Tesla Model Y Performance gets new wheels along with range estimate adjustment

Update: this article blames the lost 6 miles (ca. 10 km) of range on the 2024 Tesla Model Y on a switch to 21-inch wheels. Although Car and Driver and a handful of other publications claim previous years of the Model Y came stock with 20-inch wheels, this doesn't appear to be the case. There seems to be something else at play causing the drop in range, although what that is, exactly, is unclear. Original article follows.

Tesla may not change up the aesthetics of its EVs much, even years after their release, but there are still minor changes that affect its line-up from year to year. Case in point, the Tesla Model Y Performance AWD has seen a somewhat significant loss in range moving from one year to another — although the change seemingly isn't Tesla's fault.

Early in 2024, the Tesla Model Y lost 18 miles (ca. 29 km) from its range estimate after the EPA changed its rules [PDF] for calculating range on performance EVs that carry over their performance modes through reboots.

The changes to the EPA rules meant the Model Y's range estimate dropped from 303 miles (ca. 488 km) to 285 miles (ca. 459 km), although buyers of the “new” Model Y are unlikely to notice, since it is merely a change in how the estimate is calculated — the hardware has not changed.

It seems as though another slight hardware change has resulted in more material range losses for the Model Y, however.

More curiously, however, it appears that the Tesla Model Y has inexplicably lost another 6 miles (ca. 10 km) of range in recent weeks, as noticed by an eagle-eyed poster on the Tesla Motors Club. Sure, enough, Tesla's Model Y Performance is now quoted as having an estimated range of 279 miles (ca. 449 km) instead of the 285 it had earlier this year.

The earlier range figure is corroborated by Car and Driver's review of the Model Y, which, as of writing, quotes the 285-mile figure. Digging a little deeper, it seems as though the 2024 Model Y Performance is only available with 21-inch Überturbine wheels, where it was previously available with smaller, more efficient 20-inch wheels. The slight bump in wheel size almost certainly explains the range drop.

Buy a Cybertruck 1/24 die-cast metal toy car on Amazon, or read about the development of Tesla EVs in Walter Isaacson's biography of Elon Musk.