Tesla Model YL: Six-seat electric SUV one step closer to Australia

Tesla will once again offer an SUV with three rows of seating in Australia.

The Tesla Model YL has appeared in Australian Government certification documents, which suggests a local launch is around the corner – likely as soon as this year.

First revealed midway through 2025, the Model YL takes the regular Model Y and stretches its wheelbase by 150mm to 3040mm.

This frees up room for a third row of seating, with the second row ditching the Model Y’s bench for a pair of captain’s chairs. However, the still quite steeply sloping roofline may eat into third-row headroom.

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The Model YL’s overall length of 4969mm long puts it squarely in the large SUV segment – it’s 3mm longer than a Toyota Kluger, for example.

It’s still 67mm shorter overall than the old Tesla Model X, however, and around 140mm narrower.

Compared to the five-seat Model Y, the L also sits 34mm higher, adds 2mm of ground clearance (169mm) and is the same width despite having a 20mm wider front track yet a 12mm narrower rear track.

There’s also more luggage space, with a claimed 2539 litres against 2138L for five-seat versions, and the extra dimensions push kerb weight up by 96kg to 2088kg.

The YL is distinguished from the regular Model Y not only by its longer body, but also unique alloy wheels and badging.

The approval documents indicate it uses the same dual-motor all-wheel drive electric powertrain and battery as the Premium Long Range AWD, with a listed power output of 378kW.

On Tesla’s Chinese website, the brand claims a 0-100km/h time of 4.5 seconds.

The Model YL was reportedly approved for the European market in December 2025, with an 88kWh battery offering 681km of range on the WLTP cycle.

The Australian-market Model Y Premium Long Range AWD has 600km of WLTP range and a claimed 0-100km/h time of 4.8 seconds.

Tesla doesn’t publish power and torque figures, but a Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) filing confirmed 142kW and 198kW outputs for the Model YL’s front and rear electric motors, respectively.

In China, the Model Y L is priced from ¥339,000 (A$72,800), meaning it’s ¥25,500 (A$5500) more expensive than the equivalent Model Y.

Standard equipment there includes an 18-speaker sound system, 16-inch front touchscreen, 8.0-inch rear touchscreen for climate control adjustment, power tailgate and adaptive LED headlights.

Those second-row captain’s chairs feature heating, ventilation and power adjustment, and include power-adjustable armrests. The third-row two-seat bench is heated and power-folding.

Tesla says it has upgraded the suspension, which employs continuously variable damping.

The Model YL will give Tesla its first three-row SUV offering in Australia since the Model X was withdrawn in 2020.

It’s expected to be exported here from China, currently the source for all Australian-market Teslas bar the Model Y Performance.

Tesla is feeling the heat in China in particular as rivals like BYD, Xiaomi and Xpeng, among many others, continue to expand their EV lineups and offer sharp pricing.

While it confirmed this year it would axe the Model S and Model X globally, Tesla has been expanding its Model Y, Model 3 sedan, and Cybertruck pickup lineups.

In addition to the L, the Model Y recently also gained a new entry-level Standard variant in some markets, though this hasn’t been confirmed for Australia.

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