Seeking Opinions on MY vs alternate

[Al Veolus]

Test driving some EVs to figure out what we like but looking for some advice from experienced owners. Background: This would be our first EV. Coming from a 12 yo ICE hatchback, nothing special or sporty. This car would replace my daily driver for a pretty short commute (~10 miles/day), and would probably become our car on weekends (hiking, road trips, etc).

Have looked at Polestar 2, Model 3, and Model Y so far. Y is appealing for several reasons, including space and potential for 3rd row/7 passengers. Also really liked the drive on the Polestar, but the interior of the 3 and Y is shockingly simple. But unclear we want to wait until November or longer for delivery.

Tesla had previously cancelled our prior planned test drive of the Y due to running out of test drive vehicles, but made one available recently and we got to drive it! Good experience, would take some getting used to the center screen and no classic speedometer or driver display, but was nice. Some questions:

1. How quiet is the ride on the highway? (we were on 30-40 mph roads, not a great test of soundproofing)
2. Is the third row usable? Would be for our 4 and 7 year old kids ONLY on occasion that extended family are in town. The test car we had didn't have the feature so couldn't sit back there to try out. Concerned about head space and safety of that row.
3. Range in the winter? We are in Denver, CO so can get cold but usually pretty mild.
4. How is Autopilot? We didn't figure out how to try it out in the short time in the car. Any quirks or things you wished were changed?
5. Body roll or concerns about cleaning the seats/carpet in case of carsick-prone children (we have one).

Other things you found helpful in deciding on going with an MY? What sold you on Tesla?

Thanks,

 

[jcanoe]

Did you also consider the new VW ID.4 electric crossover?

 

[jcanoe]

1. How quiet is the ride on the highway? (we were on 30-40 mph roads, not a great test of soundproofing) Not as quiet as some other vehicles. A lot depends on the road surface and the tires. Tesla changed the front door windows from safety glass to laminated glass. This change may make the ride for the driver and front seat passenger a bit quieter but Tesla never gave a reason for the change.

2. Is the third row usable? Would be for our 4 and 7 year old kids ONLY on occasion that extended family are in town. The test car we had didn't have the feature so couldn't sit back there to try out. Concerned about head space and safety of that row. There are some videos online (YouTube) that provide a detailed review of the Model Y optional 3rd row seating. Generally ok for passengers under 5' 7". Limited ventilation comes from the second row vents. No seat heaters for the 3rd row seats.

3. Range in the winter? We are in Denver, CO so can get cold but usually pretty mild. If you are new to EVs, speed is the most important consideration when estimating highway range. In general whatever your usual consumption is in mild weather (Watt Hours per Mile (Wh/mi) will be at least 25% to 30% higher in winter. Winter tires have higher rolling resistance and reduce your range. Overall, in winter, expect to get 50% to 60% of the range you get in spring and summer with non-winter tires.

4. How is Autopilot? We didn't figure out how to try it out in the short time in the car. Any quirks or things you wished were changed? Tesla Autopilot is standard on all Model Y. This includes automatic cruise control and auto lane steering. Collision avoidance features are always active even when not using Autopilot. (Phantom breaking when encountering overpasses, shadows or no reason at all can still occur when using Autopilot.) Note: Autopilot is not Full Self Driving (FSD.) FSD adds useful features incuding traffic light autopilot for local driving, automatic lane change when navigating to a destination. FSD also adds Autopark and Summon, these are probably not as useful or perfected as you'd like. (All of the Tesla advanced driving features are considered to still be in the Beta development stage.) You can purchase FSD for $10,000 (not a typo) or you can subscribe monthly for $199 (a great option if you only need FSD for a vacation or if you are not sure.)

5. Body roll or concerns about cleaning the seats/carpet in case of carsick-prone children (we have one). Not sure what your concerns are re body roll but motion sickness in the Model Y can be an issue, especially with shorter passengers and children in the second row (probably third row too.) One reason may be because these passengers are not tall enough to see out through the windshield or side windows. (It is the same if you get sea sick. If you can look out at the horizon you may be fine but if you are inside the boat cabin and lose your equilibrium you can quickly feel sea sick if the boat is rocking.)

The seating surfaces of the Model Y are made of a man-made polyurethane material called UltraLeather. The seats clean up easily with damp micro fiber cloth or unscented baby wipes. (To protect against larger spills, vomit, pet accidents etc. perhaps seat covers would be best.) For the flooring many prefer to install floor liners. The Tesla Model Y comes with carpeted mats. There are at least a dozen choices for aftermarket floor mats and floor liners (not exaggerating) including Tesla, WeatherTech, Tesmanian, 3D Maxpider, LDCRS and many more sold on Amazon.

