Tesla Reportedly Cutting Model Y Long Range Trim From Lineup

Unlike other automakers that wait until a new model year to make major changes to its lineup, Tesla does things differently. It adds and cuts models from its lineup on a whim. It even cancels vehicles that were available to be preordered. Case in point, the electric-only automaker is reportedly dropping the Model Y Long Range trim from its lineup reports Teslarati.


RWD Long Range Trim Canceled


The story of how Tesla got to this point is interesting. Tesla added the Model Y Standard Range trim with rear-wheel drive at the beginning of a month. Originally, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that the trim wouldn't be put into production because of its low range of 244 miles. Instead of a Model Y Standard Range trim, the original plan was to offer a Model Y Long Range trim with rear-wheel drive to make up for it. Now that the Model Y Standard Range with rear-wheel drive is on sale, Tesla is looking to cancel the Model Y Long Range trim with rear-wheel drive that was available for preorder. Confused? We are, too.


Since Tesla doesn't have a traditional public relations team, we doubt we'll get an explanation for the decision. The vehicle isn't listed on Tesla's website and Teslarati claims that consumers who preordered the model are being told to choose another Model Y configuration. A Tesla sales advisor told the outlet that the Long Range trim with rear-wheel drive would not be built at any point.


At the moment, consumers looking for a Model Y have three trims to choose from: Standard Range, Long Range, and Performance. The entry-level Standard Range offers 244 miles of range and costs $43,190, while the range-topping has a range of 303 miles and is priced at $61,190. The mid-level Long Range trim has up to 326 miles of range and costs $51,190.


Possibly Too Much Competition


From our point of view, it looks like Tesla didn't want to offer too many options that took sales away from other Model Y trims. Based on Tesla's current lineup for the Model Y, the Long Range RWD trim would sit in between the Standard Range and Long Range trim. Tesla never specified what kind of range the trim would have, but we suspect it would be too close between the two.


Last July, Electrek found the Model Y Long Range RWD on the automaker's site for loan approval with a price tag of $48,000 (price doesn't include destination). At the time, the outlet noted that the pricing was unique because it was only $2,000 off the Long Range AWD trim. Based on Tesla's range with rear-wheel-drive models, the vehicle was expected to have a higher range than the all-wheel-drive trim, but the extra money may not have justified the increase in range.


Tesla makes changes to its lineup on a regular basis. We're sure this isn't the last time the automaker will make a random change to its lineup in the future. For the Model Y, we're interested to see how long the Standard Range trim remains on sale.