Late last week Tesla quietly raised the price of its entry level Model Y crossover by a thousand dollars. This is something that Tesla seems to do every few weeks this year, and has contributed to a price hike of nearly $10,000 in 2021 so far. When the car was first unveiled in March of 2019 it was teased with a $39,000 starting price. On January 1st of this year you could order one for $51,200. If you go to Tesla’s website right now and place an order, it’ll cost you $58,990 plus a $1,200 destination and doc fee. For the privilege of buying a car from the wealthiest man in the world.
As reported by Electrek last week, Tesla jumped the price of both the Long Range and Performance models of the Y by $1000. According to Autoblog, this is the eighth time this year that Tesla has increased the car’s price. On average that’s a price increase every 39.875 days, and there are still 46 days left in the year, so expect another price increase before the end of December.
Since that first official announcement 32 months ago Tesla has increased the price of the Y by $19,990 for an average of $624 per month. Couple that with increases in price to options, and deletion of other options, and the Y has become a far more expensive car to buy. You can’t even get 18" wheels anymore. If you order your Y in red with 20-inch wheels, a tow hitch, the “FSD” package, and a white interior with 7-seats, the most popular Tesla model will now cost $79,190 after delivery. Yipes. Get the Performance model and it’ll be another $5,000.
If you’re looking for a more frugal way to buy a Tesla, you can still get the rear-drive Model 3 for $44,990 plus $1,200 for destination. Again, that was the model that was supposed to be available for $35,000 but never really actually was.
All of this is moot anyway, as you can’t actually get a Model Y right now. If you order one now you might be able to take delivery by the middle of next year. We’d love to ask Tesla for comments about all of this stuff, but the company fired its public relations team and won’t answer any of our emails.