For local driving you would charge at home or at work, maybe at a public Level 2 charger while shopping. For road trips beyond 100 miles or so you would rely on the Tesla Supercharger network. Today, on most any interstate highway in the US or in Canada you are never more than about 120 to 140 miles from a Supercharger. You would typically stop to charge about every 2 to 2.5 hours usually complete charging to ~70% in under 20 minutes. For Route Planning you can use the Tesla Navigation system in the vehicle. Many use A Better Route Planner (ABRP) when planning a road trip. ABRP is also available as an app for your phone. (ABRP can be used when planning trips in other EVs, not only Tesla vehicles.)

Tesla Supercharger Locations: Supercharger | Tesla

A Better Route Planner: A Better Routeplanner

 

[socal_my]

Not sure how important is ride quality for you. There are only two major things that I am not completely happy with MY so far. One is the ride quality. It's pretty harsh on rough roads. Next is the noise in freeways. It's not that bad. However, when listening to podcasts or radio, you will feel it. If you are playing music etc, you won't notice. Keeping these two aside, it's futuristic in all other aspects and is superior to any other EV out there.

If the above factors are important to you, and if you are not particularly looking for a sporty EV, it's a good idea to wait few more months to test drive Ioniq-5 and Audi Q4 E-tron. Both these are available in Fall 2021. So, it's worth a test drive.

 

[socal_my]

After reading another thread on Model Y comfort, thought I will add that here. The use of regen braking and how you drive will affect the passenger ride comfort quite a lot. Especially for kids, you need to make sure they are doing okay when you drive. It's a bit more tricky as you may need time to get used to the one pedal driving. So, until then a test drive may not yield proper outcome. At least you can do an overnight test drive and see how things go.
On another note, VW group took a different direction in this. Their E-tron has coasting instead of braking. That somehow emulates an ICE vehicle. It's good to compare that too when you do the test drive.

 

[DayTrippin]

Most of your questions have been well covered. We have a 7 seater and we actually squeezed someone 5'10 in the 3rd row for about 40 min. They said it wasn't bad. We moved the 2nd row up a bit and the driver's seat to give the 2nd row more room. I normally have the driver's seat all the way back.

This is our first Tesla. I don't drink the Elon KoolAid. I have to say that so far it has been an amazing car. They really nailed most aspects of the tech stack. There is great support on this forum. Most likely any issue you will have, someone here likely has figured a way around it.

Actually driving the car is quite good. We were leaning toward the performance model but my wife wasn't happy with the ride and I can't say I was thrilled with it. So we drove the long range version and the ride comfort was definitely better regarding bad pavement on the roads we drove on. We did quite a few test drives of the different models and the long range with the 19" wheels was our favorite.

It blended good ride comfort, low noise and still fun to drive. Minimal body roll on any of the models.

In the end the Tesla had the best blend of features and hard to beat the supercharger network if you plan to travel. No issues with quality control on our car. It tows amazingly well. Don't ever reach our rated range but few do. It probably could if I we drove 65 mph, didn't use the AC, etc. Most of the time our traffic is going 80 mph, have the AC on and it is 95F a lot of the time. Definitely fun to enjoy the acceleration in general. If you buy the long range version and decide you want a bit more thrust, you can upgrade the cars performance in the app or online and make it a very quick car.

 

[jcanoe]

I do know the difference between breaking and braking. It's too late to edit my post.

 

[Al Veolus]

Thanks all,
Very helpful responses.
We haven't looked at the ID.4, but should. Awaiting the Q4 E-Tron, it looks really nice too, but RWD only until 2022 I think? We'd prefer AWD options in our neck of the woods.

One pedal driving will take a bit of getting used to, but mostly for my passengers as the driver seems less susceptible to things they do to themselves.

@DayTrippin How much do you tow (like a 1000lb camper?) and how much range do you sacrifice for that?

 

[a2t2]

I’ve got a 2020 y performance and think ride quality is fine. Maybe a bit harsh but as compared to an ice with all the engine harmonics it’s still better. Drive one.

range is your only issue : in Denver, in winter, you will not get more than 150 miles. Disregard epa and so cal fanboys. Range is the issue and at hwy speed in cold you won’t more than. 150. If you can live with that then all the other questions are relevant.

