EPA Approves New Model Y With Less Range

A new filing with the EPA confirms a strange new variant of the Model Y is in the works from Tesla. According to the stats on fueleconomy.gov, the newly approved AWD Model Y variant has a range of 279 miles - well below the currently known long-range Modely Y’s 330 miles.

Currently, this new 279 mile variant doesn’t appear on Tesla’s design studio, but the EPA approval confirms it’s being made. So how does it make sense that with the release of the new 4680-equipped Model Y, Tesla would design a version with less range? Well, there are some interesting theories on that.

Is this is the new Giga Texas Model Y with 4680 batteries? We heard last week that Tesla was awaiting an EPA approval of their new Model Y, which was assumed to be the new Austin made, structural pack 4680 car. If this is that, then we’re actually getting significantly less range, which is the opposite of what we expected to happen. It seems unlikely. 

But 279 miles of range also doesn’t make sense for other known Tesla battery loadouts. The current Model 3 from Shanghai for instance uses an LFP (Lithium-iron-phosphate) pack made by CATL. This is the “Standard Range” variant, and it’s been using the LFP pack since 2020. However, due to its low energy density, the pack only gets a range of about 253 miles. But the Model Y AWD is larger, heavier and has two motors, so how is this variant getting an extra 26 miles of range?

The answer might be coming from a competing Chinese EV company called BYD. In 2020, BYD announced a new “bladed” LFP battery cell that boasted greater energy density.

Adding to that, Chinese medial CLS reported last August that Tesla is in talks to buy BYD’s blade batteries sometime in Q2 2022. BYD and Tesla have both refused to comment, but haven’t denied the report either.

So, is this what we’re seeing? A new, “Standard Range” AWD Model Y, using a super efficient LFP battery? It would certainly be a game changer, and allow Tesla to sell this Model Y cheaper than other variants. And it makes sense in terms of shifting us away from gas and diesel vehicles too; as nickel-cobalt batteries are just too expensive and difficult to source material for to push us from fossil fuels on their own. LFPs on the other hand seem to be a great answer to that, with companies like Rivian citing the lower cost in their announcement recently that it’s switching its Amazon EV fleet to LFPs. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.