Tesla Model Y Review | One Year Later

believe it or not it has officially been one year since the tesla model y began deliveries it was announced about a year before that and came much sooner than tesla had originally announced i took delivery of one of the first 2200 model-wise made and have driven over 16 000 miles in the car today i'm going to give you my full review of the car after one year and let you know both the good and the bad of owning a tesla model y if i would do it again and what changes have already come to the new ones being built so let's get into it oftentimes it's tough to tell the difference between a model 3 and model y at first glance they're so similar on the outside and even on the inside but the model y falls into the very popular crossover suv category it's very versatile and this is exactly what drew me to get this car instead of a model 3. i've always liked the idea of electric cars but they were always too expensive or too small for me they're still pricey but luckily as more and more brands bring electric cars to market and battery costs decrease these cars are getting better and better and cheaper in the process the biggest fear when buying an electric car is being stranded with nowhere to charge there's always a gas station a few miles away but are there chargers is my car compatible how long will i have to charge will it be slow and drive like a golf cart i'm going to detail all these questions today and explain why my experience over the last year with the model y convinced my wife and i to sell our other gas powered cars because with the tesla we feel confident that we can drive anywhere we need to without issue to detail the features of the model y first let's start with the exterior and getting into the car i'll explain the features this car has and what my experience has been with each of them as we go so the model y includes two key cards that you tap to the side pillar for unlocking and locking but the real key is your smartphone bluetooth connectivity unlocks the car as you approach and locks it as you walk away 95 of the time this feature is seamless works exactly how it should and makes you forget that you ever had to manually lock or unlock your car the other five percent of the time though it's the opposite and i can almost guarantee this will happen to you at some point for some reason bluetooth connectivity doesn't happen correctly as you approach the car and you're stuck there until you can unlock your phone open the app and the car finally connects this is especially frustrating right now when using a mask but again it only happens this way five percent of the time or less and the blame may be on the phone and not the car usually you don't even realize that your car is perfectly locking and unlocking for you and it's very seamless while we're talking about the phone app you can also control various features of the car right from it and since the car is connected via lte you can do these from anywhere you don't have to be within 100 feet or anything you can be miles away if you need to do these features the features include the normal locking unlocking trunk and front popping but also climate controls sentry mode location and more preconditioning the cars is one of the best features that it has and it's something you can do anywhere thanks to the fact that it's electric on cold mornings i'll heat my car and warm up the seats before i leave while parked in the garage with no concern however i live in los angeles so i'm usually turning on the ac to have it cooled down before i get in the car and by the time i get in the car it's cooled and it's quiet the model y comes in five different colors and i chose red depending on the model you buy there are three different wheel options i got the 20 inch induction wheels but my recommendation would be to stick with the stock wheels they're cheaper will likely have a smoother ride and these larger wheels are really easy to scratch up as i always mention i know it's driver error if you get curb rash on your wheels but still these wheels stick out pretty far and are very easy to scratch up compared to most other wheels i've done a number on these wheels so i wish i just would have stuck with these stock wheels the model y seats five by default and just recently added the option for seven seats these rear seats are tiny but are proving useful for children and small adults at least in the reviews i've seen so far but the majority of people will buy the five-seater and that's what i have so let's focus on that the front two seats are powered and driver profiles saved on the screen remember your exact driver comfort settings and lumbar adjustments when you get in the car this is very handy although i wish it could remember passenger adjustments as well when driving this is your view there is no instrument cluster directly in front of you this confused me for maybe a week or two when i first got the car but after that i got used to it the speed is right there on the top left of the screen and i actually enjoy having the view clean and simple directly in front of me while driving i will say though tesla just recently updated the interface for the left side of the screen and to me the old design was much better i usually love change but this time the new interface just doesn't improve anything in my opinion and it looked better before the lack of instrument cluster contributes to the overall simplistic and minimalist design of the interior in the front of the model y you only really have this screen there are a few buttons on the steering wheel to control driving essentials but everything else is controlled on the screen this is another thing that takes a week or two to get used to but once you do it makes