The Tesla Model Y was the brand’s second commercial success. While the Roadster was a fun garage band project and the Model X and Model Y are neato keen low-volume performance vehicles for those with six-figure budgets, the Model 3 and Model Y brought prices down far enough into the luxury-priced vehicle arena for very large numbers of buyers to obtain a Tesla. Of the two vehicles, the Model Y crossover is now the trendy one.

A note about this review: Unlike nearly every other manufacturer, Tesla does not offer any support to the automotive press. Our (positive) review of the Model Y is based on our research and having spent an afternoon driving the vehicle. Typically, we test a media fleet vehicle for a week or more before offering up a review, but the Model Y is too important to ignore.

In the context of crossovers in general, the Tesla Model Y is pretty good in many ways. When the EV angle is considered, the Model Y is fantastic. No brand does a better job with the “living electric” aspects of vehicle ownership than Tesla.

The Model Y is perfectly sized to serve a wide portion of the luxury-priced crossover market, offers trims with either five or seven-passenger seating, and is available in three range and performance versions with the very pricey Full Self Driving as an option to keep prices somewhat reasonable.

The Model Y is the defacto standard in the industry today as the go-to crossover for those who have a budget in the $50K to $75K range and want a battery-electric vehicle.

Ford’s Mustang Mach-E is a five-passenger sporty crossover/hatchback that we feel trumps the Tesla Model Y in many ways. It has a better ride quality than the Model Y, a superior infotainment setup, and feels a lot more luxurious and rich than the Model Y. Inventory has just caught up with demand. We suspect that dealers will soon be ending the practice of adding massive markups over MSRP. Drive an equivalently-priced Ford Mustang Mach-E back to back with a Tesla Model Y (like we did), and you will be very surprised at just how good the Ford is.

Jaguar’s I-PACE is similarly-sized and priced to the five-passenger version of the Model Y, has similar performance but a lot more panache and exclusivity. The history police may come knocking for what we are about to say, but the Tesla Model Y is a knock-off of the Jaguar I-PACE battery-electric vehicle that preceded it in the marketplace, which itself followed the all-electric Toyota RAV4 which was sold in two different generations long before the Jag.

We’ve spent a total of about a month testing the Jaguar I-PACE, and each time we drive it, we can’t help but think it isn’t the best EV Jaguar produces but the best vehicle. It handles like a sports car, drives like a luxury car, and has true luxury appointments. Range is lower in the I-PACE, but we suspect owners may have another JLR vehicle in their family fleet for long drives. Perhaps a Range Rover?

Hyundai, Genesis, and Kia are producing a slew of BEVs all based on a common platform and series of powertrains and infotainment packages. We’ve tested a half-dozen of them, and they are all better than the Model Y in one way or another. The best of the bunch, based on our extensive driving time in them, is the Genesis GV60. Although the Model Y and GV60 overlap in many ways, the GV60 is the true luxury option in the comparison.

Like the Jag, the GV60 is range-challenged, but again, will it be the family’s road tripper? Doubtful. One neat trick is that the GV60 is capable of faster charging on a public high-speed DC Fast charger than a Tesla is on a Supercharger. Betcha would not have guessed that.

Most of the things that make living with a Tesla Model Y less than perfect are solved by the Toyota RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle. The Toyota offers about double the range without stopping for energy, offers wireless Apple Car play, and every one shipped to an American consumer comes with a spare tire. The two have similar straight-line performance when equivalently priced, and the Toyota has a long legacy of reliability Tesla would sure love to have. Think outside the box a bit, and the RAV4 Prime starts to make a lot of sense if you want to drive around all week on electricity and then have the flexibility to go anywhere chargers aren’t convenient and never run out of energy.

Range Chart

Tesla’s prices have jumped around so much over the past three years that it is hard to know if anything we print will be valid for more than 15 minutes. As this story was written, Tesla offered three trims of the Model Y. We feel it may be best if we just lay out the prices in a chart for our readers. Please note that our prices are for a 5-passenger Model Y. Seven-passenger seating adds $2,500:

Notable options include Enhanced Autopilot, which costs $6,000, and Full Self Driving, which costs $15,000. Our fully-options pricing above includes every option offered plus red paint.

Tesla doesn’t bother with model years, so be certain you know what you are getting when you order. The DMV will assign you a model year so you can register the car, but Teslas change mid-year quite a bit. The most significant change for 2023 was the addition of a “Base” Model Y. It offers 279 miles of range and, most importantly, has a theoretical entry MSRP under $50K. The reason this vehicle exists is so Tesla can advertise a low price point and pretend, claim, or hint that its Model Y will qualify for state rebates, federal tax incentives, giveaways, freebies, and other free money. Throw red paint on a Model Y, and its sticker price starts above $51K.

How the Model Y drives depends a lot on which one you choose and which wheels it is fitted with. Quite a lot of owners and shoppers who have test-driven a Model Y with its optional 20-inch wheels and low-profile tires report that the vehicle is too firm, harsh, and stiff, even on normal paved roads. Tesla was rolling out a suspension change to address this the last time we heard, but many 2023-built Model Ys still had the old suspension.

When we drove a Long Range trim of the Model Y, we found it surprisingly loud inside, too firm, and not very refined feeling for its price point. The acceleration in any EV is outstanding, and the Model Y is no different. The Performance trim is a straight-up rocket.

It is important to note that Tesla shoves everything possible into its one large center screen. What a hassle. What was once interesting and novel when it first appeared is now widely viewed as just bad by all but the Tesla fans drinking the Musk-flavored KoolAid.

Like many of the crossovers in its size and price, the Model Y earns the IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus rating. The Model Y also has a five-star NHTSA rating.

Owners of Model Y vehicles say in Consumer Reports surveys that the vehicle is relatively unreliable. Since its introduction in 2020, the Model Y has earned no higher than three stars out of five in any given year for reliability, and the current model year has a predicted ⅖ rating. In the 2023 Durability Study by J.D. Power & Associates, the Tesla brand finished near the bottom of all brands.

Unless you somehow fall into the narrow sliver of taxpayers for whom the federal EV tax incentives pays out, the Model Y Long-Range seems the slam-dunk trim to get. We would add the 7-passenger option for $2,500 and go for red paint at $2,000. Tesla’s automated driver assist systems have two camps; The folks who think letting the car do the driving is the only way to go and those who don’t. Pay up for the $15K FSD package if you are one of the few buyers who think it is a plus. The Tesla-branded wall-mount charger for $475 is something we would buy for sure if we didn’t already have an EV charger on the wall at home.

Tesla’s warranty depends on the actual model. How kooky is that? The new vehicle limited warranty covers your vehicle for 4 years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first. The battery and drive unit has a coverage period of 8 years or 120,000 miles, whichever comes first, with minimum 70% retention of Battery capacity over the warranty period. Despite needing maintenance every 6,250 miles or less, the Model Y does not include the cost of maintenance for any period. By contrast, most of Tesla’s competitors do offer included maintenance for as many as three years.

The Model Y is still a relatively new model. With few used ones from which to choose and a sketchy reliability record, our suggestion would be to shop new rather than used.