Tesla confirms the 2025 Model Y Juniper will arrive in showrooms this March with a starting price of $59,990 as the revamped crossover attempts to reassert itself in the marketplace. But will CEO Elon Musk’s venture into high-level politics impact sales of the eagerly awaited Model Y makeover.
Tesla released U.S. pricing and initial specs for the 2025 Model Y with a base Launch Series model starting at $59,990.
Tesla made waves when the EV maker unveiled the revamped 2025 Model Y. Dubbed the Juniper, this version of the Model Y promised to bring customers newfound levels of refinement, technology, and performance. However, Tesla chose to not reveal much of these details right away and instead preferred to tease the world with teaser images and little details.
This is now changing, with Tesla not only confirming the new Y will be entering showrooms this March, but it will also be doing so with a base price of $59,990 which puts a base Juniper under the $60,000 barrier before any taxes and fees are factored in.
Tesla is hoping to see the Model Y help reverse the unexpected downturn in sales — primarily in the U.S. — it experienced last year.
Model Y Launch Series the only model for now
It’s imminent arrival in the U.S. comes after Tesla chose to start early sales of the model in the Chinese market.
When we last saw the Model Y, it went on sale in China with no word on U.S. specs or pricing. However, that changed Thursday when Tesla posted the 2025 model (aka Juniper) to its U.S. website. For now, the only model available here on our shores is the all-wheel drive equipped Long Range model which has been rebranded “Launch Series” for this first wave of production. Pricing starts at $59,990 before taxes, fees, and incentives are factored in. This would make the model $12,000 more than an equivalent version of the outgoing Y.
The new model also gets a small boost in range with the 2025 model getting 320 miles of range per charge versus the old 311 figure with the company also saying the 2025 model can add 154 miles of charge in 15 minutes when hooked up to a DC fast charger. In addition to the beefed-up charging figures, this Y also has enhanced performance with Tesla saying it can make the sprint to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds.
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Other trim levels to come later
The interior gets heavily revamped with Tesla designers putting a stronger focus on improving the user experience.
For now, the Launch Series appears to be following the same core game plan that we saw on the Foundation Series Cybertruck with this version of the Y getting Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology standard with a vegan suede interior being balanced out by plenty of Launch Series badging. Other trim levels will come later but look for all of them to benefit from the reworked exterior styling which borrows plenty of cues from the highly controversial Tesla Cybertruck especially the front end with a lightbar and a more chiseled appearance being key changes.
The interior gets its fair share of changes too with the second-row seats now having power fold capability and an 8.0-inch screen at the rear for passengers to use. Tesla says the cabin continues to be “whisper-quiet” with the front seats now getting cooled capability to balance out their built-in heaters. The controls have also been reworked too with Tesla sacrificing some minimalism by tweaking the control layout slightly with an analog turn signal stalk being a key addition.
Update comes at a critical time
The updated Model Y comes at a critical time for Tesla. The automaker saw global sales dip about 2% last year and while it doesn’t break out demand by region, deliveries were down nearly threefold in the U.S., according to Cox Automotive which based its estimate on nationwide registration data.
Cox and other industry trackers see a variety of factors behind the downturn, starting with the age of Tesla’s current line-up and increased competition. But there is also concern that the automaker is facing backlash from potential buyers due to Elon Musk’s increasingly political actions, including the $250 million he spent to help elect Donald Trump in November 2024. Studies have long shown that the majority of Tesla — and other EV buyers — lean towards the left side of the political spectrum.
The update of the Model Y could show whether Tesla takes further hits in a highly polarized country or if potential buyers are ready to put aside personal politics for products they like.
(Paul A. Eisenstein contributed to this report.)
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