total sense the only thing i sometimes wish i could change elsewhere is the climate controls but controlling those on-screen does come with its own benefit you can very precisely aim where you want your airflow and the air flows out of this somewhat hidden strip across the dash most of the time i just keep climate on auto and change the temperature so adjusting on the screen is very simple the screen also controls and shows you everything else as you drive you have autopilot visualizations letting you know what is around you and giving you confidence that the car knows what's around you if you're gonna have it drive for you we'll get into that more in a minute maps are the default right two-thirds of the screen and in my opinion it's the best map system i've seen in a vehicle the large size of it makes it incredibly easy and useful when you want to listen to music you pull up the music cards select the source whether it be your phone spotify slacker radio fm radio or tune in and listen away now speaking of music the sound system in the model y is one of the best i've heard in any car i'm a musician and i'm very picky about my speakers and this sound system is incredible i love listening to music in this car even if i'm just sitting in my garage doing so because it sounds so good it's tesla's own sound system but reportedly it was designed by x engineers at bong and olefson to be the same setup as the official brand name up front you have the center console with a decent amount of space here's my center console with an included wireless charger but tesla actually just switched to a new center console on the newest model wise so you'll still have the armrest here with storage underneath but here is the new center console and this is most likely what you would get if you bought today i personally prefer the new console and it includes a wireless charger as well as two usb-c ports there are two more usb-c ports on the back of the center console right next to the rear vents for the rear passengers now back to the interior the rear of the model y seats three the middle seat has a built-in flip down cup holder if you don't need the seat and these seats are able to recline just a tad what you'll especially notice sitting in the rear is the beautiful all glass roof this roof comes factory tinted makes the car feel very spacious and provides incredible views when driving through certain areas i know i love sitting in the back when i get the chance just so i can look up in the car sometimes the glass roof worries people for safety but the model y just received a perfect crash test rating with 5 stars in every category and one of the best rollover ratings for a vehicle its size teslas are designed for safety and the model y is absolutely no exception the best part about the design of this car for me is the cargo space the truck has an automatic hatchback that opens up to a very large trunk that has plenty of space for what i need the majority of the time if i need more space there are two large under storage compartments two side cubbies and then the rear seats fold flat at the touch of a button this is where the model y is the most versatile and why many people want to buy it you can fit a ton of stuff back there the only real downside is that the roof slopes quite a bit more than the average crossover suv meaning that you are height limited to the rear roof height when it comes to cargo if you still need some more space after that you have a little space under the front seats as well as the front trunk which is very spacious i usually keep emergency accessories in there but i also tend to put any hot food or other smelly things up there since it's closed off and sealed from the cabin those are the main features of the model y itself so let's actually drive the car if you've never driven an electric car before schedule a test drive right now i'll wait but seriously electric cars drive different and in the best way possible since they are electric they have instant torque and the acceleration is incredible the model y goes up to 3.5 seconds on a 0 to 60 on the performance model and mine goes 0 to 60 in 4.8 seconds for the average person this is plenty fast it's super fun but also very useful in tight situations and quick merges on the freeway especially in los angeles the immediate response is great to have and goes along with the all-wheel drive that this car includes another incredible feature of driving electric is regenerative braking regenerative braking takes the energy from braking and puts it back into the battery but it also enables one pedal driving in the car it's another feature that takes a week or so to get used to but the car begins braking gently when you take your foot off the gas instead of the normal gas then over to brake and gas and brake situation you just use the one accelerator to control speed and slow down for example here i am driving in the mountains going around turns slowing down speeding up and everything in between my foot is staying 100 on the accelerator and only in rare cases when i suddenly need to brake hard do i actually use the brake pedal i'd say on the average drive i use the brake pedal one to two times total it's amazing and takes quite a load off during stop and go traffic since my foot can stay put i'm speeding up and slowing down all with the finesse of one pedal the performance and steering on this car are fantastic as well since it's a taller car with higher ride height you definitely feel that it's more top-heavy than a model 3 or a smaller sedan but performance is incredible for a vehicle its size it's just a fun car to drive the only part of driving that isn't the most fun is the suspension the model y feels like it should have an air suspension or