Why Tesla’s Model Y and Model 3 Share 75% of Their Parts: Cost Savings and Innovative Design Strategies

Elon Musk always starts his speeches with the most important point. In this light, the following applies to the Model Y: the car shares no less than 75% of its parts with the Model 3. This way of working enables Tesla to achieve significant cost savings. The savings are twofold. On the one hand because fewer parts need to be developed and on the other hand because the developed parts can be produced in larger volumes.

Floor plate Model Y is the same as Model 3

Despite the Model Y being an SUV and the 3 being a sedan, Tesla managed to use the floorboard of the Model 3 in the SUV. By raising the internal floor in the Model Y with engineered polypropylene, the Model 3 floorboard could be transferred. This resulted in the possibility of reusing interior parts for the Model 3, such as the seats and the entire dashboard. These parts are only mounted at a different height than in the Model 3.

The seats and dashboard of a car are costly and complex parts to develop. An average car seat quickly has 100 different parts and consists of a range of different materials. Ideal if these development costs can be shared.

Much fewer parts are shared in Volkswagens

For example, the Volkswagen T-Roc (photo 2 below) and the Polo (photo 1 below), but also the Golf (photo 3 below) and the Tiguan (photo 4 below) only share the steering wheel in the interior. Main components of the interior, such as the center console and underside of the dashboard, are only shared with the Passat (photo 5) and Arteon.

Tesla’s smart moves aren’t limited to the interior. The brand developed a complex one-piece casting for the Model Y chassis, made with Tesla’s own so-called gigapress. This casting reduces weight by 20 percent. Not unimportant in the race for a large range! The number of parts of the chassis part, traditionally about 700 to 800, was also reduced to 50. This innovation also means savings in the supply chain and production costs. It is very important that on top of that a strongly reduced production time for the part has also been achieved. The production time was reduced from 1 to 2 hours, to 3 to 5 minutes. This is an important profit maker for the desire to scale up.

Also smart finds on the outside: headlights and taillights are the same

We also see smart finds on the outside. Because even though the sedan versus SUV proportions of the Model 3 and Model Y are completely different, the Tesla designers have created two cars that don’t look like they’ve cut back on parts development. However, the headlights and taillights of both models are the same. The unique individual character of these cars therefore does not come from specially drawn headlights and taillights – as is normally the case – but from the surfacing around them.

Since the development costs of a new car are between 0.5 and 1.5 billion euros, this new way of designing and building cars is worth mentioning. Regardless of what can be said about the workmanship and about the extraordinary CEO, his mindset and that of his car designers is truly unique in the industry.