Tesla Model Y review video

Recently I watched this video that reviews the Tesla Model Y. And I would like to review that review :)

But firstly I must provide a disclaimer. I’m kind of a Tesla owner. I have a Tesla Model Y car in my family and I’m driving it a few times per week (mostly on weekends). I’m trying to be as objective as possible but I don’t think it is possible to be 100% objective in such a case. But I’m trying to be as close to 100% as humanly possible.

Secondly, I have to state that this person most likely got one of the first Model’s Y. They had a lot of issues with quality and they were quite stiff on the round to the point that many people said that ride was very uncomfortable.

Comparison with traditional cars

I absolutely agree with door handles. They are annoying. I don’t think there is anybody who will say that they prefer Tesla door handles over regular handles. I think that Tesla door handles are just a compromise to make the car lighter.

I agree on panel gaps. My Tesla is more or less ok. And I compared it to my Honda CR-V Touring which is the most expensive trim. And Honda also has some issues just not as many. In general, I would say that Tesla is acceptable.

But I don’t agree with cheap interior design. For me, a car is just a tool that moves my body from point A to point B. And from this point of view, my Tesla is absolutely fine. And it is definitely better than my CR-V. The seats are very comfortable. Everything my hands touch is nice to feel and I don’t feel any cheapness except maybe stocks on the steering wheel. But everything else feels nice.

Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely agree that the interior of that car is not luxury by any means. But it is not bad or cheap by any means. But I never owned a Mercedes or BMW and maybe if I had then perhaps my opinion could be different but in the current state, I think the interior is quite nice.

And after owning my car for 9 months and going over 9500 miles I still don’t hear any rattles or squeaks. It is quiet and the ride is quite soft. At least in comparison to my CR-V. And when comparing interior quality to CR-V I say that the interior of Telsa is way more premium.

I think this reviewer assumes that a person evaluates Tesla from the point of view of a person who is typically buying expensive cars in that price range and then decided to buy Tesla. In this case, I think most of them will consider Tesla as cheap built and cheap looking. But I think most people who buy Tesla come from a lower price segment (like me). And in this case, it will be totally acceptable.

I also don’t agree that flooring (accelerating very fast) is decreasing range. Not in any meaningful way. I do it pretty much all the time and I didn’t see any noticeable decrease in range. And as far as I know, it only decreases the lifespan of tires but not the range. In comparison flooring on any regular car will greatly decrease efficiency, greatly decrease time to service interval, and decrease the lifespan of the motor and power train. I rarely go over 3000 RPM on my regular cars because I know it will cost me and cost a lot. But on Tesla, I do it all the time and it is fun.

Do I want my regular car to become electric? 100% I would prefer to have my CR-V electric. I’m fine with all controls as they are in CR-V and I just want it electric. But unfortunately, it is not possible and even if Honda would do it, the range would be awful. Nobody believed in electric cars and Tesla must start making them and the result is full of compromises. It is what it is.

Why

That person made a single big mistake when evaluating Tesla cr. When people evaluate something new, they often do that from their current experience, and that prevents them from seeing the advantage of a new way.

I made the same mistake when I was evaluating Apple iPad. I was just applying my current experience. If you need to do something big you have a desktop computer. If you need something smaller to work on the sofa then you have a notebook. And why anybody would like a notebook without a keyboard?

I evaluated it only from the current one and my current experience told me that iPad is not needed. But iPad opens the way to a whole new experience. I didn’t evaluate that it will bring new and actually quite exciting experiences.

And the same happened to the person in this review who asked legitimate questions about why would people buy Tesla in its current state. And he basically is falling into the same trap as I did with iPad. And I will try to answer this question in detail.

There is almost no service on the car. If I drove 9500+ miles on a regular car, then I would need service about 2 times. It is at least 4 hours of my time. So far I didn’t do any service in my Tesla. And when I need to fix something small, they arrive at my home or work. For a traditional car, even a minor thing requires me to go to service and it takes me close to one hour. Anything more serious and it will be 2-3 hours. In extreme cases when they are busy it took me 1.5 days.

An electric car is always full. I think many of you had a situation when you are in a hurry and jumped into the car you realize that it needs petrol. And then you have to waste extra 10-15 minutes to fill it up. This is no issue with electric cars. I don’t need to go to a petrol station and touch filthy handles, I don’t need to breathe in toxic fumes. The car is always ready to go.

My Honda CR-V didn’t change for the last 6 years I own it. All glitches and quirks are still there. But for 9 months I own Tesla I already get a lot of updates and most of them were quite useful. And I’m sure that in a few years, it will be even better.

And driving Tesla is fun. One-pedal driving changing driving by quite a lot. It is much easier to drive on curvy roads. And it is way easier to drive downhill. When I’m stopping at the stop sign I have to apply breaks and waste all that energy and petrol I used to accelerate the car. On Tesla you just release acceleration and 80-90% of that energy will go back and the car will stop.

It is also safer to drive. All independent testing that Tesla is simply the best in safety. For example, if you go down the hill for many miles in hot weather there is a chance that you will overheat breaks. And many people simply don’t know how to put a car into low gear. But in Tesla, this problem simply does not exist. And as I stated in one of my previous posts, one-pedal is also adding up to safety.

When I’m waiting in my car, I can watch YouTube, I can play games, or just browse the internet. Yes, I can do it on my phone, but Tesla’s screen is must bigger and when I spend a lot of time on my phone I often have headaches the next day. No problem with Tesla so far.

And while I’m waiting I’m in comfortable conditions. And I don’t need to run the engine to keep myself comfortable. And it is not only a question of money or the environment. If the wind is blowing from the back of my car to the front then exhaust fumes will be sucked into the car.

And lastly, It is much cheaper to drive one mile in an electric car than in a traditional car. It is way better for the environment and people’s health. It allows us to stop burning limited fossil fuels and it will make air in cities much cleaner.

Conclusion

I think it is simply not correct to compare Tesla to a traditional car. It is just the beginning of the journey for electric cars and Tesla. And I would like to support that transition to clean vehicles and it is why I spent a lot of money to buy that car. I know I can get a similarly priced car way cheaper. But simply don’t want a regular car.

And it is not like I sacrifice something. It is totally the opposite. I got a really nice and really fast car. It is modern, has plenty of range and saves a lot of time. And after driving Tesla for some time I really want Tesla for myself as my main car.

And it is not only my opinion. Most of my neighbors bought Teslas and in the morning I hear Tesla’s buzzing noises when they are driving back from their garages. One of my neighbors said that buying Tesla was one of the best things he ever did. And he owns 2 BMWs.

And as a conclusion, I agree that the review brought up many totally valid issues but it also missed a lot of pros of owning Tesla because that person simply didn’t have it for a long enough time and I think he got a very old version that had much more issues.

I hope it helps someone.