Tesla may have started producing its Model Y vehicles in Texas

Amateur drone photos reveal that Tesla may have started to produce its Model Y vehicles in Gigafactory Texas.

The Model Y, with an MSRP of $58,990, started production at Tesla's Fremont plant in January 2020 and began deliveries in March of that year. Tesla has highlighted the Model Y as a key component of the company's growth.

Jeff Roberts uses a quad-propeller drone to take pictures of the Gigafactory Texas outside of Austin. He posted a picture Monday that shows a line of Model Y vehicles parked in the factory lot and charging.

It is not clear if the vehicles were produced at Gigafactory Texas, because Tesla didn't respond to a FOX Business request for comment.

SECURITY ISSUE Roberts told FOX Business he first noticed them on Monday. He flies his drone almost every day over the facility and said he didn't see any of them on Sunday.

Roberts admitted that it is hard to know if these are production cars or test cars. I think they are testing cars for crash testing and other analytics, but I could be wrong. Tesla could store the vehicles in the factory and roll them out as soon as they announce production, but there has been no announcement yet.

Roberts only flies his drone over the company facilities of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He plans to keep flying his drone over the Gigafactory Texas until the Starlink factory goes live or maybe he'll cover the new Tesla cathode plant in Austin when it completes its construction.

Before that happens, he has a lot of time left to observe and enjoy the operations at Gigafactory Texas.

Roberts explained that I had been asked to fly other commercial locations for money and I turned them down. I am an enthusiast as well as a person who is interested in the mission of Tesla as much as possible. The goal is to share the mission with the world in as many ways as possible. He says Tesla employees watch the videos and look at the tweets he and other amateur drone pilots create in an effort to embrace transparency.

Gigafactory Texas isn't the only Tesla facility to roll out the Model Y: A drone flyover in Berlin Thursday, and a customer posted on Twitter that she received an email that the Model Y is available for pre-order.

The Tesla Q 4 meeting will reveal further information about the company's plans for the Model Y production and distribution.