"I'm definitely not buying them. For the same price, there are far more options I can get from local automakers," one user wrote on Weibo.

Tesla has been talking about launching new “more affordable models” during the first half of the year. The first half of 2025 came and went without new, cheaper models. Instead, Tesla claimed that the “first build” of the new model was produced in June, and it will launch later this year.

Tesla has talked about a cheaper car for years, though the two new “standard” models are priced well above the $25,000 price tag promised. View on euronews

Two new affordable EVs debut under the Standard name, cutting a slew of features like the FM/AM radio to bring prices down

The starting prices of $39,990 and $36,990 were too high, some said, to attract a new class of buyers to the electric vehicle brand.

Many long-time fans are slamming the automaker for releasing a car with what they're calling a terrible value proposition. If sales aren't propped up by the cheap trims, they could go the way of the cheap Cybertruck.

Could a lower-priced Model Y revival be Tesla’s ticket to boosting slumping sales? We dig into what it would really take.

French carmaker Renault unveiled on Thursday a new electric car concept with a larger, sportier design, as it bets on medium-size family vehicles to try to turn itself around.

Tesla's been getting lit up left and right for one particular cost-cutting measure it brought its newly unveiled cheaper Model Y: the "closed glass roof." The 2026 Model Y Standard comes with what looks like the same panoramic glass as its pricier siblings—but it's covered up with a fabric headliner so you can't see out of it.