Tesla Model Y range estimate reduced by 6%, becoming more realistic
Tesla has updated its Model Y EPA range estimates, lowering the range of its Long Range and Performance models by 6% in its online configurator.
Specifically, the Model Y Long Range is down to 310 miles from 330, and the Model Y Performance is down to 285 miles from 303.
The cheapest Model Y, the Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive, which was introduced in the US in October, was not affected by the changes and retains its 260-mile range rating.
All three models have had no change in pricing since before the changes. The only changes we can see are the range estimates (and the two new colors).
We don’t know why Tesla has changed its range estimates, but it could have something to do with a change in the way Tesla does its EPA testing.
It has long been known that Tesla “vastly” overstates its range on its cars. While it is possible to meet EPA estimates if you drive efficiently (and I often do, or get close), Tesla tends to do disproportionately worse in real-world range tests than all other manufacturers, on a level playing field.
EPA tests allows some amount of discretion on the manufacturers’ part to raise or lower their range estimates by employing additional tests and applying an “adjustment factor.” Some manufacturers even apply a voluntary reduction to lower their range estimates, so that drivers are more likely to exceed estimates than come up short.
You can see Tesla’s overstatement for yourself: in a Tesla, charge your car up to 300 miles of range, then tell your car to navigate to somewhere that’s, say, 260 miles away. Your car will route you through a Supercharger, because Tesla’s real range estimate knows that its stated ranges are unrealistic.
So these ~6% changes won’t quite make up for all of Tesla’s range overstatement, but will bring the numbers closer to a realistic point.
However, this is only for two trims of the Model Y. We don’t know if Tesla’s other vehicles will end up having similar range estimate changes soon, although they all have suffered from the same range overstatement issue. So we would hope/expect to see corrections for other Tesla vehicles soon as well.
Electrek’s Take
At the end of the day, these range changes probably don’t really matter much. We don’t know what changed to get us here (and the company does not have a communications department to clarify changes like these when they happen), but Tesla tends to raise and lower the ranges of its cars randomly without any apparent physical changes to the battery, so really, nothing probably changed on the cars themselves.
Range is a fuzzy number anyway, meant to give a general idea of how far you can go, but can’t possibly take into account every situation in a single number. The phrase “Your Mileage May Vary” isn’t just informal slang – it originally applied to vehicle mileage, to describe how people will get different MPG in different situations. So, too, with range.
And frankly, I’m pretty tired of everyone treating range as the end-all-be-all of EV specs anyway. So while I dislike Tesla’s constant overstatement of range, making people think they need more range than they actually do and leading to ever-increasing range numbers beyond what’s realistically necessary (and leading to fewer larger, heavier, more expensive EVs in a constrained battery production landscape), I kind of do like when it randomly changes the range of its cars, showing everyone that the numbers are all made up anyway and you probably shouldn’t take them too seriously.
What’s more important is: learning to drive efficiently (if you need to go farther, slow down a bit), and ensuring that there are enough DC fast charge stations out there to give people a boost when they need it. If we all focus more on those things, then range will be something that we rarely need to think about anyway.
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National Grid Renewables has broken ground on its 100 MW Apple River Solar Project in Polk County, Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin solar farm, which will use US-made First Solar Series 6 Plus bifacial modules, will be constructed by The Boldt Company, creating 150 construction and service jobs. Apple River Solar will generate over $36 million in direct economic benefits over its first 20 years.
Once it comes online in late 2025, Apple River Solar will supply clean energy to Xcel Energy, which serves customers throughout the Upper Midwest. According to National Grid Renewables, the solar farm will generate enough energy to power around 26,000 homes annually. It will also offset about 129,900 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year – equivalent to taking 30,900 cars off the road.
“We are excited to see this project begin as it underscores our dedication to delivering clean, reliable and affordable energy to our customers,” said Karl Hoesly, President, Xcel Energy-Wisconsin and Michigan. “This project is an important step in those goals while bringing significant economic benefits to Polk County and the local townships.”
Electrek reported in February that Xcel Energy, Minnesota’s largest utility, expects to cut more than 80% – and possibly up to 88% – of its emissions by 2030, putting it on track to hit Minnesota’s goal of net zero by 2040. It also says it’s on track to achieve its clean energy goals for all the Upper Midwest states it serves – Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Michigan.
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Tesla has announced that it will finally deliver 500 kW charging as it is about to install its long-awaited V4 Supercharger cabinets.