some kind of situation with more absorption than it does it's a heavy vehicle and you feel it on bumps i personally have an early build and teslas notoriously get better and better the longer the vehicle is made i also have the 20 inch wheels which could be a factor in ride quality but still this car has a much tougher ride than my wife's kia forte a car that's about a third the price that's comparing two different types of cars but almost any standard suv or crossover rides much smoother than the model y does in my experience having a smooth ride depends on your preferences and whether you're using this car for sport but for the average suv buyer the suspension will feel rougher than it should at this point that's my biggest complaint about this car by far and it led to me upgrading the suspension through unplugged performance i have a full video about it linked below and this upgrade was definitely an improvement but it still feels bumpier than i would prefer in this car still the rest of the features of this car outweigh the ride quality for me one feature in particular is autopilot all teslas include basic autopilot for free and for most people this is what they stick with you can upgrade the system with a few features including navigate on autopilot smart summon auto park and auto lane change for ten thousand dollars i'll talk about these features more in a minute but currently as i've said many times it's way overpriced but comes with the promise of future full self driving if you buy this package you get the features i mentioned today as well as software updates that include every future self-driving upgrade tesla introduces currently full self-driving is in beta and is proving very impressive but is yet to be given a definitive delivery timeline for customers buying this package in any case the included autopilot system is great it uses all the default cameras and sensors around the car to first enable a number of safety features like emergency braking and lane departure avoidance on top of those you get driver assistance features including traffic aware cruise control and auto steer cruise control will automatically keep the correct speed based on the traffic around and in front of you speeding up and braking accordingly and auto steer will keep you centered in your lane when you use these together your car can drive for you for as long as you want to stay in your lane when you want to change lanes you simply exit autopilot change lanes and then re-enter it in my experience autopilot is incredible and i wouldn't want a car without it but again it's incredible about 95 of the time 95 of the time it stays centered in the lane perfectly drives me with no issues for miles and miles speeds up and breaks naturally keeps me safe and takes a lot of driving stress off my shoulders however it's not perfect it's always improving and still has a ways to go before it's better than a human driver for the remaining five percent of the time autopilot can screw up i've never had a true close call with an accident but i have had a number of times where i experience phantom braking this is where the car suddenly slams on the brakes for no real reason it thought it saw something to brake for it slammed on the brakes nothing was there and i quickly had to take over to keep going and not get rear-ended luckily it's very easy to take over for autopilot but when these instances happen it drops your confidence in the system for a bit and starts a love hate cycle i've driven with autopilot before for a hundred miles with no issue but then if it suddenly breaks for no reason on mile 101 most of that confidence has gone pretty much immediately some people might want to tell you that it's a perfect system but it is not you will have some instances where it will freak you out or break for no reason especially if you use it a lot again though 95 of the time it's great takes a lot of stress out of driving and makes the monotony of a long road trip far more bearable back in october i did a road trip from los angeles to washington and back i used autopilot for most of the trip and it enabled me to drive over 14 hours in a day without losing my mind i will say that auto lane change only included in the full self-driving package for ten thousand dollars massively improves autopilot though on road trips especially on long stretches like the five in california you need to change lanes a decent amount of time to get around trucks and such auto lane change makes this much easier because you are in autopilot initiate a lane change it does it for you and stays in autopilot with normal autopilot you would have to exit autopilot and then do the lane change yourself and then re-enter it i personally wish auto lane change was included in the car by default but it's part of what tesla is selling at ten thousand dollars that attracts buyers the rest of the features currently delivered in that full self-driving package are cool but are not as useful as auto lane change in my experience you get summon which lets you drive the car forward and backward from the app and maybe get it out of a tight spot and you get smart summon which drives the car towards you in a parking lot but in my experience this is a little buggy a little frustrating and not too useful in its current form you also get auto park which works well when it pops up on the screen but it only usually shows up as an option when parking between two other cars and when it's a very clear parking situation and then the last feature is traffic light and stop sign control this allows the car to stop for stop lights at traffic lights and proceed with your confirmation it's the first teaser of what is to come with true full self-driving but again isn't very useful in its