Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that the company’s new Model Y L may never be built in the United States, one day after the company started taking orders for the variant in China.
Tesla opened orders in China on Tuesday for the Model Y L at a starting price of 339,000 yuan ($47,180).
The model will compete with Nio’s Onvo L90, launched on July 31, and Li Auto’s new i8, which began deliveries across China earlier on Wednesday.
“This variant of the Model Y doesn’t start production in the US until the end of next year,” Musk wrote on X, adding: “Might not ever, given the advent of self-driving in America.”
The Model Y L introduces a six-seat layout with second-row captain’s chairs, redesigned front seats with adjustable headrests, and a black headliner — a first for the model.
Other updates include additional air vents, leg-rest extensions for the front seats, and power-folding for the second and third rows.
The variant has also been spotted undergoing testing at Germany’s Nürburgring track, though Musk gave no comment on a European launch.
Tesla first teased the model in July on Weibo, while a regulatory filing with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology disclosed a dual-motor configuration with peak power of 142 kW at the front and 198 kW at the rear.
Earlier this Wednesday, Musk said that the upcoming version of the Full-Self Driving (FSD) software, scheduled for late September, will be the “second biggest update” to the system since V12.
Local media outlet Nikkei reported earlier this week that Tesla has started testing its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system on public roads in Japan.
The trials, conducted by Tesla employees, cover both local roads and highways using previously mapped data.
