Lifted Tesla Model Y is a metropolitan mudder
Bored of waiting for the Tesla Cybertruck to arrive? Your prayers for a lifted Tesla can be answered, albeit in a somewhat more unorthodox way, if anything can be described as such by comparison to the weird American electric truck. This is a Model Y with a Pu.Labo lift kit.
While other kits do exist, they don’t go as high. Pu.Labo's kit elevates the Model Y by between 2.5 and five inches, while wheel travel is said to be as much as eight inches. The kit is as you might expect, a little more complex and involved than the average coil and shock swap. There are new upper and lower control arms as well as an entirely new tubular subframe to which the suspension components are mounted.
That should allow any Model Y to which the kit is fitted to do a fairly convincing impression of a Ford Raptor or Ram TRX. I.E. You’ll be able to get a bit of air, in theory, without doing a load of damage to your heavy, delicate and expensive metropolitan EV. What is claimed to be a ‘complete chassis redesign’ is said to ‘provide enough strength’ for ‘hardcore off-road scenarios’.
So what about the downsides? Well, there will be an inevitable loss of range, partly due to worsened aerodynamics and partly due to tyres. It’ll also possibly drive a little worse on the road where the Model Y ordinarily performs with decent parity alongside European road-goers. That being said, Pu.Labo says it has undertaken thousands of kilometres of testing on and off-road, so hopefully it’ll be sturdy enough.
How much will it cost?
This is a lift kit that will set you back the value of a second-hand car, it's $15,000. Quite the wedge but, if you want overlanding capability with electric power, what choice is there? Hummer EVs are sold out, with used examples raking in silly money. Likewise Ford F150 Lightnings aren’t exactly readily available new at the moment. There is of course the Cybertruck, which should be around by the end of the year. Maybe a lifted Model Y is the right move…
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