Tesla Model 3 and Y Beware: Legacy Automakers Are Biting Back… Soon

Whether for good or bad, the EV revolution is upon us – no matter how many setbacks our politicians try to impose at the behest of the corporate bosses trying to protect their traditional way of doing business. Tesla has already shown you can succeed, with many hiccups, indeed, in this automotive world dominated by legacy carmakers.

They did so by going bold and sometimes even crazy in novel directions. They also hedged their bets with help from the clean energy business, and today – if you're rich enough – you could have your house lined up with Tesla solar panel shingles, harvest and retain the free energy into Tesla stationary batteries, and drive one of four models – S, 3, X, and Y. Oh, and they can also be wrapped by Tesla, too!

The current line-up spells in a way that is not necessarily safe for work, but soon that's going to be in the past – the former California, now Texas-based company is preparing to launch the Cybertruck model. It is going to be a main rival for the GMC Hummer EV, Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Lightning, Chevy Colorado EV, GMC Sierra EV, and also the Ram 1500 REV. It might also become a best-selling asset for the company – albeit only if they have enough production capacity to surpass the Model 3 and Y deliveries.

Speaking of the latter, the Tesla Model Y crossover SUV is currently the company's top-grossing series, followed by the former best-selling Model 3 sedan. The latter is going to put up a great fight soon, as the company just unveiled 'Project Highland,' the timely refresh that brings streamlined everything and might soon help Tesla draw prices even lower.

Speaking of MSRPs, currently, the non-Highland Model 3 is the cheapest member of the Tesla EV family, starting at $38,990 at home in America in RWD form with 272 EPA-estimated miles of range, a 140-mph top speed, and 5.8 seconds for the sprint to 60 mph. Second to it is the newly introduced Tesla Model Y RWD starting at $43,990, which is exactly $5k more than a Model 3 and with slightly reduced performance – 260 miles of range, 135 mph top speed, plus zero to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds.

Remember these figures because they are basically the benchmarks for the rest of the mainstream EV world to try and follow, reach, and even exceed. Well, not a lot of things happened over the past week across the automotive industry, but I noticed a few interesting trends. Aside from the regular 2024 model year updates, Rolls-Royce ushered in yet another bespoke masterpiece with the Ghost Black Badge Ekleipsis Private Collection inspired by one of my favorite elements in life – space.

Ahem, more precisely, it is all about the drama, spectacle, and mystery of a solar eclipse – if you can transpose something like that into a four-door limousine. That is the extreme side of the automotive industry, whereas Toyota – for example – was preoccupied with teasing more of the Crown Sedan at home in Japan and unleashing the second-generation C-HR subcompact crossover in parts of Europe.

Curiously, special editions are going well in other countries of the Old Continent – Audi TT celebrates its retirement with a limited series in Spain. At the same time, the Subaru BRZ Touge is the STI we have all wanted (sans power upgrades) in Italy. Oh, and the Jaguar F-Type ZP Edition is also signing off with 150 copies worldwide; let's not forget about that. Ford also launched the nine-seat Tourneo Custom and all-new Transit Custom panel van in Europe, but the main novelties of the week are coming from BMW and Kia, of course.

First, the Bavarians have yet another controversial release under their belt, with the all-new X2 being a lot larger than its predecessor and also a lot more fastback to potentially mitigate the untimely demise of the BMW X4, if the rumor mill is correct. Then there was also Kia with a slew of novelties. Precisely for America, the South Korean automaker twice detailed the 2024 EV9, signaling its importance in the company's strategy to fight the Tesla Model X – first deliveries will start before the end of the year, and the range-topping version costs more than $75k.

Additionally, Kia also came back with even more information in a sudden move as they also released the EPA-estimated range details – the big, family-oriented three-row crossover EV is capable of 304 miles when selecting the long-range RWD version. Meanwhile, the Tesla Model X is more expensive - $79,990 and $89,990 for the dual-motor AWD and tri-motor AWD Plaid, respectively. But its performance figures are also a lot better: 348 miles and 333 miles, respectively, with the Plaid also capable of hitting 60 mph in 2.5 seconds!

Alas, no worries, as Kia has a couple of tricks under its E-GMP-based EV sleeve – or even a triumvirate. During the company's inaugural Kia EV Day held this past week, the South Korean automaker revealed the South Korean version of the previously China-exclusive EV5 crossover SUV. This daringly styled EV is marginally smaller than the Tesla Model Y and might have a chance to reach the United States from South Korea. For sure, it will hit Europe sometime soon and will duke it out with the American crossover made in Germany there for sure.

Additionally, the company released details about the pricing expectations for its entire EV range based on the E-GMP architecture, and their plans to develop a wide-ranging EV line-up were interestingly priced in US dollars rather than euros or South Korea's won: their models will have $30k to $80k MSRPs going forward. Well, well, that is interesting and a clear reference to additional models reaching North America alongside the current EV6 and the upcoming EV9, right?

Even more so, a dedicated release from Kia America spoke directly of the newly introduced Concept EV3 and Concept EV4 with high regard for its "leading-edge" sustainability factor, and we can read between the lines that Kia might want to gauge the reactions from interested customers and then possibly introduce the EV3 crossover and EV4 fastback sedan as potentially cheaper rivals to the Tesla Model Y and 3. So, my question is simple – would you buy one of them if they come out at around $35k as promised during the Kia EV Day speech, or would you go with something like the Volvo EX30 instead of a Tesla?