Tesla has been teasing the existence of an “affordable” model for years. The idea first surfaced in 2020 during a battery event, when CEO Elon Musk said denser batteries would allow the company to build a $25,000 car. Rumors of the mythical cheap Tesla stuck around until Musk squashed any plans of such a vehicle back in October, calling it “silly and pointless.”
The company hasn’t completely given up on breaking into a more affordable segment, telling investors it plans to launch cheaper models by the end of 2025. Tesla will reveal its first affordable model tonight—but it won’t be an entirely new car. As confirmed by Musk back in July, it’ll just be a Model Y with less standard equipment.
The Model Y in question should look a bit different, too, if these spy shots taken of an undisguised prototype turn out to be legit. These photos, published to X by user Ryan Mable and shared by The Verge, show a white Model Y with slightly revised fascias running on Florida manufacturer plates driving around near Tesla’s Austin, Texas headquarters.
How Different Will It Look?
The most obvious difference lies in the nose, where there’s no longer a lightbar uniting the two headlights. The car in these photos has that space occupied by an extended bumper area. The updated, slimmer headlights from the normal Model Y are still present, though. Out back, the central taillight has been replaced by what looks to be a black piece of plastic, and all badging has been removed. The tailgate piece has also been redesigned to reach over into the lower black plastic portion of the bumper, which looks kinda awkward.
@SawyerMerritt spotted an uncovered cheaper Model Y variant driving near Giga Texas pic.twitter.com/Fy6devXree
— Ryan Mable (@RyanMable) October 2, 2025
These images match up with a photo shared by The Tesla Newswire, a fan account on X that tracks Tesla happenings. The image, shared earlier this month, shows an identically restyled Model Y that was, according to that account, lifted from code within Tesla’s own website. It’s impossible to make any guarantees without an official announcement, but considering that, plus the manufacturer plate, this car is likely what we’ll be seeing revealed later tonight.
What Will The Cheap Model Y Be Missing?
Tesla hasn’t made any official statements with regard to standard equipment or specs, but that hasn’t stopped people from finding out what to expect. The Verge cites a hacker on X who goes by GreenTheOnly, who claims to have discovered exactly what the cheap Model Y will be missing compared to its more expensive counterpart in a tweet published last month, citing Tesla’s own firmware:
simplified fiberglass headliner
simplified cabin lighting (footwell only)
simplified seat controls (single axis)
no power mirror folding
no puddle lamps
no glass roof
no second row display
no tpms
simplified 18″ wheels— green (@greentheonly) September 20, 2025
In case you can’t see the above tweet, some subtractions to the cheap Model Y could include obvious cost-cutting moves, like no glass roof, no second-row display, a cheaper fiberglass headliner, no power-folding mirrors, simpler seat controls, and smaller 18-inch wheels. Weirdly, this hacker also reports that the cheap Model Y won’t have a tire pressure monitoring system, even though TPMS sensors have been mandatory in the United States since 2007. If I had to guess, it’s possible their data was tied to a car destined for sale outside of the U.S.
The hacker, as well as Electrek, say the affordable Model Y will also have a “downgraded” suspension setup. But while the hacker says there will be rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive options, Electrek seems to think the car will be rear-wheel drive only. That is to say, we won’t know for sure just how much stuff has been taken out until Tesla reveals all the info.
How Much Will It Cost?
Tesla hasn’t released a number, per se, but its German CEO leaked a few details on the car yesterday ahead of tonight’s reveal, including some hints about its design and an approximate starting price. From German publication Handelsblatt:
The US electric car manufacturer Tesla plans to launch a light version of its Model Y this year. German CEO André Thierig announced this at an internal event on Monday at the Tesla plant in Grünheide. Series production and delivery will begin “in a few weeks.”
The Model Y Standard has a “completely redesigned front, completely new bumpers, a completely redesigned rear, and different lights. It simply looks like a different car,” Thierig said at the launch. Regarding the planned price, the plant manager said: “It will be about ten percent cheaper than the current Model Y.”
Let’s do the math here. The current Model Y starts at $44,990 before destination charges. Ten percent of that number is $4,499. Subtract that from the car’s MSRP, and you get $40,491. This lines up with the $40,000 starting price rumored by several outlets already. The lowest I’ve seen reported is $39,990, by that Tesla fan page I mentioned earlier.
The ironic part about all of this is that up until recently, the current Model Y was actually cheaper than this new model, thanks to the $7,500 federal tax credit. Previously, you could’ve gotten a nicer Model Y for less money. But now, because of the disappearing incentive, you’ll be paying more for a car with less equipment.
Would You?
It’s unclear right now whether Tesla will extend that $6,500 lease credit it came up with at the start of the month to owners of the cheaper Model Y. That would make the car way more palatable for buyers looking to save some cash. Because while $39,990 is certainly cheaper, it’s definitely not cheap. It’s also nowhere near that magical $25,000 mark promised by Musk all those years ago.
