Why Tesla Model Y 3rd Row is the key to becoming the world's best-selling vehicle

March 15, 2019 by Paul Fosse

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At the Tesla Model Y revelation event, I focused on 2 things. First of all it is not difficult to manufacture. Second, it has 3 rows of seats.

Easy to manufacture

To be easy to manufacture, Tesla did not have to introduce any hard-to-build features, such as the Falcon Wing Model X doors. There is not much to say about it. Looking at the car and driving it, it's obvious that it looks a lot like model 3 (which I own). The battery and the motors are probably identical, the steering wheel and the 15-inch screen and the software seem to be identical (with minor modifications). The radio and air conditioning controls seem to be the same. The autopilot hardware seems to be the same.

During the tests, it was said that the 5 front seats were the same as those of the model 3, with different mounting accessories to raise them. Even pieces that are clearly different, like the front fenders and the doors (because the dimensions are different), look alike to the casual observer.

In a previous call, it was reported that models Y and 3 shared about 76% of their parts. It seems that the 24% of unique pieces in the Y model are not very different. For example, the size of the doors is clearly different, but their style is no different. This greatly reduces the chances that the Y model will send the company into the hell of manufacturing. It also means that it is very likely that Tesla can manufacture the 2 cars on the same line if it chooses to do so. This would allow them to respond easily to changes in relative demand between Model 3 and Model Y. They could have distinct lines in the United States, simply because there was probably no room for manufacture more cars in the Fremont Tesla factory, but in China and In future gigafactories, Tesla could choose to share portions of the production line or perhaps the entire production line.

Why Tesla had to include 3 rows of seats

Why do I think having 3 rows of seats is so important for the Y model? Look at all the other vehicle manufacturers with which Tesla competes. Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Volkswagen. How many models of different vehicles do they manufacture each, if they include their US operations, their European factories and their Asian and Latin American operations? I suppose the larger companies (such as the 5 listed above) manufacture nearly 100 different vehicle models, while smaller luxury brands like Lexus and BMW produce at least 20 or 30 different cars and SUVs.

Tesla now manufactures only 4 models of vehicles now (and of course, it has not even made the Y model yet) and will add the pickup and the Roadster in a few years from the commercial release of the Y model. company will also add a smaller and cheaper car or a crossover a few years later if everything goes as planned. So, for the next 3 or 4 years, Tesla will have about 7 models.

In a recent podcast with ARK Invest, Elon said he planned to manufacture about a million cars in 2021 (the S, 3, X, Y and Roadster should be in full production) and about 3 million vehicles a year in 2023 (pickup and perhaps a cheaper car should be in production). Tesla wants to become one of the largest automakers in the world, but it is clear that it is not going to design another 95 in the year or the next two years. Thus, every vehicle created by Tesla must serve a vast market. It seems that Tesla chose 4 main versions of model 3 and model Y.

1. Value model with a competitive range
2. Long-range model with advanced range and better performance
3. AWD model offers even better performance
4. Performance model with breathtaking performance at a reasonable price

Y Tesla Model Comparison to Toyota and Lexus SUVs

The Model Y value model will be competitive with the C-HR and RAV4 models. The Long Range and AWD models will be competitive compared to the Highlander and 4Runner. It's just too small to compete with the Sequoia or the Land Cruiser. Toyota does not have a competitive SUV with the Y Performance model, with the announced Y model versions, Tesla competes with all versions of the four Toyota vehicles.

By comparing the Y model to the Lexus lineup, the value model will align with the UX and the NX. The Long Range and AWD models will compete with the RX and GX models. Once again, Lexus has nothing remote from the performance of the Y model.

So, this example shows how, with 3 versions of the same car (based on an existing model), Tesla covers different Toyota SUVs and 4 different Lexus SUVs and also produces a performance model that is about twice as fast as any Toyota and Toyota vehicle. Lexus SUVs will greatly reduce the many performance cars manufactured by both brands.

You can see that Tesla saves a lot of money by designing so many different cars: a car is incredibly powerful and then used to compete with hundreds of other cars.

Why consumers want 3 rows of seats

I have 3 children (my youngest is 19 years old) and I know many other parents of 2 or 3 children. Why do you need 7 seated seats while a 5 seater can cover the whole family? Two answers are obvious to me.

First, prevent my children from going to kill each other. When I was carrying my three children on a longer trip, they became grumpy, so I put one on the front seat, one in the 2nd row and the other in the 3rd row. With each child in a different row, they fought much less.

The second reason is to bring a lot of children to school, to sport or to carpool. Most families have two working parents and if a parent can take six children to school by car, that's a very good thing. I helped organize a lot Carpool and we loved parents who had cars that could hold more kids. I carpooled in my Nissan Leaf, but we sometimes had to send two cars to pick up all the kids we had to go home. When we used our eight-seater Honda Odyssey, we could always get all the kids in the car without sending two cars.

Model Y 3rd row

They did not let us get into the 3rd row at the opening ceremony, but I took a quick look and it's pretty small. I would say it should be competitive compared to other mid-size SUVs like the Toyota Highlander, but not as comfortable as big SUVs like the Sequoia or the 3rd row of a minivan.

I had the opportunity to talk to Franz von Holzhausen from the 3rd row. I told him that I felt that it was an important element for the success of the Y model. I asked him two specific questions about the seats. I asked if the second row was adjustable so that people in the third row could have more space (I wanted to confirm what the model Y driver had said). I also asked if he had designed them so that they could contain child safety seats. The answer was yes to both questions. Although I would have liked to have more details, Franz was very busy and I am grateful to him for having had the time to answer these two questions. He probably had to pay attention to what he had said too.

Conclusion

I am pleased that my two biggest concerns were resolved at the unveiling. If Model Y had been a radical change from Model 3, it would have been another "Bet to Society" project. I am convinced that it is quite simple that Elon can delegate a little more responsibility and does not feel the need to get involved in the deployment of the car. Although I think Elon's contribution is valuable, his life suffers tremendously and he can not work 120 hours a week for a long time without much of it happening.

The Y model could be a huge success without the 3rd row seats, but it would have left a huge gap among people who needed more seats but could never afford the X model. Tesla would leave millions of potential sales on the table for many years until they can design a vehicle between the Y model and the X model. The piece you can create in such a small crossover demonstrates the wisdom of designing a car electrical power from the first day and not trying to do electric propulsion. in a vehicle designed for a gasoline or diesel powertrain.

A few days ago, I searched for the best-selling vehicles in the world and it seems like there's a back and forth between the Toyota Corolla and the Ford F-150 at a rate of $ 30. one million vehicles a year. With Tesla's ability to be competitive with hundreds of other crossovers in all global markets and Tesla's plan to expand Gigafactory 1 and 3 to produce about a million cars a year, it seems that Tesla has a chance to make the Y model the best selling car in the world, at least until their "model 2" cheaper addressing an even wider target market. wins.

Keywords: Tesla, Tesla model Y, Tesla seats model Y