The rollout of Supercharger V4 has been a strange one, to say the least.
Tesla has been deploying the new charging stations for two years and calling them “Supercharger V4”, but it has only been deploying the charging stalls.
Supercharger stations are made of two main parts: the stalls, which are where the charging cable is located, and the cabinets, which are generally located further back and include all the power electronics.
For all these new “Supercharger V4”, Tesla was actually using Supercharger V3 cabinets. This has been limiting the power output of the charging stations to 250 kW – although
Today, Tesla officially announced its “V4 Cabinet”, which the automaker claims will enable of “delivering up to 500kW for cars and 1.2MW for Semi.”
Here are the main features of the V4 Cabinet as per Tesla:
- Faster charging: Supports 400V-1000V vehicle architectures, including 30% faster charging for Cybertruck. S3XY vehicles enjoy 250kW charge rates they already experience on V3 Cabinet — charging up to 200 miles in 15 minutes.
- Faster deployments: V4 Cabinet powers 8 posts, 2X the stalls per cabinet. Lower footprint and complexity = more sites coming online faster.
- Next-generation hardware: Cutting-edge power electronics designed to be the most reliable on the planet, with 3X power density enabling higher throughput with lower costs.
Tesla reports that its first sites with the new V4 Cabinets are going into permitting now. The company expects its first sites to open next year.
We recently reported about Tesla’s new Oasis Supercharger project, which includes larger solar arrays and battery packs to operate the charging station mostly off-grid.
Early in the deployment of the Supercharger network, Tesla promised to add solar arrays and batteries to all Supercharger stations, and Musk even said that most stations would be able to operate off-grid.
While Tesla did add solar and batteries to a few stations, the vast majority of them don’t have their own power system or have only minimal solar canopies.
Back in 2016, I asked Musk about this, and he said that it would now happen as Tesla had the “pieces now in place” with Supercharger V3, Powerpack V2, and SolarCity:
It took about 8 years, but it sounds like the pieces are now getting actually in place with Supercharger V4, Megapacks, and this new Oasis project.
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Hyundai has a new secret weapon it’s about ready to unleash. To revamp the brand in China and counter BYD’s surge, Hyundai is launching a new AI-powered EV next year. The new model will be Hyundai’s first dedicated electric car for the world’s largest EV market.
With the help of Haomo, a Chinese autonomous startup, Hyundai will launch its first EV equipped with generative AI. It will also be its first model designed specifically for China.
A Hyundai Motor official said (via The Korea Herald) the company is “working to load the software” onto the new EV model, “which will be released in the Chinese market next year.” The spokesperson added, “The level of autonomous driving is somewhere between 2 and 2.5.”
In comparison, Tesla’s Autopilot is considered a level 2 advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) on the SAE scale (0 to 5), meaning it offers limited hands-free features.
With Autopilot, you still have to keep your eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel, or the system will notify you and eventually disengage.
Haomo’s system, DriveGPT, unveiled last spring, takes inspiration from the OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT.
The system can continuously update in real-time to optimize decision-making by absorbing traffic data patterns. According to Haomo, DriveGPT is used in around 20 models as it looks to play a bigger role in China.
Hyundai hopes new AI-powered EV boosts sales in China
Electric vehicle sales continue surging in China. According to Rho Motion, China set another EV sales record last month with 1.2 million units sold, up 50% from October 2023.
Over 8.4 million EVs were sold in China in the first ten months of 2024, a notable 38% increase from last year.
BYD continues to dominate its home market. According to Autovista24, BYD accounted for 32.9% of all PHEV and EV (NEV) sales in China through September, with over half of the top 20 best-selling EV models.
Tesla was second with a 6.5% share of the market, but keep in mind these numbers only include plug-in models (PHEV).
Like most foreign automakers, Hyundai is struggling to keep up with the influx of low-cost electric models in China. Beijing Hyundai’s sales have been slipping since 2017. Through September, Korean automaker’s share of the Chinese market fell to just 1.2%.
Last month, Hyundai opened its first overseas digital R&D center in China to help kick off its return to the region.
According to local reports, Hyundai is partnering with other local tech companies like Thundersoft, a smart cockpit provider, and others in China to power up its next-gen EVs
With its first AI-powered EV launching next year, Hyundai hopes to turn things around in the region quickly. The new model will be one of five to launch in China through 2026.
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