2024 Tesla Model Y Juniper facelift set for summer release with redesigned body and new battery

Tesla is preparing to do to the 2024 Model Y what it did to the Model 3 Highland, a facelift and interior redesign and sources from its Gigafactory in Shanghai have confirmed that it is being retooled to release it next summer.

The mid-2024 Tesla Model Y release has a codename internally, rumored to be Project Juniper, just like the Model 3 Highland. The Highland refresh includes sleeker forms and slightly longer body, as well as restyled head- and taillights, upgraded interior and specs, plus new badging.

2024 Model Y Juniper design and specs

The Model Y already got the LED ambient lighting that the Model 3 Highland introduced, so the 2024 Juniper refresh should include an additional overhaul of the interior. The Model Y, which globally is Tesla's bestselling vehicle, should get a bigger and bolder redesign to fight off Tesla's biggest competitor BYD that already refreshed its bestsellers in China, as well as its other formidable competitors there.

BYD may surpass Tesla this quarter and become the world's largest EV maker, according to some analysts, and Tesla is reacting accordingly by upgrading its largest Gigafactory in Shanghai to prep it for the 2024 Model Y production.

Tesla was initially scheduled to announce Juniper next fall, but it has apparently pulled the launch forward to battle the onslaught of direct competitors like the cheaper Sea Lion that BYD recently unveiled. It is also reportedly going to equip it with a new, possibly larger M3P battery by CATL, of the type it used in the Model 3 Highland refresh.

According to factory sources, Tesla will idle its Chinese plant for a week around the New Year's festivities in order to upgrade its newer manufacturing facilities there. It will perform additional retooling, as needed, to prepare for the mass Model Y Juniper production with a release date scheduled for the middle of 2024, about two quarters from now.

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