Tesla launched the Model Y L, a stretched six-seat version of its best-selling sport utility vehicle, in the United States and Puerto Rico on Thursday, hours after reporting a second-quarter delivery beat.
The debut brings to America a three-row variant that Chief Executive Elon Musk had once suggested might never reach the market, and adds a larger, higher-priced option to the lineup.
The Model Y L stretches the standard SUV by 7.0 inches overall and rides on a wheelbase 5.9 inches longer, opening room for a six-seat, two-by-two-by-two cabin with second-row captain’s chairs and a folding third row.
Cargo space rises to 89 cubic feet, and the interior adds a larger 16-inch front touchscreen, an 8-inch second-row screen, heated and ventilated captain’s chairs, a 19-speaker audio system and 50-watt cooled wireless charging.
Tesla rates the six-seater at an estimated 325 miles of range, a 4.4-second zero-to-60-mph time and a 125-mph top speed, and equips it with Full Self-Driving (Supervised) and its integrated Grok conversational assistant.
The Model Y L runs an 88-kilowatt-hour battery and charges at a peak of 250 kilowatts, with estimated range easing to 320 miles on the optional 20-inch wheels from 325 miles on the standard 19-inch set.
Measuring 196 inches, about 7 inches longer than the standard Model Y, the SUV weighs roughly 4,600 pounds and offers vehicle-to-load power through a supplied adapter, with six exterior colors that include Cosmic Silver making its US debut and a choice of two interiors.
A Same-Day Delivery Beat
The launch landed on a day Tesla delivered its strongest quarterly result in more than a year.
The company reported 480,126 deliveries for the second quarter, up 25.0% from a year earlier and about 34% from the first quarter, in a figure it called its best-ever second quarter.
Deliveries cleared the roughly 406,000-unit consensus compiled by Tesla from sell-side analysts by more than 74,000 vehicles, an 18.3% beat, after the company had missed Wall Street estimates in each of the prior two quarters.
Production reached 451,758 vehicles, some 28,000 below deliveries, meaning Tesla drew down inventory rather than building stock to reach the headline number.
The Model 3 and Model Y together accounted for 467,762 units, or about 97% of the total, with all other models making up 12,364.
As of press time, shares were falling about 7% to near $393 despite the beat, as investors treated the strong quarter as already priced in.
Musk’s Reversal
The US arrival of the Model Y L reverses a position Tesla‘s chief executive staked out less than a year ago.
When Tesla opened orders for the Model Y L in China in August 2025, Musk said US production would not begin before the end of 2026, and added the model “might not ever” come, citing the advent of self-driving in America.
A launch on Thursday moves ahead of that timeline, bringing the extended SUV to the US market well before the late-2026 window Musk had described.
Filling a Gap in the Lineup
The Model Y L addresses a hole in Tesla‘s US range, where three-row seating had been limited to the far pricier Model X and a cramped seven-seat option.
Tesla had earlier added a tight seven-seat configuration to the standard Model Y in the US in January, but that setup kept the original wheelbase and drew criticism as suitable mainly for children.
By contrast, the Model Y L uses the longer body to create usable space across all three rows, positioning it against three-row electric SUVs such as the Rivian R1S and the Kia EV9.
The larger variant also lifts the average selling price of the Model Y line, a lever Tesla has pulled repeatedly over the past year through Performance, Standard and seven-seat options.
Tesla priced the Model Y L at $61,990 as a Launch Series edition, making the six-seater the most expensive version of the Model Y and placing it above even the Performance trim.
The figure came in about $8,000 higher than the roughly $53,990 that pre-launch estimates had suggested, and above the $57,990 Model Y Performance, while the standard Model Y starts at $39,990 and the Model Y Premium at $45,990.
Launching as a fully loaded Launch Series follows the approach Tesla used for the refreshed Model Y in 2025, where a higher-priced initial edition preceded cheaper trims, suggesting lower-cost versions of the L could arrive later.
At $61,990, the Launch Series bundles a year each of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), Supercharging and Premium Connectivity, free choice of any paint, interior and wheel option, and exclusive badging, floor mats, puddle lights and suede trim.
Deliveries in the US are scheduled to begin in October.
Proven Demand in China
The extended SUV has already shown strong demand where it launched first.
Tesla began Model Y L deliveries in China in September 2025, and the six-seater sold out its initial allocations within days, reaching roughly 25,000 units in December alone.
Priced from 339,000 yuan in China, the model has outsold three-row rivals there and helped keep the Model Y among the country’s best-selling vehicles.
The variant has since spread across the Asia-Pacific region, reaching Australia, the Philippines, New Zealand and South Korea, while Tesla has not confirmed a European launch despite securing regulatory approval in the Netherlands.