current form the good news is that these cars get regular software updates just like a smartphone it's one of the best features of a tesla because the car is always improving throughout your ownership since getting mine tesla added the side cameras to the on-screen backup camera they massively improved spotify added new games and added an on-screen viewer for sentry mode and dash cam footage sentry mode and dash cam are two names for essentially the same system that utilizes the autopilot cameras around the car for safety sentry mode is an advanced security system that records when any activity happens around your car it saves to a drive inside the car and the new model y actually both includes this drive and includes a usb port in the glove box so you can keep it safely stowed away you can view the footage on screen to verify if you need to handle a situation before leaving somewhere or you can download it to your computer if needed dash dashcam uses the same cameras but records while driving it's constantly recording and rewriting until an event happens you honk the horn or press the button to save footage in the case of an accident this is great to have proof of what occurred for insurance again you can view this footage on screen or download it to your computer if needed via the included usb drive in the glove box when i first bought this car my wife had a kia forte at the time we were resistant to the idea of only having an electric car because we hadn't experienced life without a gas car gas cars are convenient with fuel there's always a gas station a few miles away and it takes about five minutes to fuel up you never really have to worry about fuel on a road trip in an electric car you kind of do but tesla has made this a non-issue as i've learned over the past year for one teslas are made to charge at home i installed a faster charger in my house for under five hundred dollars and this is where i charge ninety percent of the time i get home plug in and have the car scheduled to charge during my off-peak electricity hours for me that's 9 pm to 4 pm the next day i wake up in the morning and my car is charged up for the day the average driver will not be driving 326 miles in an average day regularly so home charging will be the majority of charging and it will actually save you a lot of both time and money when compared to gas trips then for number two for those without a home charger or going on road trips tesla has built out their supercharger network with over 2000 stations and counting each with multiple stalls in your tesla if you need to charge to reach your destination the map system will automatically route you to superchargers along your route show you nearby food and tell you how long you need to charge charging does take longer than gas typically 25 to 30 minutes but i have found this to not really be an issue for the most part most of the time i plan to charge while i take a bathroom break or get some food by the time i finish those tasks my car is finishing up its charge if charging takes longer tesla also has built-in games as well as netflix hulu and youtube to keep you occupied on a very long all-day road trip though some charging stops will be more like 45 minutes and will start to feel a little draining it will also add some time to your journey probably one to two hours more depending on the length of the road trip and how many equivalent gas stops you would have taken when driving back from washington to los angeles the last couple stops were a little boring i went to the bathroom and ended up watching brooklyn 99 on hulu but really i just wanted to get back on the road but keep in mind this was a 16 hour day of driving on a normal road trip or stopping just once supercharging does not bother me at all and it's a worthy trade-off for all the benefits that come with this car and the time savings i get in my normal routine charging at home instead of going to gas stations by the way if you plan on buying a model y you can use my referral link in the description below for a thousand free supercharger miles after that road trip and many other experiences home charging we ended up deciding to sell my wife's kia forte we plan to get her an electric car when we need two cars again but i feel confident that as long as one of my electric cars is a long range tesla i can go on any road trip i want to go on i don't need to have a gas car as a backup for those times they need to drive longer the supercharger network is one of the biggest perks of owning a tesla no other electric car manufacturer has a charging solution as expansive and convenient as tesla's is you plug in and that's it no card swiping no cash no nothing it's charged to your account and your car is compatible with every supercharger you also have coverage for nearly everywhere you need to go if you're concerned about this you can check out tesla's own mapping feature that calculates routes based on vehicle ranges and supercharging locations the model y now starts at forty eight thousand nine hundred ninety dollars in california there are some incentives for electric vehicles so be sure to check what ev incentives your state might have if you're looking to buy currently teslas do not qualify for the federal ev tax incentive but a new program is in the works and could show up later this year if it passes this would enable you to save up to 7 500 on the car if it comes to be the base model listed on tesla's website is all-wheel drive long range gets 326 miles of an epa estimated range a top speed of 135 miles per hour and a 0 to 60 in 4.8 seconds keep in mind that epa ranges are always a little bit generous though so in real life your range may be closer to 300 miles or lower depending on a number of factors you