San Francisco, Jan 8 (IANS): Tesla on Friday launched a cheaper Standard Rage version of its successful Model Y that starts from $41,990 (compared to $49,990 for the Long Range model).

The cheaper Model Y now costs a few thousands more than Model 3, which is still Tesla's least expensive vehicle.

According to a report in Electrek, Tesla will start the deliveries of the new Model Y version in two to five weeks in the US.

The cheaper version will give a lower EPA estimated range of 244 miles rather than 326 miles, and rear-wheel rather than all-wheel drive.

Tesla has also started taking orders for the 7-seater, third-row option, which can be folded flat along with the second row for cargo storage.

"The option costs $3,000 extra and appears to be available with all versions of the electric SUV except the Performance version," the report mentioned.

Tesla originally announced the Standard Range version of the Model Y in March last year.

The electric car maker has also listed a two to five week time for deliveries of the 7-seat option in the US.

In July last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had said that the company will not produce the cheaper version of the Model Y because he said that the range would be "unacceptably low".

Tesla delivered 499,550 vehicles in 2020, slightly missing its most recent guidance of 5,00,000 vehicles.

In the fourth quarter, Tesla delivered 1,61,650 Model 3 and Model Y cars and produced 1,63,660 such vehicles.

The automaker also delivered 18,920 Model S and X vehicles and produced 16,097 of them.

For the year, Tesla delivered 4,42,511 Model 3 and Model Y cars, while producing 4,54,932 of the vehicles. It delivered 57,039 Model S and Model X cars while producing 54,805 such vehicles.