Tesla Model Y electric crossover SUVs land in NZ. Is Australia next?

The Driven

So close… and yet so far. Three Tesla Model Y SUVs – the US electric vehicle maker’s newest production model that is not yet available to order in either Australia or New Zealand – have arrived in Auckland.

The Model Ys are not destined for customer test drives nor future owners, it would seem. And neither are some early Model 3s and a Model S that have arrived on the same cargo ship.

Rather, there is much speculation about whether the three Model Ys have arrived for evaluation on New Zealand roads or to go through winter testing at the Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds near Wanaka on New Zealand’s South Island.

Tesla vehicle and parts tracker Vedaprime announced the arrival of the vehicles via Twitter on Wednesday morning.

“EXCLUSIVE news on #Tesla #ModelY,” he wrote.

“3 Model Y have arrived in Auckland, New Zealand from Tesla on ANL Warrnambool Monday night. Likely there for winter testing as we have seen with other new models. This could be the first sign of Tesla preparing for more Model Y markets.”

The three vehicles are early models, according to Vedaprime, who tracks Tesla vehicles using Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs). There is no indication, however, of whether the vehicles are right-hand or left-hand drive.

Unfortunately, the arrival of the Model Y – which is the crossover version of the Model 3 but which features various high-level improvements such as a single-piece aluminium casting at the rear and a highly efficient heat pump using an innovative “octovalve” – does not necessarily herald its Southern Hemisphere release.

To read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site The Driven, click here…