This begs the question: What would you be willing to pay for a stripped-out Model Y? I think that $35,000 mark is the sweet spot here; it would put the car right in line with cars like the Hyundai Kona Electric and the Chevrolet Equinox EV, two of the cheapest electric cars on the market. Otherwise, I don’t see a way to justify buying the Tesla over either of those cars (especially the Chevy, which gets over 300 miles of range).
No. Not just because Elon is a thundering douchebag, but with the long work trops I do it’s not practical. I don’t have time to wait for charging.
In my view, some of the changes made to make the Model Y cheaper are IMPROVEMENTS:
-simplified cabin lighting (footwell only) – Improvement in the long run… less stuff to break. The accent lighting is nice to have, not non-essential.
-no power mirror folding – A feature I never cared about in the first place.
-no puddle lamps – A fluff feature I don’t care about
-no glass roof – Huge Improvement. I don’t like the glass roofs
-no second row display – Don’t need it. Improvement from the perspective of less stuff that can break in the long run.
-no tpms – EXCELLENT. TPMS just makes tire replacements more expensive. I prefer to check my tire pressures the old fashion way by using my eyes and a tire pressure guage. I don’t need a vehicle to monitor my tire pressures if it means dealing with TPMS sensors.
-simplified 18″ wheels – Improvement. Tires with more sidewall give better ride, have a lower chance of getting a bent rim, result in better driving range and tire replacements are cheaper.
In my view, the cheaper Model 3/Y is the one I would want because a lot the features being deleted are worthless crap to me anyway.
Hell… Tesla could cut the cost even more by ditching all the self-driving hardware and revert to offering basic cruise control.
So on a technical basis, yes I would absolutely buy the “stripped down” Model Y.
In my view and by historical standards, it’s still not truly not stripped down.
It still has power seats, power windows, intermittent wipers, A/C, 4 wheel disk brakes, ABS, power steering, power brakes, ‘automatic transmission’, a right side exterior mirror and still has a level of performance that blows away many ICE ‘performance’ cars
Aside from the power brakes, my first car (a 1990 Ford Festiva) didn’t have any of these features.
Now having said that, I wouldn’t buy it mainly for political reasons.
Put this in the Shitbox Showdown and the Olds 88 Royale would still win. There is no circumstance that would lead me to buy a Tesla. For those who want to, live long and prosper.
NO
I would not buy a Tesla under any (realistic) circumstances.
Man it’d be great to get a Tesla article without the comments being filled with the angry troll mob. We get it. You don’t like Elon. I don’t either. But let the cars stand on their merits. They’re not prefect, but they didn’t become some of the best selling cars in the world without having a lot of positive traits.
Personally I was hoping the price would be a little lower, but this is just a new base trim of a good car. This isn’t anything groundbreaking. The value is there.
Weird to blame anybody but Tesla’s own leadership for their self inflicted brand suicide. They’re intertwined whether you wish they were or not.
I absolutely agree that Elon’s foray into politics was disastrous and avoidable. But that is not something new.
I’m not asking people to want a Tesla. What I am asking is to be able to see comments about the actual merits of the car and not 98% of the comments deriding Elon ad nauseam. We get it. You’ve made your point. Move on. But as much as people seem to want it to be true, its not the worst car ever made. If someone must continue to be pedantic, go back to Jalopnik. Bully somewhere else.
Bully? Oh my.
I wish the same for Stellantis & Nissan news, but ya know, that what happens when you have uncontrolled, unfiltered bias.
I’m not saying that as someone who likes Tesla’s, I’d rather deal with the half-assed half-ass crap the Charger EV gives many of its owners then any Tesla, outside an OG Roadster.
No.
I have no place to charge it.
I drive 8K miles a year, 5K in a long road trip.
It’s ugly.
Elon is even uglier.
I wouldn’t consider a Swastikar considering the competition even if I could go electric.
This car is so boring it’s like an optical illusion….my eyes can’t focus on any details but just slide right off to the side
Nope, but if the Dacia Spring was available in the US for $20k, it would be seriously tempting as a silly local runabout, especially since it looks like it has enough clearance to do some easy offroading.
Nope, and that’s not even considering the Musk factor (I hope he doesn’t sue me for posting this).
If it’s true the new Model Y is shipping without TPMS, that’s… interesting. TPMS has been federally required on all new passenger vehicles in the U.S. since 2008 under FMVSS 138, so something doesn’t add up. Maybe it’s using a new indirect system or a software workaround, but it sure makes you wonder how that got approved. Wouldn’t be the first time a big automaker got some regulatory “flexibility,” and I wonder if Elon made a call into Big Balls to make that happen!
