Tesla Model Y first Australian test drive

The Tesla Model Y offers more space, a charge range of 455km, and some serious, gut-punch acceleration.

Deep down, even the most phone-camera shy and introverted folk like to be noticed. So when I was told I’d be one of the first people in Australia to drive Tesla’s long-awaited Model Y, I put on my best shirt and an insouciant glow, presuming that everyone would be staring and pointing their devices at me.

I was wrong.

For a start, the sight of a Tesla on our roads is no longer remarkable nor exciting, unless you’re one of the people currently waiting 12-14 months for the Model 3 they’ve put a deposit down on.

I bet they get quite emotional every time they see one.

The Tesla Model Y has a charge range of 455km.

More importantly, however, it turns out that the Model Y does not look vastly different from Teslas before. Indeed, a Model 3 looks about as different from a Model Y as I do from photos of me when I was hugely overweight.

There’s generally a lot of excitement at my place about the arrival of anything with a Tesla badge on it – the fact that it’s the only brand my 10 and 15-year-old kids care about is testimony to the incredible job of future marketing Elon Musk has done – yet both of them strolled past the Y without a tremor, because they assumed it was just one we’d had before.

The Model Y is bigger, of course, that’s the reason for its existence, along with allowing Musk to complete his hilarious jape of naming the vehicles in the Tesla range S, 3, X and Y (if being a billionaire ever gets tired, he’s got a real future working in personalised number plates).

You do need to park it next to a 3 to really notice the differences, though, because the shape, the styling and even the interior look unadventurously similar (in fact, they share around 75 per cent of their parts).

I’m always impressed by just how spacious the Model 3 is in the rear, it’s a properly large sedan, but the Model Y does step things up significantly in terms of rear leg room and boot space, because it’s essentially a large hatchback/SUV rather than a sedan. This means the Y has a higher roofline and the Model 3 sits lower to the ground. (The Y is 56mm longer, 41mm wider and 183mm taller than the 3).

Seriously spacious with room for an extra row of seats.

Personally, I’d be more likely to use the term “jelly bean” than I would “sexy” when describing either the Y or the 3, but then Tesla is selling an idea, and an image, rather than just a car, which makes its appeal unique, and almost unaffected by what it looks like. The badge, even more than on any other expensive car, is what it’s all about.

Of course, “expensive” is a relative term. The Model Y is pricier than the smaller 3, obviously, with the list price for the Rear-Wheel Drive entry-level variant I was testing at $68,900 (throw in the shiny red paint, some delivery costs and it would actually cost you $77,356 drive-away).

On the plus side, in the Model Y, the sense of space all around you is only made greater by the absolutely enormous tinted glass roof, and the lack of any fussiness, or pretty much anything at all, in the interior. The thing about all that minimalism is that it feels like you’re not getting a whole lot for your money.

The Model Y does take some getting used to from the driver’s seat as well, even having driven Teslas previously. Straight in front of your eyes, there is nothing, just an Ikea looking timber dashboard and the car’s nose. To see your speed, you need to divert your eyes to the left, to the top corner of the enormous 14-inch landscape central touch screen that runs your life in a Tesla.

The Model Y’s 14-inch touchscreen has a new theatre setting, allowing you to watch Netflix

Personally, I don’t find this a very satisfactory system at all. Everything about the giant screen and its many functions is distracting, but the one thing I need to see all the time is not logically positioned, nor large enough.

I could, however, choose to set up the Model Y’s random fart sounds while driving, or partake in some Caraoke, one of the car’s many, many apps (the fireplace, or Romance mode, is my favourite, but the new Theatre where you can watch Netflix, and get the most out of that vast screen, is cool too).

But surely, you ask, it doesn’t display song lyrics while you’re driving, that would make Caraoke dangerous? Fear not, the screen asks you if you’re a Passenger, and as long as you say yes it works while on the move. I tried very hard not to look at the lyrics while my children were having a ball with it, but who amongst us doesn’t want to know what Billy Ray Cyrus is banging on about in Old Town Road?

Speaking of driving, anyone who’s driven a Model 3 will find the Y very familiar indeed, it’s just a tiny bit slower due to the extra weight, with a 0 to 100km/h time of 6.9 seconds, but believe me when I says it’s still fast enough.

It might look like a child’s toy car, but even this base Rear-Wheel Drive model has serious, gut-punch acceleration.

I know several people who have ordered a Tesla without driving one, which boggles my brain, but by gosh they’re going to be in for an electric-car shock, particularly the conservative and careful drivers amongst them. It might look like a child’s toy car, but even this base Rear-Wheel Drive model has serious, gut-punch acceleration.

You really don’t need a car that’s faster than this, or if you do, you’re probably the kind of person who wants one that looks and feels sporty as well. You could buy the twin-motor Performance version of the Model Y, however, and it would frighten the hell out of you on a daily basis with its ability to hit 100km/h in 3.7 seconds.

The steering, ride and handling are all typically Tesla good, the claimed range off a charge is 455km, which is reasonable, and basically your biggest issue if you want a Model Y is going to be getting your hands on one. When I went to pick mine up, there were people begging just to test drive one.

The Model Y doesn’t really do anything exciting or new for the Tesla brand, but then it doesn’t need to – it just puts more options in front of a slavering public who have already made its little brother, the Model 3, the biggest-selling EV in Australia.

No doubt a slightly bigger Tesla will be an even bigger seller.