Can Tesla break the sales curse in the pure-electric vehicle market priced below 300,000 yuan?

“Tesla Model Y L saved Li Auto i8's life...”

“Suddenly, Li Auto i8 doesn't seem that expensive in comparison...”

In July, Li Auto i8 and LeDao L90 were launched successively. Affected by the starting price of 265,800 yuan for LeDao L90, the pricing of Li Auto i8 was once pushed to the forefront of the storm. Subsequently, it had to quickly adjust its market strategy. Although both the price and configuration were adjusted, the public opinion about its high pricing still remained strong.

300,000 yuan seems to be an insurmountable threshold for pure - electric vehicles. Can the arrival of Model Y L successfully break this spell?

The 300,000 - yuan spell for pure - electric vehicles remains unbroken

According to the data from Autohome's AI marketing brain, in the first half of 2025, the sales of the pure - electric vehicle market mainly came from models with a transaction price below 150,000 yuan, accounting for as high as 68.2%. The mid - to - high - end market above 300,000 yuan accounted for nearly 4.2%.

Looking at the overall market sales distribution by energy type, pure - electric vehicles can still account for 29.1%. However, when it comes to the market above 300,000 yuan, the proportion is only 12.8%. Extended - range vehicles have the highest proportion among new - energy vehicles, reaching 17.9%. Why is it difficult for the pure - electric vehicle market to break through? This is directly related to the characteristics of potential users.

According to the survey data from Autohome, among the potential users of six - seat new - energy vehicles, up to 97% of the users come from the demand for upgrading or replacing their cars. Among the users with replacement demand, nearly 80% are traditional fuel - vehicle owners.

Therefore, in their concept, for the same amount of money, in addition to choosing traditional fuel vehicles, extended - range and plug - in models without range anxiety are more acceptable to them. In addition, the low resale value is also one of the reasons why consumers are reluctant to spend more money on pure - electric models.

At this point, some people may say that most new - force brands focus on the high - end market and have good sales. How can it be bad? Here, we need to further break down the new - energy vehicle market.

With the rise of the upgrading and replacement market, more six - or seven - seat new cars have entered consumers' alternative lists. New - force brands took the lead and launched multiple new models, but few only launched pure - electric models. Whether it is Wenjie M8 and M9, Denza D9, or Voyah Dreamer, for these vehicle series with relatively excellent sales performance, their main - selling models are not the pure - electric versions.

Looking only at the pure - electric vehicle sales, the cumulative sales of Zeekr 009, which had the best sales performance in the first half of 2025, did not exceed 9,000 units, with an average monthly sales of less than 1,500 units. Such performance is difficult to support the long - term sales of a model. Looking at the top 10 models, only 3 are SUVs. Is buying a six - or seven - seat MPV still the first choice? Not necessarily.

Now, six - or seven - seat SUVs have become a new consumption trend. According to the survey data from Autohome, when purchasing a six - seat model, 76.6% of users prefer to choose an SUV. Among them, 41.4% of users have a clear goal and only consider the six - seat version, rather than both six - and seven - seat options. Most of them believe that the seats in the six - seat version are relatively more independent and more comfortable.

Favorable timing and geographical location are all in place, but the niche market has never shown any improvement. The main reason is the lack of popular support. Can Model Y L achieve what others can't? First of all, the product must be excellent.

Is the product strength of Model Y L really competitive?

Although the niche market is not very large, the competitors are not weak at all. According to the survey data, potential users who are considering Model Y L are also considering multiple other new - energy vehicles at the same time. The top 3 with the highest popularity are LeDao L90, Wenjie M8, and Li Auto i8, and they each have their own advantages.

Compared with Model Y L, LeDao L90 has a more obvious price advantage; Wenjie M8 has a high brand loyalty and intelligent driving ability; Li Auto i8 is superior in terms of configuration richness and cockpit interaction experience. What does Model Y L have?

Among the factors that users consider when buying a car, space/comfort, safety, and range/energy consumption are the top three considerations, and the selection ratio of each exceeds 60%, which are the absolute necessities for users. Fortunately, Model Y L doesn't spare any efforts. Whether it is the second row or the third row, the space is fully considered, and the range is also 1 km more than that of Model Y. However, these alone are definitely not enough.

Why do people choose Tesla models? From the survey data, we can clearly see that what impresses users most about Model Y L is the reliability of the three - electric system and the advanced battery management system, with a selection ratio of over 80%, having absolute say. This is even more important for ordinary users who don't have a brand filter for Tesla, and their TGI selection ratio exceeds 100.

As one of Tesla's technological advantages and even a key to enter the Chinese market, the selection ratio of FSD is only 28.8%.

The value of FSD is difficult to reflect, discounting the product advantages

Price is an insurmountable gap. The official guide price of Model Y L is 339,000 yuan. If you pay to unlock the "intelligent assisted driving", the total price will exceed 400,000 yuan, which is a price that 85% of users think is too high. The basic driving function is sufficient for daily use. Why spend extra money?

When asked about the reasons for not wanting to pay to unlock FSD, as expected, more than half of the users said it was because of the high cost. However, 32.7% of users said they didn't trust intelligent driving and thought it was useless. Currently, although intelligent driving has developed to a level close to L3, there are still many users who either have doubts about safety or don't understand how to use it. More knowledge popularization is needed.

Can Model Y L successfully break into the mainstream market?

Whether Model Y L can successfully break into the mainstream market depends on "popular support". So, what are the characteristics of its potential users? According to the survey data, 44.2% of the potential users of Model Y L come from high - tier cities. Looking at it by province, Jiangsu Province ranks first. Users in high - tier cities are more likely to accept new things. Most importantly, their economic ability is relatively stronger.

48.4% of the users' annual family income can reach over 300,000 yuan. A monthly payment of 6,642 yuan should not be a problem. Nearly 90% of them are married with children, having a higher demand for six - seat models. Especially for those Tesla Model Y and Model 3 owners, they are more likely to replace their cars with Model Y L.

Can Tesla Model Y L successfully break into the mainstream market? It's still unknown. But one thing is certain. Different from other products, Tesla's resale value and range reliability are not its weak points. Coupled with a large potential user base for upgrading and replacing cars, the shortcoming of "popular support" can be fully made up.

A new wave in the mid - to - high - end pure - electric vehicle market may be set off from now on.

This article is from the WeChat public account “Autostinger” (ID: autostinger), author: Sun Ying, published by 36Kr with authorization.