This is the new Tesla Model Y Performance, coming to Europe in Sept.

Tesla has announced the Model Y Performance, available in Europe starting in September.

The Model Y Performance is now out in Europe, after Tesla teased a Friday announcement earlier this week. The teaser went out from Tesla’s Europe/Middle East account, but the release seems to only be in Europe, for now.

Tesla updated its European configurator today with the new Model Y Performance, along with details on what sort of upgrades the car gets over the other trim levels of the Model Y.

The basic headline stat is that the Performance model brings 0-100km/h (0-62mph) times down from 4.8 to 3.5 seconds, quite a leap (or 3.3 seconds for 0-60mph). This is thanks to the increased 460hp available on the Model Y Performance.

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That higher level of horsepower doesn’t seem to greatly affect efficiency, though, as the car is still capable of 580km (360mi) range on the WLTP cycle – which, keep in mind, is more lenient than the EPA cycle. It also hasn’t lost much charging speed, according to Tesla, with the ability to add 243km (151mi) of range in 15 minutes – a better measure of efficiency, given Tesla doesn’t specify its battery capacities anymore. Though it does say it’s using “new, high-voltage battery cells.”

But the performance upgrade isn’t just more horsepower and better 0-60 times, there are some other design, interior and performance touches.

The Performance model comes with 21″ “Arachnid 2.0” wheels, a new wheel design, along with redesigned front and rear bumpers which look more aggressive and less flat.

On the inside, Tesla has added performance badging, reminiscent of the “Plaid” theme it has used on other performance vehicles, and has slightly increased the size of the front touchscreen (from 15.4 to 16 inches), with higher resolution to boot.

The front seats get an improvement, with adjustable thigh extensions for those with particularly long legs.

In terms of performance changes, Tesla added updated suspension to the Model Y Performance with electronic dampers. We saw this on the recent Model Y L which earned praise for its driving dynamics, despite being full of 6 adult passengers.

The Model Y performance includes a new mode which Tesla calls “Stability Assist Mode,” which it says allows drivers to “Customize your traction and control. Choose between Standard, Reduced or Off to give your vehicle more or less traction according to your driving style and terrain.”

This sounds like a performance tuning of the car’s stability control systems – stability control can apply brakes to individual wheels to help correct over/understeer, but can get in the way in performance driving applications.

There may be other performance-related options in there, but Tesla isn’t telling us about them yet – merely referring to them as “drive modes.”

While nobody has gotten their hands on the Model Y Performance for a driving review yet, the Model 3 Performance earned immediate rave reviews from most of those who drove it. It’s quite the performance package, and there’s pretty much nothing out there with the same sort of specs on offer for that price, gas or electric (though personally, I prefer rear-wheel drive cars and was a bit disappointed by the slightly slower steering rack post-Highland refresh).

So if the chunkier Model Y Performance can turn out similar dynamics as Tesla’s sport sedan, it will be interesting to see how it does against the likes of the Ioniq 5N and such.

As for whether or when we’ll get this model in the US: the Model Y Performance release is similar to how the Model 3 Highland and Model Y Juniper refreshes got released, each hitting Europe first before North America. However, the Model 3 Performance didn’t get the same treatment, so it’s interesting to see Europe getting the Performance Model Y first in this instance. We’ll have to see if a North American Model Y Performance release is imminent, or if it might take a few months like the Highland and Juniper did. Stay tuned.

The Model Y Performance will start shipping in September, and starts at €62k (~$73k) in Germany, with local prices varying from country to country but generally staying somewhere in that range. Head on over to Tesla’s site to check out prices in your territory (change regions/language in the upper-right of the website).

Electrek’s Take

Now here’s the question: can this help to reverse the negative momentum Tesla has in Europe?

Despite EV sales surging all across Europe, Tesla sales keep dropping, and the reason for the decline is almost entirely because of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is destroying Tesla’s brand and making it more difficult for Tesla to conduct business.

Sales are up in only a few European countries – like Norway, where we imagine this model will be plenty popular enough. And the Model Y Juniper refresh, released at the beginning of this year, hasn’t stopped the bleeding (in fact, the bleeding started right around when it was released in January… but that was probably less due to the car itself, and more due to Musk’s unambiguous Nazi salutes).

A new, whiz-bang, more expensive model will probably help with margins, and will allow some people to forget the tarnish that Musk has brought to Tesla’s reputation. It might even be the bump Tesla needs to turn around the quarter, which ends in a month, given Tesla said Performance Model Ys will be available before the end of September (where there will also likely be a sales boost in the US, due to the upcoming end of federal tax credits, an end which Musk himself stupidly enabled).

But generally, to stop a sales decline, you need to bring in base consumers, not the relatively fewer high-end ones. We very much doubt that the reason for Tesla’s decline over the last 7 months was because of the lack of a performance model – so this might help a bit, but the deeper issue is Tesla’s bad CEO.

Nevertheless, if you’re one of the ones who can look past Musk’s actions (I can’t), feel free to use our referral code.

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