As reported by Automotive News, three people familiar with Tesla's future plans for the Model Y crossover revealed an upcoming redesign codenamed "Project Juniper." We already learned Tesla has been working on a refreshed Model 3 for some time, codenamed "Project Highland." More recently, details started to appear about the potential for Tesla to refresh both models soon.
Tesla's Investor Day happens today, March 1, 2023, at Giga Texas at 4 PM ET, and there's a chance the automaker will reveal more details about the potential for upcoming Model Y and Model 3 refreshes. However, it seems the US EV maker has been working hard to keep details under wraps, and the company often insists it doesn't refresh or redesign its EVs.
Automotive News writes that anonymous sources with information on the matter shared that the Model Y will see interior and exterior updates that are likely to go to production in 2024. This wouldn't come as a big surprise since we're relatively confident Tesla is already well underway in the process of refreshing the Model 3. While we've been hearing about the Model 3 Project Highland for some time now, we're starting to see more and more Model 3 sedans in the wild wearing camo.
The upcoming Investor Day is a time for Tesla to talk about its upcoming product roadmap, something it has promised to do at other recent events, though mostly avoided. CEO Elon Musk is also expected to be revealing his Master Plan Part 3 at the event, which some fans and investors assume will dive into the new, smaller, and cheaper vehicle platform, factory efficiency, and other cost-cutting measures.
The article goes on to note that the Project Highland Model 3 is expected to go into production at Tesla's Giga Shanghai factory in China in September 2023, which could end up being just ahead of a new Model Y that may follow in 2024.
Since the Model Y is Tesla's most popular and best-selling model across the globe, improving it, making it easier to produce, and increasing its margins are just common sense. The Model Y is currently the only vehicle Tesla produces at its factory in Germany.
Meanwhile, the company's newest factory in Texas is heavily focused on the electric crossover, and Giga Shanghai is cranking out Model Y's for local consumption and to help feed the demand in Europe and other countries.
