The new Tesla Model Y has finally arrived in the United Kingdom.
(Photo : WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images)
After a very long wait, the new Tesla Model Y has finally arrived in the United Kingdom, with British customers taking delivery of the all-electric model at select events around Great Britain this month, as per INSIDEEVs.
Events celebrating the handover of the Model Y will take place at seven different locations, including the American Air Museum in Cambridge, Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire, Oyster Catcher in Anglesey, the Imperial War Museum in Manchester, and Aerospace Bristol. A final mass-handover event for the Tesla Model Y will take place at the Port of Southampton on February 19.
Tesla launched the Model Y back in 2020, with customers in the United States first gaining access to the compact SUV in March of that year. Europe was the next to receive deliveries of the Model Y, with Tesla handing over the SUV to European customers starting in August 2020.
Giga Shanghai producing Model Y's for the UK
Since that time, a lot has changed with Tesla's Gigafactory in Shanghai, China, now the company's primary export hub. It is currently the only Tesla facility that produces right-hand-drive (RHD) vehicles, so all Model Y SUVs bound for the UK have come from this factory.
Tesla's Shanghai factory has been producing RHD Model Y SUVs for quite some time now. However, the vehicles it made initially went to various markets throughout Asia, including Hong Kong. Gigafactory Shanghai has also been exporting Model Y crossovers to the European continent, though they are not right-hand-drive models.
Model Y for European customers will eventually be produced at Tesla's new Gigafactory in Germany near Berlin. That facility, however, has not yet opened, with its vehicle production reportedly delayed to mid-March of this year. A report by local broadcaster RBB24 claims that German authorities are currently still reviewing Giga Berlin's safety precautions.
Tesla made it clear, however, that the company will continue producing RHD models in China even after Giga Berlin officially comes online and starts production. There are two versions of the Tesla Model Y available in the UK, which is similar to the situation in the United States.
Related Article: China Dominates EV Race Accounting for Half of the All-electric Vehicles Sold Globally in 2021
Specs and price for Tesla Model Y in the UK
The current "base" model for Tesla's latest vehicle is the dual-motor all-wheel-drive Long Range. According to Autocar, this model generates 434-bhp and has a range of 331 miles. According to the TeslaRati, the Model Y Long Range has a top speed of 135-mph and can reach 62-mph from a standstill position in just 4.8 seconds.
Also available for UK customers is the Model Y Performance. This particular model makes 483-bhp and has 319 miles of range. The Model Y Performance also has two motors, with all-wheel drive as its standard feature. The Model Y Performance can scoot from zero to 62-mph in just 3.5 seconds and has a top speed of 155-mph.
The starting price for the Model Y in the UK is £54,990, while the Performance model's price tag is £64,990.
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