I’ve got no exp with 3rd row but 2nd row gets hot in summer with non tint roof. 3rd row has no vents so would be worse. But prob ok for cool weather / short trips

the Y is a awesome car but def not a sub for ice cars in 1/2 of all scenarios so be careful. The epa vastly over rates it’s range which is the biggest caveat. Otherwise I love my Y performance

 

[RAJP]

I’ve got a 2020 y performance and think ride quality is fine. Maybe a bit harsh but as compared to an ice with all the engine harmonics it’s still better. Drive one.

range is your only issue : in Denver, in winter, you will not get more than 150 miles. Disregard epa and so cal fanboys. Range is the issue and at hwy speed in cold you won’t more than. 150. If you can live with that then all the other questions are relevant.

I’ve got no exp with 3rd row but 2nd row gets hot in summer with non tint roof. 3rd row has no vents so would be worse. But prob ok for cool weather / short trips

the Y is a awesome car but def not a sub for ice cars in 1/2 of all scenarios so be careful. The epa vastly over rates it’s range which is the biggest caveat. Otherwise I love my Y performance

150 miles thats it!!!!!....... is that on full charge? Heat seats on ??that would be a big problem in the winters...

 

[Jiver]

I live in Colorado Springs and can go to Steamboat without stopping to charge in winter. That's over 200 miles and three mountain passes (if you count Monument). And if I decide to stop for a bite I can catch a charge at Idaho Springs, Silverthorne, or Kremmling. 150 miles max? 220 miles is more realistic and that is if you don't slow down to eek out a bit more range. This is with a LR AWD (non P).

the Y is a awesome car but def not a sub for ice cars in 1/2 of all scenarios so be careful.

I do not own an ICE car. I guess I only drive half of all scenarios.

 

[longhorn8847]

This is my 2 cents. I owned MY LR for about a year now and ended up getting M3 SR+ 2 months ago for my wife after test driving pretty much every other EVs out there.

1. Road Noise - Tesla is not the best car out there but is also not the worst in this category. I think the road noise is just worse for most people who transition from ICE vehicles as EV naturally doesn't have that engine noise to distract the driver. In my case, noise at highway speed (75+) never has been an issue, especially when you have music going too.

2. 3rd Row - N/A. I only have 2 large dogs and a baby coming soon in months so I have not examined this part yet when I shopped for the car.

3. Range in Winter - As Texan, it does not get as cold as Colorado. However, the range does decrease when it gets cold. I could see the difference even when temp reaches 40ish degrees. However, this change applies to all EVs. Worse for EVs without heat pumps. When I took my MY for road trip in winter to NM and AZ (outside temp about 30ish), efficiency took a hit about 15-20% in my case. So yes, the max range was 250 miles ish but the abundance of SC stations solved the issue of range anxiety. Other EVs? Not so much in my opinion but this could change as Tesla opens up SC to other vehicles per recent news.

4. Autopilot - I dont have 10K FSD so I am still extremely happy with my regular AP for regular road trips. Aside from occasional phanton brakings, it works well and makes the driving much easier for long trips. My experience can be slightly different since I do have AP system with radar and camera unlike new ones.

5. Body Roll - My dogs have not thrown up yet (crossing my fingers). As a driver, I don't feel the roll that much. I think if there is motion sickness concern, it will have to do more with regen braking... and thats a touchy topic that people get heated up so I wont go into it in details

Overall, Tesla was better choice when my wife and I did pros and cons of every comparison domains. Thus, we ended up getting 2 Teslas in less than a year. My experience doesn't apply to all but I hope you make a good choice!

 

[Eugeinus]

I would add that in colder climates the frustrating thing in the winter is that your door can/will get stuck because of ice/snow/cold so you need to plan ~30 mins prior to leaving to warm up the car. Annoying yes, but not a dealbreaker. Echo what others have said, not the quietest of rides but not bad. We have 1 infant and 1 small dog and the car is perfect for hauling everything around for them.

 

[Al Veolus]

I’ve got no exp with 3rd row but 2nd row gets hot in summer with non tint roof. 3rd row has no vents so would be worse.

Is tinted/IR reduced roof NOT standard? How much is that option to add. Any cloth roof cover available?

so you need to plan ~30 mins prior to leaving to warm up the car.

I would garage this vehicle every night and could pre-condition it most winter days, so less of an issue unless starting in the mountains in the winter (ski trip, etc).

Does anyone have concerns over exiting the back seats if power outage? (door button doesn't work, no hard pull).

Safety of last row? Concerns about kids in booster/carseats (front facing)?

