The Model Y will land here later in the year with three rows of chairs.

THREE rows of seats is the latest configuration coming to Tesla’s strongest seller here.

In order to rejig the Model Y to accept one extra body to the general issue type’s five occupant count has required a big engineering change.

Compared with the regular five-seater, the L has been stretched by 186mm – 150mm of which is between the front and rear axles. It is also slightly taller, at 1668mm compared with the regular model’s 1624mm.

Tesla's regional office based in Australia confirmed the derivative is coming but cannot yet relate when it will land here, except to say it will be before year-end. Pricing and final specification also remain unknown.

The Model Y L will ship in from the same Shanghai, China, plant that provides the $67,900 Premium rear-wheel-drive and the $77,900 Premium Long Range all wheel drive, rather than out of the Berlin, Germany, factory that provision the $100,900 Model Y Performance.

Sub-$100k electric SUVs with a third row of seating are rare, but Tesla has yet to conjecture on how significant the type will be to its monthly volume, which has latterly been depressed, in tune with market trend.

The Model Y L revealed in China last July and was initially being spoken of as a car bespoke to that country, where extended-wheelbase versions are popular.

However, just recently paperwork showing it was being readied for right hand drive led to conjecture this region would also achieve it.

Though it will easily distinguish from the regular Y, the L is still 67mm shorter and 140mm narrower Tesla’s last three-row offer here, the now discontinued Model X.

If the rear seats are folded, there’s benefit to luggage space, with a claimed 2539 litres against 2138 litres for the five seater.

The Model Y L is expected to provision solely with the dual-motor all-wheel drive electric powertrain and battery that goes into the Premium Long Range AWD.

Reports reliant on a Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) filing cite outputs of 142kW from the front motor and 198kW from the rear.

An 88kWh battery offering 681km of range on the WLTP cycle is being spoken of. The Model Y Premium Long Range AWD has 600km of WLTP range.

In China the Y L has an 18-speaker sound system, 16-inch front touchscreen, 8.0-inch rear touchscreen for climate control adjustment, a power tailgate and adaptive LED headlights. The second and third row chairs have heating; the back row power folds as per the five-seater Y.