can also buy the performance model for sixty thousand nine hundred ninety dollars which includes specific performance upgrades a higher top speed and zero to sixty but a lower range if both of those are too expensive for you tesla did briefly introduce a standard range model y they took it off of their website but it's something you should be able to still buy off menu meaning that you can buy it through a tesla store directly or by calling the off menu price hasn't officially been confirmed but should come in under forty thousand dollars and get a range of 244 miles epa if you're looking to buy a tesla there are a few considerations to keep in mind i don't think these should cause most people to avoid buying one but here goes tesla is a newer company and they still deliver cars with issues when i took delivery of my model y a year ago i ended up taking mine to the service center three or four separate times within the first couple months i detailed the reasons for these visits in other videos linked below but most of the issues were paint imperfections squeaky parts on the interior and loose trim pieces i did have one issue where the front trunk sensor was malfunctioning and would throw up a whole slew of alarms when i drove it took two appointments to get that fixed since i was one of the first people to have that issue with the car but luckily i haven't seen this issue pop up for buyers in a long time as i mentioned my vin was under 2200 so my model y was a very early build and they have built well over a hundred thousand model wise at this point i've been keeping up on it and build quality has improved greatly but still model wise get delivered with issues from time to time tesla will usually fix these issues under warranty but it's an aspect of buying a car this expensive that really shouldn't exist the things you've heard about like panel gaps and such exist but they are never as bad as headlines like to express my experience early on was pretty rough but tesla made it right service fixed my issues and i haven't had any issues for the past nine months and build quality seems to have improved greatly on newer models for some people having any potential issues turns them off of buying this car entirely i understand that but i also feel that if you test drove one of these and experience what it's really like to own you'll find it to be well worth it i know that i would absolutely do it again even with the issues and drawbacks i've mentioned however here are a couple things i'd keep in mind for next time number one wait for later builds of a tesla if you can tesla is constantly upgrading these cars with new features but also improving build quality as they produce more and more cars a 50 000 vin model y will have a much better build quality than one of the first 2000 made so if you can wait it may be worth it number two if you're not incredibly picky about your wheels i would just get the stock wheels the 19 inch wheels should ride smoother and as much as the plastic hubcaps may feel cheap to you they are far easier to replace if you ever happen to graze a curb just the tiniest bit the larger wheels are easier to scratch and can't really be repaired plus they are two thousand dollars more number three i bought the full self-driving package since i have a youtube channel but if i were buying just for myself i wouldn't buy it with the car i would wait to see what it delivers later or possibly get the subscription it's a software update that you can add at any time tesla has talked many times about a subscription coming for the full self-driving package and that should be arriving soon and might be the best option currently tesla does not allow you to transfer your full self-driving purchase to another vehicle so if you pay ten thousand dollars in a model y and then decide a year later to get a model three instead you either don't get full self-driving again or you pay ten thousand dollars again plus full self-driving isn't really factored in with trade-in value so it's not a great value unless you absolutely know you will be keeping this vehicle for a long time number four be ready for a bumpy suspension as i mentioned earlier issues coming with the car are less of a concern at this point as build quality has improved but the suspension is still rough in the model y it is by far my biggest complaint about this car when comparing the model y to an equivalent affordable gas powered car sure i'm spending more to drive this car even with electricity savings factored in but when you compare the model y to an equivalent priced gas car you'll be saving money on fuel electricity is cheaper than gas and the freedom it brings is well worth it there are many great electric cars coming to market but i believe you'll find that the model y is the best option thanks to the great range it includes autopilot and tesla's supercharger network i have yet to see these features matched by any competitor most competitors have a great product but it has less range and far less charging options that has been my experience owning this car for the past year and i'm really excited to see what the next year brings and what new features i might get with over-the-air software updates if you want to check out a breakdown of the true cost i paid for my model y you can check out my video linked over here or in the description below plus i'll be putting out an updated one-year version of that video soon so make sure to hit that subscribe button to see that in the meantime thanks so much for watching and i'll see you on the next one

Channel: Ryan Shaw

Views: 404,188

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Id: tNLvy6MVPLc

Length: 24min 10sec (1450 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 03 2021