We know correlation isn’t causation, but it seems every time the backlog of ships waiting at Southern California ports grows, Tesla raises its prices. On Nov. 9, The Mercury News reported there were more than 90 container ships awaiting berthing space. As Electrek spotted, overnight on Nov. 11, Tesla raised the price of the Model Y Long Range and Model Y Performance by $1,000. It’s the eighth price bump this year, coming on the heels of two prices increases in October and one earlier this month. Unlike the other adjustments to the entry-level lineup, this one only affects the Model Y, not the Model 3.
The base Model Y Long Range on 19-inch wheels now starts at $58,990 before the $1,200 destination charge, taking the compact EV crossover just beyond the $60,000 mark before options, to $60,190. At the beginning of this year, this same model cost $51,200, meaning it’s gone up a little more than $800 per month since then. The Model Y Performance now starts at $65,190 after destination.
Tesla hasn’t commented on the increase. If it’s a matter of the same supply issues that have been blamed for other increases, the question is why this affects only the crossover and not its sister sedan. The only hope for consumers seems to be getting the world’s various crises to come to an end, then having Tesla CEO Elon Musk deliver on his promise to lower prices again. He said during the company’s 2021 shareholder meeting, “Our goal really is to make the cars as affordable as possible. We are seeing significant cost pressure in our supply chain, and so we’ve had to increase — at least temporarily. But we do hope to actually reduce the prices over time and make them more affordable.”
Delivery times haven’t changed for the Model Y for now, though. Ordering a Model Y today still returns a predicted delivery date of June 2022.