Tesla Teases Mysterious New Car, Is It The Model Y?

Tesla is burning through cash, failing to meet production targets and facing a number of safety investigations. That’s a lot to have on one’s plate but the company has released a new promotional video which gives us a look at the some of their upcoming products.

The most curious vehicle appears 15 seconds into the clip as it’s a partially covered model that looks like a crossover. This naturally breeds speculation that it could be the Model Y.

Originally teased last summer, the Model Y will be a compact crossover that will be more affordable than the larger Model X. Tesla was aiming to have the crossover in production next year but CEO Elon Musk recently suggested that won’t happen until early 2020. A number of analysts are skeptical about that as Musk has stated the Model Y won’t be built at the company’s Fremont factory and hasn’t decided where the model will be made.

Little is known about the Model Y but it appears the vehicle will now be based on the Model 3 instead of a bespoke platform as originally intended. This suggests the crossover could be offered with two different battery packs and the Model 3’s dual-motor powertrain which is slated to go into production this summer.

Besides the mystery vehicle, we can we can see a glimpse of the Tesla Roadster in action. The segment is relatively short but it shows the car’s minimalist interior and rocket-like acceleration. The roadster makes another return towards the end of the clip and it shows a number of people screaming as they’re being pushed back into their seats as the car accelerates.

The Roadster was shown off last fall and it is slated to have a 200 kWh battery pack and a range of 620 miles (997 km). More importantly, the company claims the car will rocket from 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds and have a top speed in excess of 250 mph (402 km/h).