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Tesla Model Y Might Not Get Falcon Doors

Tesla’s range will be completed with the launch of a second SUV, which will be called Model Y.
Tesla Model X with opened Falcon doors 1 photo
Photo: Tesla
For the moment, there is no precise timeline of the date when the Model Y will be available in showrooms, but its development is probably already underway.

Before launching the Model Y, Tesla will have substantial work on its hands with the Model 3, which has racked up a record number of refundable deposits from people interested in a purchase.

The Model 3 will become the most affordable car in the Tesla range, while the Model Y is expected to be positioned between the Model S and the Model 3. After the launch of the second SUV in the Tesla portfolio, the range will become “SEXY,” and we do not say this because the cars are attractive.

Instead, as some of you have probably noticed the funny lettering of the model designations, Tesla already has S, X, 3, and Y. One does not have to be a Scrabble champion to figure out that the three will be placed in front of the X and will be read as an “E,” the designation that Tesla initially intended for the car. With the “Y,” Tesla will have the Internet chat version of “SEXY,” but with electric vehicles.

A tweet once posted on Elon Musk’s verified Twitter account wrote that the Model Y would also feature Falcon Doors. We are referring to the impressive-looking rear doors of the Model X, which open up instead of to the side. While they look great, Tesla and its customers have had numerous headaches because of these doors.

Even if Mr. Musk wants to fit these doors to the Model Y, the fact that he deleted that tweet shows that the casually outspoken CEO might have spelled out his dreams, instead of actual plans.

Furthermore, introducing the expensive and complicated doors on the Model Y would not help Tesla at all, particularly as it would risk a cannibalization with the Model X.

Instead of the fancy Falcon doors, Tesla’s Model Y will probably come with regular doors. There’s still a possibility that Tesla will spice things up with reverse-opening rear doors, or another eye-catching system.

Depending on the actual sale results of the Model 3 (yet to reach any showroom or customer in production guise), and the development and costs of the system behind the Falcon doors, Tesla could always change its mind and fit them to the Y, but it is unlikely at the moment.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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