Yeah, this is a huge miss. I recently drove a base spec Skoda Scala as a rental car in Australia. It was constantly flashing a TPMS warning, but the pressures were fine.
I then learned that the car doesn’t have real TPMS but instead has software that calculates differences in wheel speeds and determines a “possible” loss of pressure based on that.
The warning can be reset (only when the car is off), but it would come back fairly quickly, probably due to a wheel balancing issue.
A great example of de-contenting or cheaping out leading to a more negative (and potentially unsafe) experience.
Definitely not. The competitors at that price aren’t that de-contented. And a budget-looking version of an already plain looking car will look downright cheap for a 40K car. That being said, I’m not a potential Tesla customer. This may bring in a few extra customers though, as it inches ever so slightly towards affordability.
No, I wouldn’t.
How do you take a stripped down, minimalist interior and cut more than $5000 from the cost? Contract the interior to GM? Even if I was inclined to like Tesla (I’m not), I still think their cars are ugly.
GM interiors are dramatically better than Tesla if you’ve looked in the last decade. Dare to compare a Cadillac Vistiq to a Tesla Anything.
Oh, I was thinking more of the ’93 Geo Metro I had. I wouldn’t compare Tesla to Cadillac, even if they do think they’re “luxury”. I enjoyed being driven in an Escalade when my employer hired it as transportation at a conference last year.
Not in a billion years would I be caught dead in this derp-mobile or any of the brand’s other offerings.
Yeah even if it was free, I’d rather walk than be mistaken for someone who would buy a Tesla in 2025.
I can still wait a few years and buy it for half. And only if Elon is no longer in charge.
Can it NOT include any phony self-driving bullshit? That should cut the price, eh?
Might as well market directly to Uber and Lyft drivers.
Not looking forward to the “downgraded” suspension for that reason, the regular 3/Y already make me nauseous.
It’s possible the driver’s “skill” has as much to do with this.
For that kind of money, I could have a fleet of clapped-out 2000’s era BMWs. Hey, as long as one of the fifteen is working, I’ll always have a daily driver.
As a taxi passenger, I find the “full price” Y to be extremely uncomfortable, unpleasant, and uninviting. A de-contented version has to be worse. So no.
Even putting aside the horrible politics, ethical issues and overall cringe of the company’s owner…this whole car looks looks like it was conceived at 4pm on a Friday. Just a completely lazy and uninspired taxi-spec version of a car that’s been on the road for 6 years with only a minor facelift to show for it.
I think this could be made cheaper still. Could Tesla do some more de-contenting?
Like rather than an expensive touchscreen that controls everything, could they cheap out and put buttons and dials on, and control stalks for wipers/ lights and turn signals?
Manually operated glove box?
Is there anything else we can take off, like removing the computer that automatically drives it onto train tracks?
The less it costs, the more likely people are to take a chance and buy one.
The problem is that all of those “cheaper” options would need full development, from scratch.
I’m pretty sure the touch screen comes out cheaper than physical switches (aside from the glovebox). That’s why companies like them. The story they tell us is that it’s “futuristic” but really it’s just cheap.
Plus the screen and other hardware will need to be replaced a lot sooner than buttons and knobs would. You know who supplies the screens and hardware?
It’s 2025, a random 16″ 2.5K portable monitor costs under $200 (possibly under $100 unassembled in bulk), and the latest flagship smartphone SoC is ~$200. Throw in $80 for 16GB of RAM and $80 for a 1TB SSD, and that’s $560 for a very heavy overestimate for parts that were always going to be needed no matter how many buttons and knobs could realistically be present.
A manual glovebox is reasonable, but reduced ADAS specs is significant engineering, and removing ADAS altogether is not possible due to IIHS safety rating requirements.
As an EV owner for >12 years and well >100k miles, I can firmly say there is absolutely no scenario I would buy a Tesla if Elon benefits in any way, especially when there is perfectly good competition out there.
So overwhelmingly looking at the responses, “No, Elon is a Nazi”.
I’ll add that paying just 10% less to get an even shittier Model Y is not an appealing proposition. And Elon is a Nazi.
No. My dollars seem to be the last vote that counts in the dystopia we’ve blundered into. They aren’t great cars and they have been designed for me to not be able to fix them in the long-term. My ability to repair even serious problems with our family fleet, right in the garage, has kept us mobile and saved tens of thousands over the years. Who supports this company and their corrupt approach?
Yes, TPMS is mandatory, but only so far as an idiot light. TPMS systems in fancier cars display individual pressures for each tire. So maybe “no TPMS” means you just get an idiot light. I can’t imagine that results in much cost savings, though.
It’s probably just to differentiate this poverty spec from the regular one. You have to strike the right balance or else the folks who would have bought one before will just see this as a chance to save some $$.