wheel-drive systems, fed by a 75-kWh battery pack, but where the best the Long Range can muster is a 0-to-60 sprint in 4.8 seconds, the Performance model can scoot to 60 mph in just 3.5 seconds.

But of course, nothing is certain until the EPA certifies it, and at $8,000, the price bump from Long Range AWD to Performance is considerable. The Y's 315- and 316-mile range estimates themselves represent substantial increases over Tesla's original 280-mile projections.

Tesla has just started shipping out the new Model Y, with the first confirmed delivery taking place in Utah on Friday, March 13th. For the time being, only the Model Y Performance - and soon, the Long Range AWD - will be shipped as Tesla continues to ramp up production at its Fremont, California manufacturing plant. Three-row versions of the SUV aren't expected to start production until 2021.

The Tesla Model Y is the second vehicle to be built on the compact EV platform introduced with the Model 3 sedan, and the company's second utility vehicle. Seeing as utility vehicles are all the rage these days, and considering how much of a runaway success the Model 3 has been for the brand, we suspect the Model Y could be its best seller yet.