For just over nine months, $41,990 was the cheapest way to put a second motor in a Tesla Model Y in the U.S. Electrek reported on Friday, Nov. 13 that the trim has vanished from Tesla’s online configurator.
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The cheapest all-wheel-drive Model Y now on the menu is the Premium AWD at $49,990, which is $8,000 higher. Tesla made no announcement, and a rear-wheel-drive Model Y at $39,990 remains the entry price.
A $41,990 trim that lasted just over nine months
The all-wheel-drive trim launched in early February 2026, priced $2,000 above the single-motor version, according to Electrek’s Fred Lambert in his Nov. 13 report. It carried 294 miles of range, a 0-60 mph time of 4.6 seconds and the same cut-down cabin as the base rear-wheel-drive car, as covered in Electrek’s launch story. Not a Tesla App added that the trim had fabric seats, a seven-speaker audio system, manual steering column adjustment and no rear screen. Tesla has not said why the trim was pulled or whether it will return. Not a Tesla App, citing a post by X user Sawyer Merritt, said exactly that, and Teslarati’s Joey Klender wrote that some all-wheel-drive units remain in inventory even though the configurator no longer offers one.
Premium AWD at $49,990 and the 19% step
The jump from $41,990 to $49,990 is a 19% increase in the cheapest all-wheel-drive price over nine months, by Lambert’s count. The comparison is between the cheapest all-wheel-drive Model Y then and now; Premium AWD itself rose only $1,000, from $48,990, and Premium RWD went from $44,990 to $45,990. Prices before destination fees, as Electrek listed them: Model Y RWD at $39,990 with 348 miles of EPA range, Premium RWD at $45,990 with 355 miles, Premium AWD at $49,990 with 327 miles and a 4.3-second 0-60 time, Performance at $57,990, and the six-seat Model Y L Premium at $61,990.
The arithmetic on what changed for a buyer is plain. With the $39,990 rear-wheel-drive car as the baseline, the cheapest all-wheel-drive upgrade used to cost $2,000, and it now costs $10,000. In exchange the new floor is a better car on paper: Premium AWD lists 327 miles and a 4.3-second 0-60 time against 294 miles and 4.6 seconds for the departed trim, though it trades the stripped cabin for the Premium interior. Teslarati described the removed trim as a mid-tier dual-motor option that sat between the rear-wheel-drive and Premium cars, and noted the cheaper lineup had dropped the Standard name when the all-wheel-drive version arrived in February.
Equinox EV and Mach-E price points under $41,000
Lambert set the new Tesla price against two rivals. Chevrolet’s 2027 Equinox EV LT 1 AWD starts at $40,295 before destination with 307 miles of EPA range, and Ford’s Mustang Mach-E Select AWD starts at $40,795. Both undercut Tesla’s cheapest all-wheel-drive crossover by more than $9,000. Lambert’s competitor comparison matters because the all-wheel-drive crossover segment is where Tesla’s entry price now meets the Equinox EV and the Mach-E head on. Each rival lists below $41,000 before destination, and the Chevrolet lists its range at 307 miles, between the Tesla trims it would be shopped against.
Lambert called the departed trim a good value and offered two possible reasons for pulling it: Tesla may be short of Model Y build slots and prefer higher-margin Premium trims, or the cheap trim may not have sold well. He noted Tesla’s pattern of launching cheaper variants that quietly disappear, such as the Standard name and the single-motor Cybertruck, and asked how long the $39,990 rear-wheel-drive car will last.
Delivery dates slip into 2027
Availability is tightening as well. Not a Tesla App reported that all Model Y Premium trims are sold out for 2026, with new orders showing January to March 2027 delivery, up from December 2026 to January 2027. Six-seat Model Y L orders moved to February to April 2027, from January to March 2027. Teslarati quoted the same January to March 2027 window for the Premium AWD and described the pruning as part of an effort to simplify the retail lineup. The context is a year of cuts: Musk discontinued the Model S and Model X in January, per Electrek’s earlier report, and the most recent addition to the range is the $61,990 Model Y L introduced in July.
Teslarati reported that the $39,990 rear-wheel-drive car is still open for custom orders, so the cheapest Model Y of any kind is unchanged. The change falls entirely on buyers who wanted a second motor without moving up to the Premium interior, a group that now has to pay for the Premium AWD’s added equipment or settle for a single motor. The question left open is the base car. With the all-wheel-drive entry gone and Premium orders pushed into 2027, Tesla has not said whether the $39,990 rear-wheel-drive Model Y keeps its price or its place in the configurator.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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