Tesla launched the Model Y Long Wheelbase in the US and Puerto Rico today, a stretched, three-row, six-seat version of its best-seller with 325 miles of range and a 4.4-second 0-60 time. Tesla’s configurator lists it as the Model Y L Premium at $61,990, in Launch Series trim with all-wheel drive, sitting above the $57,990 Model Y Performance as the most expensive Y you can order.
The announcement dropped on Tesla’s X account at 1:50 PM Eastern, hours after the company reported its 480,126-vehicle second quarter. Orders are open now, with first US deliveries expected in September, per Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt’s reporting. Pulling up the US configurator this afternoon, the Y L sits as its own model line, not a seat option, and that distinction is the whole story.
Captain Seats And Real Third-Row Space Replace The Old Compromise
The Long Wheelbase is built around a 3-row, 6-seat cabin: heated and ventilated front seats with a powered thigh cushion, second-row captain seats with powered armrests and one-touch fold, and a heated, power-reclining third row with child seat anchors. Tesla claims 89 cubic feet of trunk space, and gets specific about it: with all six seats occupied, the trunk still swallows a 28-inch and a 20-inch suitcase, with a third 20-inch case in the frunk.
That specificity reads like a direct answer to the criticism EVXL raised in January, when the 7-seat Model Y returned as a $2,500 option squeezing a third row into the standard wheelbase. That car asked families to accept a knees-up back row and a nearly useless trunk with all seats deployed. The Y L stretches the body instead: 196 inches long, 7 more than the standard Y, at roughly 4,600 pounds, per the detailed breakdown from Sawyer Merritt. Tesla rounds it out with 360-degree acoustic glass, second-generation suspension with continuous variable damping, staggered tires, a larger aluminum tailgate, a 16-inch front and 8-inch second-row screen, 50W cooled wireless charging, and integrated Grok AI with FSD Supervised.
The $61,990 Launch Series trim softens its own sticker: it bundles a year each of FSD Supervised, free Supercharging, and Premium Connectivity, plus any paint, interior, and wheel choice at no cost, per Merritt’s breakdown. Two details stand out deeper in his thread: an 83 kWh pack feeding 250 kW peak charging with a 0.216 drag coefficient, among the slipperiest of any Tesla SUV, and PowerShare, making the Y L only the second Tesla after the Cybertruck that can power a home. Six paint options include Cosmic Silver, new to the US. Wheel choice matters here: 19-inch wheels deliver the full 325 miles, the 20s trim it to 320.
China Got This Car First And Paid About $15,000 Less
The Model Y L is not new hardware. Tesla launched it in China in 2025 at roughly $47,000, where the three-row family SUV segment is fiercely contested. The US version arrives nearly a year later carrying a Launch Series badge and a price about $15,000 higher, though spec-for-spec comparisons are muddied by trim, tariffs, and the premium equipment Tesla bundles into the US launch car.
The timing is the tell. Tesla needs fresh product for the post-tax-credit US market, and as EVXL covered this morning, Q2’s blowout deliveries leaned almost entirely on the Model 3 and Y, with everything else contributing under 13,000 units. A pricier, higher-margin Y variant that families cross-shop against the Kia EV9 and the rest of the three-row EV field is exactly the lever a two-car company pulls.
EVXL’s Take
This is the Model Y three-row done right, and I’ll give Tesla credit for finally shipping it here. The January 7-seater always felt like a checkbox; the Y L is an actual family vehicle, and the suitcase math in Tesla’s own announcement shows they know exactly which objection they’re killing. At $61,990 it’s no longer a cheap family EV, it’s a Kia EV9 GT-Line competitor that out-accelerates it and plugs into the only charging network that reliably works on a road trip. Fold in the bundled year of FSD, Supercharging, and Connectivity and the effective gap to the $57,990 Performance nearly disappears, which tells you Tesla wants early Y L adopters badly.
The unanswered question is the one Tesla left off the spec sheet: what this car costs once the Launch Series premium fades and whether a sub-$55K version follows. China’s pricing says there’s room. Tesla’s Q2 proved the Y still carries the company; the Y L is a bet that it can carry bigger families at bigger margins too. Watch the July 22 earnings call for whether Tesla says the L is margin-accretive, that one word would tell us the real strategy.
Source: Tesla on X, Tesla configurator
EVXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo.
