Tesla looks to heat up with latest electric SUV update: 'Always innovating and pushing boundaries'

In March 2025, Tesla introduced the "Super Manifold V2": a revised heat pump system in its newest SUV Model Y.

Electric vehicles tend to be more difficult to heat and cool than gasoline-powered cars, due to the fact that they must rely on their batteries to adjust temperatures. According to Scientific American, the lithium-ion composition of EV batteries makes them slow to charge and vulnerable to short-circuiting in extreme weather.

Equipped with heat pump systems rather than traditional resistive heaters, Tesla EVs use 15-20% less energy in winter than other electric vehicles. "Tesla's heat pump is a marvelous piece of engineering," Auto Evolution concluded back in 2023. Now, Tesla has revised its heat pump design for the new Model Y, trading in the complexity of the old components for the refreshed version of their "Super Manifold." Around 20 parts fewer and reportedly more efficient, according to Not a Tesla App, the "Super Manifold V2" condenses the functionality of the original system into a single, sleek package.

The integration of a new and improved "Super Manifold" heat pump means that Tesla owners can turn up the heat in sub-zero temperatures without slowing down their driving efficiency or risking damage.

Since these V2-furnished SUVs haven't been on the road for long, we've yet to see how the upgrades may help or harm the environment. So far, it's looking good — Tesla's heat pumps are more energy-efficient than ever before, and a system with fewer components could mean a more streamlined manufacturing process with less waste and carbon pollution.

Tesla is currently facing so much negative public sentiment right now, with declining sales and protests at its facilities, that it's hard to see any one feature helping the company to pull itself out in the near future. But if the Model Y vehicles become popular enough and part of that is the way this improves their battery range, the advancement could push the market across the board and help to incentivize more everyday drivers to go electric.

Watch now: How easy is it really to charge an EV?

While EVs may be a huge step in the renewable-energy direction, their batteries remain environmentally unfriendly in their own way. The lithium mining process depletes valuable stores of groundwater, and pollution-heavy production and unsafe battery disposal are causes for concern — though as Reuters found, an EV such as a Model 3 needs only be driven 13,500 miles before its reduced operating pollution makes up for its manufacturing pollution when compared to driving a Toyota Corolla.

Nonetheless, Tesla has developed a reputation for not being transparent about its carbon pollution, making it difficult to accurately assess the environmental impact of one of its cars. In fact, Karma Wallet reported that the S&P 500 Index, which ranks companies' ethical impact, "dropped Tesla in 2022 due to concerns over racial discrimination claims, poor working conditions, and a lack of clear reporting on their carbon impact."

Still, electric vehicles are pushing the standards for the automobile industry toward a more sustainable future, and without big companies like Tesla that promote EVs, many of us would still be using gas. So while there are some factors giving some car buyers and market analysts pause about the company right now, when it comes to the final product of the cars themselves, Tesla does continue to provide industry-leading tech.

"The holy trinity of automotive engineering," one user commented under a YouTube exclusive with Tesla engineering experts Lars Moravy and Franz Von Holzhausen.