As part of its design refresh regime, Tesla is updating the entire Model S, 3, X, and Y lineup with exterior and interior tweaks. A few Tesla Model Y electric SUVs have been spotted in California with the new center console design and updated headlights.
New projector headlights
Reddit user u/kaess saw a Tesla Model Y with the latest headlights when he visited the Tesla Serramonte store in Colma, CA. He was just checking out the showroom before he would take his Model Y delivery a few days later.
The latest iteration of the Tesla Model 3 & Y headlights includes a projector lamp. Previously, Model 3/Y headlights were fully LED. Feedback from Tesla owners might have pushed Tesla to migrate towards the more powerful projector reflector headlamps.
Let’s visually compare the difference between both the new and old Tesla Model Y/3 headlights with the help of the image below. The top one is the old full LED spectrum headlight of a Model 3, the bottom pic is of the new Model Y headlight with the LED projector lamp added.
Update: Our Twitter follower and 2021 Tesla Model 3 owner has confirmed that the new Model 3 Y headlights are ‘not xenon’, just projector headlamps. He has owned the car for over a month and feels the new lights have better visibility. He has also made the following video on new Model 3 headlights with projector lamp, the same lights would be installed in 2021 Tesla Model Y coming out of the factory as of now.
Update 2: Mr. Kaess has just informed me via Twitter DM that the Model Y with the new headlight seen in the above picture is actually his car. He has taken delivery this past Wednesday and the car was manufactured on 02/05/2021 as per the vehicle’s VIN sticker. He found the paint and the build quality of his Model Y to be excellent. The wrinkles on the bumper just under the headlight are of the protective tape, not paint.
He also has the new headlights but his Model Y is missing the new center console. The heated steering wheel is also included in his Y.
New Model Y Center Console
A 2021 Tesla Model Y was spotted at the Rocklin, CA Tesla Store with the redesigned center console. Tesla had launched the new center console with the 2021 Tesla Model 3. Model Y is just following the latest Tesla design language to sync with the Model 3.
Many potential Tesla customers were holding their Model Y purchases to get the newly designed center console. Tesla has made the new center console a bit conventional but at the same time, it is more usable and practical compared to the older version with the lid instead of the new sliding open function.
The VIN sticker (1227xx) of the Model Y seen at the Tesla Rocklin showroom shows that the car was made on 9th Feb 2021. This suggests that the cars with VINs above this number must be equipped with the new center console and probably the updated LED+projector headlights.
The ‘New Process’ mentioned on the above VIN sticker refers to the Model Y Giga Casting manufacturing process currently in practice at the Tesla Fremont factory — truly massive and impressive to look at.
Not to forget, in all this design refresh stuff taking the center stage, Model Y silently got the heated steering wheel upgrade.
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By the way, the last two digits are “78”. If you’re going to redact it, then you need to redact the QR that has the same info.