It’s fair to say that each of the Tesla models has been a historic vehicle. However, the new Model Y could be the best seller so far. Tesla has refined all of the Model 3’s features into a form factor aimed directly at the world’s most popular market segment.
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Above: The cover of the May / June issue of Charged magazine (Source: Charged)
Roger Pressman, the founder of EVannex, probably knows as much about Tesla vehicles, at least from a consumer point of view, as anyone in the world. He has owned all four Tesla mass market models (arguably an S3XY type) and in the course of developing aftermarket products for them, he has carefully measured and examined each one. Roger shared some of his first impressions with Loaded.
“The key word for the whole car is refined“Roger said.” I’ve driven all four cars, as a daily or family driver for long trips. Obviously, the S and X have more luxury features and a more luxurious feel. They are bigger cars, and they have some bells and whistles that the Y doesn’t. However, almost all the other features of the car represent a refinement of the entire Tesla line, and that’s a really good thing. I think Tesla has learned a lot in the last eight years, and the Y is the culmination of that “.
Tesla has said all along that Model Y would be based on Model 3. In January 2019, Elon Musk said the two would share 76% of the same components, allowing Tesla to take advantage of economies of scale and greater efficiency, not only in your supply chain, but also in terms of supplying parts to your service centers. (Tesla had a similar goal for the Model X, but the list of new features for the SUV skyrocketed, and it ended up sharing only about 30% of its parts with the Model S.)
How do the 3 and Y models differ? “Regarding functionality per se, there isn’t much difference between Y and 3, “says Roger.” But I could think of a lot of little things that are really cool. You have the hatchback on the Y, which is automatic, it appears nice, smooth and slow. It doesn’t have that in Model 3, to achieve this, you must buy a non-original product ”.
A notable change is that the front and rear tires are of different sizes. The rear ones are 275 mm wide and the fronts are 255 (most observers expect this to be the case only for the Performance model, but that remains to be confirmed). Some may complain that this arrangement prevents you from turning the tires, but it does have advantages, as Roger explains.
“It gives the car a very aggressive look and visually gives you the feeling of a wider car than it really is. When you look at it from behind particularly, it has a feeling of wide posture. Wider tires and a slightly wider car feel give you better turning ability, better traction on the road. The handling of this car for an SUV is remarkable.
“Having driven the Model 3 for two years, I think it’s probably a little better driver’s car, just a little bit, not much. He is shorter, he has a lower posture. It just has a little better road feel. But the Model Y is amazing for an SUV or crossover. That’s a matter of perception, but a Model 3 Performance really is a driver’s car – it doesn’t lean, it brakes well, it stays on the road, it doesn’t feel particularly light at high speed. A Y model has those characteristics, but I could mark it a bit because it is an SUV. “
When it comes to the interior and functions of the vehicle, the Models 3 and Y are virtually the same, except for one key attribute. Interior storage space, which is very important to some buyers, has always been an issue for electric vehicles. Not really with Teslas, in fact, one of the brand’s selling points has always been how much they can carry, thanks to the battery configuration of their skateboard. Model 3 doesn’t have a lot of storage space (15.0 cubic feet), and no one claimed it did; however, Model Y is quite a different animal.
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Above: A look inside the cover of Charged magazine (Source: Charged)
“One thing that impacts the car is its interior volume,” Roger told me. “It really can hold a lot of stuff, that’s another nice surprise when you get the car.” I was very surprised to learn that the Model Y actually has more space with the seats folded (68.0 cubic feet) than the famous Model S (60.2), and not much less than the Model X (87.8). Roger has X and Y sitting next to each other in his garage, so he can compare the storage space between the two at any time. “The Y is not much smaller when you are standing at the hatch door and looking in.”
As musicians, sports enthusiasts and other lovers of material goods know, storage is not just about cubic feet, but also about design and how easy it is to load and take things out. The Y model has very little lift at the rear, making it easy to load heavy objects, and the seats fold almost flat, making it easy to slide. “It is near a flat floor,” says Roger. “When the second-row seats fold, there’s a slight angle, they don’t move completely, but very few cars do. There’s a button on the back that allows you to lower the seatbacks of the second-row seats so you can quickly pull some things off without having to walk around the car and open the door. The other thing that is nice is that the middle part of the second row folds up without the other two sides folding down. So if you have something long and narrow, like a piece of wood, just fold it up, push it in the car and you’re done.
Model Y has added a couple of other useful features that were missing from Model 3, making some of EVannex’s aftermarket products unnecessary. “We got there early to provide a rear hatch upgrade [for Model 3]”Says Roger. EVannex’s Trunk Lift product is not an automatic system, but a damper-like device that makes opening and closing the hatch easier and more convenient. The Y model comes with an automatic trunk opening system “I don’t think we were the drivers of that, I just think they thought it was a very good idea. But there is an example where we were there first, and maybe Tesla looked at it and said, ‘We can do better than that.’ Wireless charging is another thing we offered early in the game for Model 3. Obviously, we don’t offer it for Model Y because Model Y has it built in. “
Roger kept coming back to the word refinement. “I really think that from an industry point of view, as well as from a product line point of view, the Model Y represents a refinement of all the ideas that have been integrated into other Tesla vehicles, and I think that is a very good sign for the company. I think the Model Y will ultimately be the best-selling car in the line. “
“He is noticeably better in person than on video or in photos. It is really shocking. The car looks like a typical small SUV with a Tesla feel in photos and videos.
“Regarding performance, it’s great. I have a Y performance. So when you hit a stoplight, it almost doesn’t matter who’s next to you, they won’t stay with you. I mean, 3.5 seconds zero to 60 is really fast. Most drivers on the road now recognize, don’t mess with a Tesla, and the Model Y proves it. It may look like a small SUV, but it is not. It is a high performance car and it acts like this. ”
The start of the Model Y deliveries should have been the automotive story of the year, a wave of videos from enthusiastic users and media criticism. The coronavirus crisis stopped him completely, and by the time the pandemic passes, the launch will be old news. Tesla was stripped of its huge media impact: will that affect Model Y sales? “I don’t think it’s going to make a little bit of a difference,” says Roger. “I think this car will take off once people see it on the street.”
As you may recall, the market launch of the Model 3 coincided with a round of praise for the sedan. SUVs dominated (and still are) the market to the point that the Big Three basically stopped producing sedans in the United States. Some said Tesla had lost his moment, leaving with a sedan just as sedans were officially declared dead. Sales figures have proven the prediction to be wrong – the Model 3 quickly became the best-selling EV in history and vastly outperforms all competitors in the luxury sedan segment. It stands to reason that Model Y will be even more popular.
Above: Pressman develops his insight into the new Tesla Model Y (YouTube: Tesla Geeks Show)
“I think Y fits in perfectly with the current trend,” says Roger. “It provides all the benefits of the Model 3, and it’s also an SUV, giving it a level of practicality that no sedan can achieve. So it’s the complete boat. And that’s why I think it will eventually become the most popular car in the Tesla line. “
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An expanded version of this article originally appeared in the May / June issue of Charged. Author: Charles Morris.
