Gadgetory

(rock music) Hey, everybody. It's Sean O'Kane from The Verge, and I'm here in California at Tesla's Design Studio, which is right next to SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles. We're here for a Tesla event tonight where they're going to unveil the Model Y. Welcome to the Tesla Design Studio. So in terms of where we're at today, we got, obviously, the S, 3, and the X. There's a missing car. It starts with a Y, ends with a Y, and has Y in the middle. Bring out the Model Y. (upbeat music) One thing we do know ahead of this launch is that this could be another really important car for Tesla. And you could say that about every car that Tesla makes, and it was especially true about the Model 3, considering that Tesla nearly died. They were single-digit weeks away from death, according to Elon Musk. But this one really presents a big opportunity for the company because SUVs sell like hotcakes these days in the United States. They make up about half of the new car sales market, and a compact SUV is especially popular these days. So something like the Model Y could sell really well. Like the 3, it will be extremely safe. With the battery pack low in the floor, it's going to have a very low center of gravity. So it has the functionality of an SUV, but it will ride like a sports car. It's also going to have incredible performance. So expect to have a 3.5-second 0 to 60. And in terms of range, 300 miles. (applause) So there you have the sexy presentation. That was the event, and now, we're about the jump in and get a ride in the Model Y for the first time. It looks remarkably similar to the Model 3. Surprise, surprise. All right, head out to the street here. So you notice a lot of familiar elements in the interior. You've got a Model 3 instrument panel, Model 3 center console. You've got a set of Model 3 seats in the front here, but they're up on risers, and that gives you the capability to get in and out a little bit easier than the Model 3. And then also, from a visibility standpoint, you can see in front of the car a little bit better. The most surprising thing about Tesla's newest car, I think, is just how much it's like the Model 3. We knew this coming in. We knew that it was going to share about 75 percent of the same parts as the Model 3. But it really looked like a Model 3 when they rolled it out onstage. It will start at $39,000. But, just like the Model 3, that version of the car isn't going to come out for a very long time: early 2021. For a company that doesn't hit its deadlines all the time, that means we are going to be a very long way away from this car for a while. Now, while the ride that I got was really brief, I was able to figure out that this is going to be about as fast as Tesla's other cars, but it wasn't anything like the ride that people got in the Gen 2 Roadster. It wasn't something that knocked me back or really impressed me. Once people get a chance to drive this thing in more involved settings, I'm sure that they'll have more thoughts. There's really nothing I can say about it right now other than it feels like riding in a Model 3. So, what happens between now and when the Model Y actually hits the road is really hard to say because it will probably be a lot. If there's one thing that's true about Tesla, it's that a lot of things happen all the time. While tonight was a really good preview of what Tesla's next car is all about, it's impossible to say what the company is going to go through between now and then. We are bringing sexy back quite literally. All right, thank you! (cheers, whistling, and applause)