The Tesla Model Y LR RWD arrives in the Netherlands

If you want to be surprised in the car world, Tesla is always the right place. The brand succeeds in keeping updates under wraps until the moment of introduction and also stubbornly chooses its own path. For the extremely popular Tesla Model Y, we were all eagerly awaiting the Model 3-style facelift, but instead Tesla casually announced a Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive version with the ‘old’ bodywork.

The Long Range ‘RWD’ combines the large battery of the regular, four-wheel drive Long Range with the rear-wheel drive of the basic version. Tesla has a kind of on-again, off-again relationship with LR AWD versions, which in the early years of the Model 3 could often be ordered ‘off-menu’, i.e. via a special request by email. That model came and went in 2019, returning in 2023 for business customers and disappearing with the facelift with the Model 3. Now the larger, more spacious Model Y is available for the first time as a Long Range RWD. This time there is no mystery, because the version can be ordered via Tesla’s website. There we learn that the car costs €49,990. It has a WLTP driving range of 600 kilometers and sprints from 0 to 100 in 5.9 seconds. That is a full second faster than the regular rear-wheel drive version, but also almost a second less fast than the all-wheel drive version. Until now, the LR AWD was the Model Y with the longest range, but it has now lost out with 533 kilometers.

On the outside, the Long Range RWD is indistinguishable from the entry-level version with rear-wheel drive. Both versions obviously lack the ‘Dual Motor’ on the valve, as they only have one electric motor. The LR RWD also has no fog lights, just like the entry-level model, but black covers in the front bumper.

Model 3 cheaper, Model Y more expensive

Bucking the Tesla trend, existing versions of the Model Y have recently become more expensive. When the Model 3 Performance version was launched earlier this week, the price of the remaining Model 3s was reduced by €2,000. With the Model Y it is the other way around and the price of the other versions (as promised) actually increases by €2,000 with the arrival of the LR RWD. A Tesla Model Y therefore costs at least €45,990 and, as the cheapest RWD (without delivery costs), it only just qualifies for SEPP subsidy in absolute basic trim. For an overview, you will find all current prices below