Tesla Model Y Performance (2025 – ) Electric review

It looks harsh docking a whole mark here compared with the regular Model Y but the Performance version costs a lot more to buy, finance or lease, to the point where Tesla’s own PCP offer more than doubles the monthly rate you’d pay for the Long Range RWD Model Y that would probably do most people just fine. The extra money would feel worth the while if the Model Y Performance still had the firepower to blow rivals out of the water. But many now boast more impressive stats, and without the bragging rights of having the most powerful EV on the block buyers may question whether the Performance is worth spending more for than a regular Model Y.

Little to worry about with Tesla’s battery and motor tech, which is still among the best in the business and well-proven across all its models. Supporting software isn’t always as glitch-free, though, and we did have some issues with the supposedly automated lane change system slamming on the brakes mid-manoeuvre. Which is less than ideal. But like many manufacturers Tesla has embraced the opportunities connected cars bring for over-the-air software updates. And we’d hope glitches like that are top of the list for sorting out. Bigger picture, there’s a decent four-year warranty for the car and eight years of cover for the batteries and motor.

The Model Y is a fundamentally safe car, with the airbags and protection you’d want for keeping your family secure. Which is a big tick for the target audience. Tesla is always pushing hard with its driver aids and autonomous driving tech as well, and while regulation limits how much automation you can use owners apparently love the way the cars monitor their surroundings and brake, steer and adjust their speed accordingly. This does demand total faith from the driver, though, and ours was a little shaken by some unexpected brake interventions and wrong calls from safety alerts. It also pulled the electronic rug from beneath us after judging our usage of the Autopilot system to be inappropriate for some reason, taking its bat and ball home for the rest of the journey. Then there are the ongoing frustrations of screen-based control for even basic functions like mirror adjustment, which we’ll say contributed to the embarrassment of kerbing one of the fancy wheels when we couldn’t drop the mirror to check how far we were from the pavement. Something you’d do by reflex in an instant in a car with physical mirror adjustment switches.

The original Model Y wasn’t all that refined or comfortable on the road, though the updated ‘Juniper’ version was much improved with its extra sound deadening and plusher interior. We still felt it was a little unsettled on lumpier roads, though. With its bigger wheels and sportier suspension we feared the worst for the Performance but were happy to be proven wrong, the sophisticated adaptive damping offering two different levels of body control but impressively composed and refined in both. True, at town speeds you still feel the bumps. But even in the sportier of the two settings the Model Y Performance rides with real authority, flattening out lumpy tarmac while also controlling the sickness-inducing pitch and roll you get in softer cars. This, combined with the additional sound deadening and acoustic glass, make it the most comfortable and relaxing Model Y you can buy. As well as the fastest. Other improvements include special Performance front seats with adjustable thigh cushions and grippier side bolsters to hold you firm in the corners. They also look cool, while in the back there’s plenty of head- and legroom, with a power recline feature for the rear bench. The boot is a decent size as well, and more easily accessible than the hole-like aperture on the Model 3.

As with any Tesla, if you love your tech you’ll love the way it powers your every interaction with the car through that giant central screen. And if you don’t … you won’t, and end up cursing at the insistence on finger jabbing at the screen for everything up to and including selecting drive. Assuming you’re on board with that the Model Y Performance shares the upgrades added to the regular version, including the additional screen between the front seats for those in the back to control their own heating and ventilation, or play games on. The main screen is a fraction bigger on the Performance than regular Model Ys as well. Other features setting it apart include the aforementioned Performance seats, carbon fibre interior trim, bigger 21-inch wheels, revised and more aerodynamically efficient front and rear bumpers and a nifty carbon spoiler on the bootlid along with the signature Performance badge. This also appears on the seats and the puddle lights. All nice-to-haves and sufficient to make the Performance stand out from other Model Ys. Whether that and a bit more go justify the additional expense is another matter.

Numbers are only half the story when it comes to performance, but they will matter to sections of the target audience when the stats on similarly priced and pitched rivals are bigger or more impressive in a game of pub Top Trumps. Which is silly really, because anything more than the already impressive 460 horsepower of the Model Y Performance is of limited relevance in most real-world driving situations. And even here the power delivery in the ‘Insane’ driving mode is borderline unpleasant in its abruptness, and little more than a novelty you’ll deploy just the once to impress your mates. Why you’d want a car with over 600 horsepower and even more violent acceleration is beyond us, but that’s what rivals from Kia, Hyundai and others offer, as well as novelties like simulated manual shifting, drift modes and the rest. In this context and for the fact it will go further on a charge than those rivals the Model Y Performance actually feels like the most mature and polished Tesla we’ve driven to date, the adaptive suspension and sharper handling adding a level of sophistication to an already appealing package.