Tesla launches longer-wheelbase Model YL (pictured above) in China, offering a second row of captain's chairs and two more seats in the forward-facing third row.
Long-wheelbase versions of sedans and SUVs have been popular in China for some time, but this Model Y is perhaps more of a mini-MPV in spirit.
Tesla has no plans to offer this long-wheelbase version in the US, even though it has previously offered a seven-seat, third-row option in a standard wheelbase Model Y, until 2023.
We are a little surprised it took until 2025 for an L version of the Model Y to happen in China, but then again Tesla hasn't always raced to offer a wide variety of options of any of its models.
If you've been to China even for a day anytime in the past 25 years, you know that long-wheelbase versions of anything are popular there. We're talking about everything from the Audi A4L to a BMW 5-Series L.
This tradition of long-wheelbase sedans stretches to the government cars of decades past, but it has improbably survived well into the 2000s.
Just about every western automaker caters to this local trend, allowing even relatively modest cars like the Volvo S60 to gain extra inches for the benefit of rear-seat passengers.
Yes, China has a Volvo S60L and S80L. Mercedes has a long-wheelbase E-Class as well.
Most of these (slightly) stretched sedans in China add five to seven inches to the wheelbase to buy more passenger space.
Now it's the turn of the Tesla Model Y, with the L version slated to be seven inches longer overall, gaining about six inches of wheelbase and featuring a second row of captain's chairs and an additional two seats further back.
Seating for Six, Not Seven
This would make it a six-seater—not a seven-seater that was launched in the US as an option a few years ago, from 2021 until 2023.
China's version will be sized a little more generously when it comes to that third row of front-facing seats, so it'll be more like a mini-MPV, luxury versions of which are also a very popular segment in China.
Tesla doesn't have a standalone MPV model in China, so this Model YL will have to do. It will cost an extra $3,500 or so above the standard model.
But the bigger question is why it took Tesla this long to cater to local trends in what is one of its most important foreign markets, especially one in which it has its own factory.
The other question is whether this Model YL can turn around a steady loss of market share to countless domestic brands which are threatening to overwhelm Tesla in China.
Adding a couple seats and six inches of wheelbase to the Model Y is a very incremental tactic of battling new challengers like Xiaomi, which recently launched its own answer to the Model Y.
How Would Model YL Do in US?
It also raises the question of whether a long-wheelbase Model Y would sell well stateside, for those buyers who might want six real seats.
Surely there would be some takers out there who would prefer this version to the much more expensive Model X or some other three-row model.
But the issue is that the stateside Model Y is made here, so the new stampings would also have to be produced stateside to make this happen, which could be too expensive for such an incremental gain.
And Tesla has shown an appetite for cutting options to its stateside models—not adding them.
So this is not something Tesla can make happen in Austin on a whim, and not something we are expecting to see here.
Would there be much demand for a six-seat, three-row version of the Model Y with a longer wheelbase in the US? Let us know in the comments below.
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