Past its prime “In markets where Tesla sells well, such as California and China, the Model Y is looking dated,” John McElroy, host of the automotive program Autoline, told me. “Tesla needs a styling upgrade... if it hopes to get existing Model Y owners to come back and buy another one,” he said. And the bestselling EV in the U.S. faces a swelling horde of new models from traditional automakers. “Recently Tesla has been underperforming the rest of the EVs in the market,” Tom Libby, an analyst at S&P Global Mobility, said in an email. “For instance, in August overall retail EV volume was up 24%, but if you take Tesla out, the EV market was up 50%,” he said. Libby added, however, that the Model Y is still a popular, high-profile vehicle for Tesla, underscoring the need to keep it fresh. “The Model Y consistently ranks in the top five models in the industry based on retail registrations (not far behind the F-Series, by the way),” he said. “When will Tesla realize that updating products/re-designs is a requirement to be competitive in this industry?” Libby wondered. Affordable models plus push to autonomy A refreshed Model Y would join future affordable models from Tesla in 2025 — the latter mentioned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in the third quarter earnings conference call. “We are still on track to deliver our affordable models starting in the first half of 2025,” Musk said during the call. Affordable models may be tied tangentially to the just-announced Tesla Cybercab which Musk said will “cost roughly $25K, so it is a $25K car.” The Cybercab is considered to be a watershed for Tesla as it bets its future on autonomy. “Tesla’s apparent pursuit of autonomy over building cars is not an either/or choice. It's a choice to pursue both courses, simultaneously,” AutoForecast Solutions said in its monthly newsletter published on Friday. “CEO Musk’s purpose is to free humans from the drudgery of repetitive, onerous tasks,” the AFS newsletter said. MORE FROM