Tesla Model Y 'Juniper' update not coming this year, says Elon Musk

The highly-anticipated Tesla Model Y facelift, codenamed Juniper, won’t be launching this year after all.

After the Tesla Model 3 recently received a facelift, referred to as the Highland, there had been reports the Model Y would follow suit shortly thereafter.

However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has dispelled those rumours.

“No Model Y ‘refresh’ is coming out this year,” said Mr Musk on his social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).

“I should note that Tesla continuously improves its cars, so even a car that is 6 months newer will be a little better.”

Mr Musk is referring to the regular over-the-air updates deployed to Tesla products.

His remarks back up some reported earlier this year in China, when journalists there were told by the company that the Shanghai factory has no plans to facelift the Model Y during 2024.

That had, however, left the door open for US- and German-built models to receive a facelift – a door that Mr Musk has now slammed shut.

As with the Model 3 facelift, referred to as Highland, Tesla is expected to make more substantial visual changes to help keep the popular Model Y fresh against competition – particularly from Chinese brands in China.

Changes, as with the Model 3, could also include suspension tweaks and improvements to range. It’s also expected to get a new steering wheel, ditching traditional column stalks.

Instead of an indicator stalk, it’ll likely feature steering wheel-mounted buttons for the indicators as in the Model 3.

The updated Model 3 also received a rear passenger display.

Earlier this year, Tesla introduced various changes for Chinese-market Model Ys, but Australian-market models – despite being sourced from China – only received a new wheel design and a handful of new colours.

Tesla in China advertised slight improvements to range, as well as RGB ambient interior lighting and a new textile finish for the dashboard.

The Model Y was launched here in August 2022, two years after first examples rolled out overseas.

In 2023, the Tesla Model Y was the best-selling vehicle not only in Europe but also globally, with approximately 1.23 million examples sold – significantly more than the Toyota RAV4/Wildlander on 1.07 million sales.

It was also the most popular new car among private buyers in Australia, ranking sixth overall when fleets and businesses were included.

Tesla has recently given the Model Y multiple price cuts recently, with its price dropped three times since March 2024.

It now starts from $55,900 before on-road costs in base rear-wheel drive (RWD) guise – a $5000 saving on its last update, and a $9500 drop since the slightly refreshed SUV arrived in April.

While sales of the electric SUV fell by 49.4 per cent last month compared to May 2023, 13.8 per cent more examples have been sold year-to-date.

MORE: Everything Tesla Model Y