Tesla Midnight Cherry Red: What's behind the special color from Grünheide?

The Gigafactory Berlin is home to Tesla's most modern paint shop, which produces the controversial Tesla Midnight Cherry Red as well as the Quicksilver color. The multi-layered paint extends Tesla's range of sophisticated, unusual paint finishes, but also costs quite a bit more.

In this article you can read exactly how much and what the color actually means.

Tesla Midnight Cherry Red: What makes the color so special

Elon Musk announced new paint options at the beginning of 2022, including a newly developed shade of red. However, it took until October 2022 before Midnight Cherry Red was presented in a video and could be ordered from then on. It was not until May 2023 that the first vehicles painted in the new color were actually presented and delivered.

Tesla Model Y Midnight Cherry Red

Midnight Cherry Red is currently being produced and developed exclusively in the Gigafactory Grünheide near Berlin. This is also indicated in the Tesla configurator along with the note that the color can only be ordered in Europe and the Middle East. The production site is probably also the reason why the red shade is currently only available for the Model Y - other models are not produced in Grünheide.

It is questionable whether the other models will be available in the cherry red color at a later date. Back in March 2023, Tesla introduced another shade of red for the Model S and Model X called "Ultra Red", which can now also be ordered with the facelift Model 3 ("Highland"). But back to Midnight Cherry Red.

The Gigafactory Grünheide is home to Tesla's newest and most capable paint shop, which is said to be able to apply up to 13 layers of paint to a vehicle. Opinions differ as to whether Midnight Cherry Red actually has that many layers - there is no clear official statement. What is certain, however, is that the paint is a multi-coat paint and is expensive to produce.

Midnight Cherry Red Tesla: More depth

The many layers of paint are intended to give the cherry red a "dramatic depth" according to Tesla. In addition, the color is designed to look different depending on the viewing angle and incidence of light - the spectrum ranges from an almost dark purple-black tone to bright red.

If a Model Y painted with Midnight Cherry Red is standing in partial shade, for example, different parts of the vehicle may look completely different.

There are currently not many vehicles with this type of paint. An appropriately painted Model Y definitely stands out. In addition, the coolness factor of a different-looking car is undisputed in principle, even if we will see below that not everyone is enthusiastic about the color.

Cherry red Tesla: How much does the color cost?

The company is also paying for the effort that Tesla has put into the multi-layer effect paint. The red Model Y paintwork currently costs 2.600 € surcharge. However, the color was even more expensive at the time of its introduction, when Tesla offered its customers 3.200 € for Midnight Cherry Red.

For comparison: The previously available color "Red Multicoat", which was replaced by the new cherry red, was available for 2.000 to be had. For the same price, the aforementioned "Ultra Red" is also available on the Model 3, and the alternative shade of red is even free for the Model S and Model X. Midnight Cherry Red is therefore definitely one of the more expensive alternatives among the Tesla paint options.

Reactions from customers

As is so often the case, Tesla has managed to create a little hype around the new paint option even before the first vehicles are presented. This made the sight of the cherry-red premiere cars all the more sobering for some, but not all.

Although there was no denying that the color looks different depending on the viewing angle, many fans and customers found the paintwork to be very dark and more purple than red. There are also said to have been brown and almost black shades.

As it soon turned out, this was because the first images and videos were taken indoors or in shady places. However, if the Model Y is in full sunlight, it really does shine in a rich red.

Tesla has therefore fully lived up to its announcement that the color would change its tone depending on how it was viewed and the light. However, not everyone likes the darker shades that become visible without direct sunlight. Optics are always subjective anyway, aren't they?

Tesla Midnight Cherry Red repairable?

A major concern for many (potential) customers, apart from the look, is the complexity of the paintwork. The fear: paint damage cannot be repaired, as no external workshop or paint shop can reproduce the multi-layered paint true to the original. For many, this concern even prevents them from buying the paint altogether.

However, this fear is not entirely justified. For example, the Paint Shop Stegmann shows on YouTube how it can reproduce the Tesla color with the color code PR00 from three layers of paint without visible differences and thus paint a complete front apron.

Despite the fact that the rare and expensive "Amethyst Dream" paint, among others, is used, the paintwork is not significantly more expensive than three-coat paints from other manufacturers - at least that's what Stegmann thinks.

Of course, one thing is certain: Midnight Cherry Red is not an undemanding standard paint, otherwise Tesla would not only produce it in Grünheide. But those who like the color should not be deterred by concerns about repairability.

The longer the coating has been on the market, which is already 9 months, the greater the likelihood that workshops will be able to master the mixture - as has already been shown.

For the other Tesla paints and soon also the Midnight Cherry Red, you can already find paint pens at Teslabs for touching up minor scratches yourself.

Multi-layered Midnight Cherry Red: Conclusion

The new cherry red paint finish for the Model Y is multi-layered in the truest sense of the word. With it, Tesla is showcasing its growing vehicle painting capabilities, which have not always been perfect in the past. Here you can read how the paint quality at Tesla has developed.

Even if not everyone is enthusiastic about the color and the red component needs a lot of light to really come into its own, Midnight Cherry Red fascinates with its constantly changing hues. The paintwork is definitely nothing ordinary and makes a Model Y stand out from the mass of cars on the road.

However, 2.600 is ultimately up to each buyer to decide for themselves. In any case, the paintwork is not irreparable should an unwanted scratch occur.

What do you think of Midnight Cherry Red? Let us know what you think in the comments below!