At a glance

Tesla Model Y

Base price: $76,200 (RightCar estimated Clean Car Programme fee/rebate: $8625).

Powertrain and economy: Single rear-mounted motor, 220kW/420Nm, RWD, combined economy 13.2kWh/100km (source: Manufacturer claim).

Vital statistics: 4750mm long, 1920mm wide, 1623mm high, 2891mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 847 litres, 19-inch alloy wheels.

Safety: Untested.

We like: Plenty of range and power, build quality, practicality, ride.

We don’t like: Still not a fan of the single do-everything screen, no braking regeneration adjustment.

sedan. Also, the opening to the boot is much larger here than in the 3.

Under the bonnet

This is the RWD model with the 60kWh battery, offering a claimed range of 455km. In real life, you’re looking at close to the same figure, which is impressive. The tester was showing around 430km on the clock when I picked it up.

Tesla doesn’t quote power figures on its website for reasons only known to Elon Musk, so the 220kW/ 420Nm claim above is based on varying sources online.

It feels about right though, and that is plenty of punch, with a 0-100kph time of 6.9 seconds.

The Performance version adds another motor to the front axle and chops the 0-100kph time to 3.7 seconds. It also gets a larger battery pack, good for 514km of range.

On the road

Considering this is three-quarters a Model 3, I expected it to be quite a good drive, and it is. The low centre of mass inherent in EVs means the Model Y handles nicely, and the steering is predictable too. You can adjust it to be heavier or lighter if you’d like as well, but remember that heavier doesn’t necessarily equal better. The rack loses a bit of feeling in the back roads, but again, family SUV priorities.

The ride is good, the smaller 19-inch wheels are probably a better bet if you don’t mind the style differences and would prefer a more pliant low-speed drive. It does get a bit rough on bigger bumps, but it’s far from deal-breaking.

The Autopilot system – just the base iteration here – is OK, despite the misleading name. It’s Level 2 autonomy, so it can steer itself on highways, as well as adjust its own speed. However, I couldn’t get it to automatically turn back on after manually changing lanes, as the system deactivates after moving the steering wheel. Hardly a major, as reactivating requires two downward jabs with the gear selector stalk.

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving capability is an $11,400 option, which adds automatic lane changing and smart parking.

Verdict

It almost doesn’t matter, what I say here. The Model Y isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty damn good at everything it needs to be good at. This version is the one that most people will buy, considering it’s the cheapest and only one under the $80k Clean Car Discount limit (although only just with the weirdly high on-road costs of around $2000 – you can’t have the larger wheels and still get the rebate).

There are already Model 3 owners listing their cars on Trade Me with the intention to move to the Y, which shows how popular this thing already is.