Tesla Model Y Standard price and specs leak ahead of release date

At the last quarterly earnings conference, Elon Musk spilled the beans that the affordable Tesla everyone was waiting on is simply "a Model Y, let the cat out of the bag there," but cautioned that this is still a "singing and dancing" Model Y with all features its fans have come to expect.

The cheapest Model Y to date has finally leaked in the website's code ahead of the October 7 release date that Tesla teased over the weekend and has revealed most of its specs and pricing.

Tesla Model Y Standard price and release date

The cheaper Model Y will apparently be called Model Y Standard, which means that Reddit threads and X comments could very well abbreviate it as the Model Y S. Such naming would conveniently slot it in just below the current Model Y trims sold in the US, and the larger six-seat Model Y L that is sold in China.

The listed Model Y Standard price of $39,990 is likely just a placeholder, though, as the cheapest RWD trim currently sits at only $5,000 more. Given all the Model Y Standard design features and interior options that Tesla has removed, it is doubtful that it will have significant uptake if Tesla prices it at forty grand.

There is no hood light bar, glass roof, or electric folding mirror, for instance, while the suspension system has also been downgraded. Inside, Tesla provides only a basic interior with textile upholstery, manual rear seats, steering wheel, or air vents, and a HEPA filter replaced by a cheaper particulate one. There is no back screen, or central console storage, and even the clothing hooks have been removed. The matrix headlights that allow automatic high beams and the front bumper camera that will be used by FSD 14, however, have stayed.

Tesla has been shipping such stripped down vehicles in other countries like Mexico and did a similar move with the Cybertruck RWD trim in the US. Its cloth seats and lack of air suspension didn't resonate with buyers despite that it was priced $10,000 less, though, so it was quietly deprecated.

Tesla would now have to price the cheapest Model Y Standard at least $7,500 less, or the amount of the tax credit lost, and likely around the $35,000 mark if it wants to see any uptake that will help it pad the Q4 sales numbers.

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