Model Y Juniper comes with brake-by-wire and new heat pump that won't be available to all buyers

Tesla has introduced an upgraded version of its Octovalve SuperManifold heat pump to the new 2026 Model Y Juniper refresh that is currently shipping to customers, but it won't be available in all units at first.

According to Tesla's lead engineer Lars Moravy, there is a new LCCR filter system in place that increases the cooling capacity of the heat pump. Tesla's so-called SuperManifold heat exchange unit has also been upgraded to a more efficient v2 version.

The SuperManifold v2, however, won't be installed in all new Model Y units, and its presence in the initial batches will largely depend on the factory where they ship from. It will be a year before all Tesla Model Y Juniper buyers are sure that they are getting all the heat pump upgrades, said Lars in an interview with Sandy Munro, the Teardown Titan.

The other new thing that Tesla has added to the Juniper refresh is the "hydraulic-by-wire" braking system. It now has one master cylinder controlled by the driver, and another that is only controlled by Tesla's self-driving computer.

That allowed Tesla to keep the brake pedal static when driving on Autopilot or FSD, and to recuperate energy in a more efficient manner, including while manually pressing the pedal, depending on the kind of force applied to it.

On one hand, the brake-by-wire system with electric motor actuators on the booster side ensures a smoother braking feel and increases recuperation. On the other, Lars mentioned that the pedal motion can still push through with hydraulics as redundancy for extra safety, depending on the situation.

The electric motor actuation also allowed Tesla to pull the braking pads a bit further than they normally would be with just hydraulic braking, which decreased friction for further efficiency gains.

Tesla credits this hydraulic-by-wire system with increased recuperation, as well as the more compact brake calipers, for a big part of the Model Y Juniper efficiency increase.

Lars said that no other automaker has done by-wire brakes with decoupling to such an extent, but the system sounds quite close to the one-box braking system that Mercedes announced with the new CLA electric sedan that is priced to compete with the Tesla Model 3 directly:

The all-electric CLA features a new one-box brake system. Previously separate components such as the brake booster with master brake cylinder and ESP control are combined into a compact module – hence the name. The system optimises the recovery of braking energy, increasing range. The by-wire concept ensures a consistent, assured and transparent brake pedal feel for the driver, regardless of whether braking is through recuperation or friction braking. Additionally, the new brake system meets the brand’s high safety standards. In the event of a fault, the system reliably switches to the hydraulic fallback, ensuring safe braking behaviour at all times.

Still, as a result of the new brakes and other efficiency improvements, the Model Y Juniper refresh comes with about 5% longer range on a charge from the same battery that its predecessor carries.

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