Tesla rolls out an updated Model Y in China but keeps the same starting price

The Model Y for China gets new LED dashboard lighting and other tweaks in this update.

By Wes Davis, a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020.

The new Model Y in blue, in a near-three-quarter view. — *The new Model Y for China looks a lot like the old one.*

Tesla’s China arm announced in a WeChat post Sunday morning that it released a new Model Y with design and performance tweaks that keeps the same starting price as before (via Reuters). The new car follows the company’s release of the revamped “Highland” Model 3 in China, which also hit Europe early last month.

According to Tesla’s Chinese website, the Model Y now has a 0–100km/h time of 5.9 seconds, which Bloomberg notes in a report is slightly faster than before. The car gets new wheels and an ambient LED lighting strip in the dash, like the refreshed Model 3.

A picture of the interior of the new Model Y, showing the LED strip, steering wheel, and display.

If you squint, you can see the new LED strip along the front.

Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge

The car starts at 263,900 yuan (about $37,000), and the company offers both a long-range version for 299,900 yuan (about $42,000)and a high-performance version for 349,900 yuan (about $49,000). Tesla has not announced the updated Model Y — or the Model 3, for that matter — in the US. Here are some cropped images from Tesla’s WeChat post announcing the updated car: