Tesla has given fans an early Fourth of July surprise.
The EV giant announced on Thursday that it has opened US orders for the Model Y L, a three-row version of its best-selling SUV, with prices starting at $61,990.
The premium EV has been on sale in China since last August, and a question mark has been hovering over its arrival on American shores ever since.
At the time, CEO Elon Musk said the Y L "might not ever" come to the US because driverless vehicles would soon make traditional transportation obsolete.
Musk's ambitious predictions have yet to come to pass, however, with Tesla so far only scaling to a few dozen unsupervised robotaxis in a handful of Texan cities.
Take a look at the Model Y L, which will be available in the US starting in October.
The Model Y L has been a mega-sales hit in China.
Tesla launched the Model Y L in China last year as it battled a wave of competition from local EV brands.
The luxury SUV quickly proved a major hit, with local media reporting that Tesla sold more than 120,000 units in its first month on sale.
The premium EV comes with three rows of heated seats.
The first two rows of the Model Y L feature heated and ventilated seats, as well as touchscreens, while the third row offers power reclining and one-touch folding to quickly stow the seats.
The Model Y L has over 300 miles of range.
Tesla says the Model Y L has 325 miles of range, compared to 321 miles for the base-level Model Y and 306 miles for the $57,490 Model Y Performance.
The 'Launch series' comes with a year of free supercharging and FSD.
Model Y L deliveries are set to begin in October with a limited-edition run of "Launch Series" vehicles. These will come with special badging and luxury interior touches, as well as 12 months of free supercharging and Tesla's Full-Self Driving tech.
It's proof that Tesla isn't backing away from EVs completely.
The Model Y L launch will help fill the hole in Tesla's product lineup left by the Model S and X, which were discontinued earlier this year to free up factory space to build the company's Optimus humanoid robot.
It's also evidence that despite Musk's efforts to pivot the company toward AI and robotics, boosting EV sales still remains a key part of the master plan.
Tesla reported Thursday that it sold over 480,000 EVs in the second quarter, smashing Wall Street's expectations, but research firm Cox Automotive estimated that the brand's US sales fell 20% year-over-year in that period. The Model Y L could be key in turning that slump around.
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