Tesla Model Y
New from £44,980 / £382 p/m
Is the Tesla Model Y SUV a good car?
Read our expert review
Words by: Mark Nichol
"It’s been five years since Tesla introduced the Model Y and in doing so, making the Model 3 (it's best-selling car at that point) basically pointless; people still buy Tesla Model 3s, of course, of course – and lots of them – but the Model Y is essentially the same car, augmented with significantly more interior room, an enormous boot and a massive, flexible hatchback. And, crucially, all those for not much more money. A tantalisingly tumescent Tesla, if you like, and one that in 2024 won our overall Car of the Year award. Now iupdated for 2025 (called the ‘Juniper’ update, if you’re interested), it’ll be a revelation to any outgoing Model Y owner. It not only looks much less gawky, it’s fundamentally a better car by almost every measure. And thanks to the Supercharger network, it remains one of the easiest EVs to live with."
Read the review by category
Running costs for a Tesla Model Y
4/5
For a big lump of SUV with a massive boot, this much tech and this much speed, the Model Y is very keenly priced. Starting at around £45k, it’s about on par with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 (albeit that has a lower entry price), the (far less good) BYD Sealion 7, or a (far less big) BMW iX2. And it significantly undercuts the Audi Q8 e-tron and Mercedes-Benz EQC while feeling both bigger and much more playful than both. And it’s only a few grand more than a Model 3, like-for-like. Add to that very cheap company car tax rates, lower-than-average public charging costs using the Supercharger network (which you can also use for a second, non-Tesla EV), and decent finance rates, and you can see why Tesla shifts so many of these things. It’s quite expensive to insure, though.
Reliability of a Tesla Model Y
4/5
Teslas do have a reputation for being quite glitchy, which isn’t too surprising for a relatively new car company with products so reliant on software. Dealership service isn’t up to Lexus standards either, and nor is interior build quality, frankly. Anecdotally, our test car came with ear-piercingly squeaky brakes. Embarassing. All that said, the Model Y does do well in reliability surveys, coming top in the electric SUV category of a well-known UK-based one in 2024. And, as ever, there’s the whole “electric motors have fewer moving parts than petrol engines and go wrong far less’ thing. So, not too much to worry about here.
Safety for a Tesla Model Y
5/5
We’ve all seen footage of Autopiloted Teslas making an artificially unintelligent mess of driving themselves, but self-driving software woes aside, the Model Y is plenty safe. It was given five stars by Euro NCAP in 2022, gaining a 97 percent adult occupant score – the highest in the class at the time – and a remarkable 98 percent score for safety assist systems. And on a pragmatic level, despite the kitchen sink of safety systems it has, they’re some of the least intrusive you’ll find during day-to-day driving; the Model Y isn’t prone to excessive warning bongs, or bumping the car between lane markings like a bowling ball bouncing off the guard rails, or constantly reminding you that you’re probably tired. The controls do take some getting used to, though. Tesla has finally caved and now given the Y a proper indicator stalk, which is good, but it’s a single-use piece of plastic – flashing the headlamps is a button on the steering wheel, which is counterintuitive. And we’re not sure why the always-on traffic monitor includes all the wheelie bins on the path either. The blind spot cameras and the parking cameras are large and high-def, though. Generally, it does a great job of making you feel safe while keeping all the systems broadly out of the way.
How comfortable is the Tesla Model Y
4/5
Where the last Model Y felt like a piece of tech that happened to be car-shaped, this one feels more like a well-developed automobile. And it’s apparent within 50 yards that lots of work has gone into making it that way. The damping is much softer, so the Y no longer judders across the road like a tumble drier strapped to a skateboard, and the steering rack is a lot looser and less twitchy. There’s noticeably less road and wind noise, and the whole thing now feels like it was developed by people who’ve actually been in a modern family SUV before, rather than people sat playing videogames and guessing what a big car should be like. Is it perfect? Obviously not. It still feels a little unsophisticated, especially on a b-road, where the bouncier suspension stops the body from properly settling down. But hey, it's not made for b-roads,. It's made for dropping the kids off at the pool or whatever, and it's excellent at that now. The seats are soft and comfy and the driving position is exceptional. It sits the driver high for a good view of the road, although the shallow rear screen means backwards visibility is quite poor. The reversing cameras and massive central screen make up for that, though. And there are some genuinely useful comfort innovations, like how the car detects when you’re parking and will engage forward and reverse for you. It works well. And on a more practical level, it’s very spacious front and back, and the minimalistic cabin design and massive glass roof enhance that feeling.
Features of the Tesla Model Y
5/5
Teslas have arguably always felt a step behind in terms of ‘traditional’ car benchmarks like cabin quality, comfort and handling. But on the other hand, the company’s whole shtick is tech, and so the cars have always been bursting with features and innovation. In 2025 the surprise and delight element of the Model Y has arguably gone – millions of sales will do that – but there’s no denying that it’s still an impressive, idiosyncratic and feature-rich car. It’s vexing that it doesn’t have Apple CarPlay, but actually, the car so effortlessly links to your Apple Music or Spotify accounts, that it’s not really an issue. And the nav is powered by Google Maps, which is MUCH better than most – all, probably – proprietary car manufacturer systems. And the air con controls – again, easy to knock because they’re behind a screen menu – are intuitive to use… fun, even. Yep. Fun with air conditioning. Pinch and swipe to adjust the airflow across the width of the cabin and watch as the graphics display the changes onscreen. Again, the screen-centricity of it all takes a little getting used to, but once you do, operating the software becomes mostly second nature. And yeah, some of the features are stupid, like how it can quack like a duck when the car locks. And, famously, it can fart. Tee hee. You can even use the phone app to make the car do a light show and flap its charging port up and down. Tee hee. So yes, plenty of features. And it’s all standard. The Tesla app is the best smartphone app for a car in the business, as it goes.
Power for a Tesla Model Y
5/5
The Juniper Model Y launches with three familiar options: rear-wheel drive, long-range rear wheel drive and long-range all-wheel drive (badged ‘dual motor’). A Performance version will undoubtedly turn up soon too, capable of silently shaming a supercar on a straight road. The 311-mile range of the basic car isn’t class-leading, but it should be more than enough for most, and it’s hardly slow: 0-60mph in 5.6 seconds. Not bad for a basic household item. The long-range version bumps that to 387 miles (officially) and is a little quicker, while the dual motor model is even quicker but the range drops by 20 miles or so. Take your choice, and you’ll no doubt want the quickest one, but the basic version is all the pace and mileage you’ll need. Save yourself many thousands of pounds. All of them charge with absolute rapidity - no problem there.
Lease deals
These deals are based on terms of 8,000 miles, for a 36 month lease with a 6 months initial payment.
Standard equipment
Expect the following equipment on your Tesla Model Y SUV. This may vary between trim levels.
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