 

[a2t2]

I live in Colorado Springs and can go to Steamboat without stopping to charge in winter. That's over 200 miles and three mountain passes (if you count Monument). And if I decide to stop for a bite I can catch a charge at Idaho Springs, Silverthorne, or Kremmling. 150 miles max? 220 miles is more realistic and that is if you don't slow down to eek out a bit more range. This is with a LR AWD (non P).



I do not own an ICE car. I guess I only drive half of all scenarios.

Driving at 75 mph with heat on ? I realize there’s some on here that will drive with frost bite at 35 mph and act like that is normal, it isn’t and an ice would be much better suited for harsh environments over longer distances. Saying otherwise is not being truthful. My 20 MYP in the best case might go 200 miles driven at no more than 60-65 in Atlanta which is flat compared to heading up I-70 to summit county. Stepping up to 70-75 normal speed destroys the range. People that buy ev’s need to be informed. It’s a 1/2 ice range vehicle which works for some but not the other 1/2. That’s just where we’re at now, no need to exaggerate and try to make these cars seem like ice near equivalents range wise , they aren’t

 

[a2t2]

Regarding roof tint yes the factory roof is of course built with heat block and tint which they say is effective. In Atlanta in summer my roof inside gets very hot, similar to any other glass sunroof car with the sliding shade left open. There’s some rumors here that applying more tint will somehow crack the roof glass. Not sure how much truth to that. I was definitely planning to apply a ceramic 20% tint to roof and 50-60% to windshield. Both are major contributors to interior heat in summer.

 

[jcanoe]

Is tinted/IR reduced roof NOT standard? How much is that option to add. Any cloth roof cover available?


I would garage this vehicle every night and could pre-condition it most winter days, so less of an issue unless starting in the mountains in the winter (ski trip, etc).

Does anyone have concerns over exiting the back seats if power outage? (door button doesn't work, no hard pull).

Safety of last row? Concerns about kids in booster/carseats (front facing)?

Preconditioning in winter will warm the battery and the passenger cabin. This will enable partial regenerative braking assuming the battery is not charged to or above 90%. In winter plan on preconditioning for at least 15 to 20 minutes, longer depending on the outside or garage temperature. The Model Y does not have to be plugged in while preconditioning. Preconditioning while plugged in maintains the battery state of charge while preconditioning (assuming you are charging at Level 2 - 240V and at least 32 amps.) Preconditioning can use 2% or more of the battery depending on how long you precondition.

If the door release button fails to open the rear door there is an emergency pull inside the door compartment (underneath the compartment bottom liner.)

If the 12V battery fails this would prevent you from powering on, unlocking and driving the Model Y. When powered on the 12V systems are powered by the DC-to-DC converter. The 12V battery powers essential systems when the vehicle is parked.

I have not seen any information on the safety of the Model Y for 3rd row passengers?

 

[Tha_Ape]

I looked at Rav4 Prime (1st choice, but dealers wanted 11k over MSRP), Mach-E (not sure it could handle long trips), and Model Y (Safe bet, so I got it)

 

[WindPower]

I have had my Y since early December 2020 and it now has about 7500 miles (my weekday commute is around 30 miles). I came from a BMW i3 which I had for about 3 years so I am not an EV newbie.

Here are my comments:
- the model Y is a great compromise between a larger SUV like the model X and a smaller car like my i3. While I thought the i3 was a great commuter car, the Y is a better all round car which has room for Home Depot and Lowe’s runs for bags of mulch. A friend has a Volkswagen ID4 and my daughter has an Audi e-tron, which are both good alternatives to the Y in terms of size and use for commuting.
- I mostly charge at home once a week, and the overnight charge with the Juicebox 40 works great. I haven’t been to a gas station in at least two years.
- the few times I’ve used a Tesla public charger I was able to charge from around 20% to 80% in less time it took to stop at the hardware store next to the Tesla charger. Fast charging is getting to the point where I think gas fill up versus electric charging is a non issue.
- the range published by Tesla is overstated. In the summer with AC I am getting around 200 miles before I need to charge. In the spring before AC was needed I once got 225 miles on an 80% charge but I was at less than 5% state of charge left. This compares to around 125 miles on a charge I would get in the summer with my i3. So don’t count on the range stated by Tesla.
- the auto steer function is good but not great. It’s not 100% reliable and can fail at the wrong times. On straight highways without traffic auto steer works fine. I use auto steer often but for short amounts of time, mainly due to my short commute.
- the Tesla app is very good. You can turn on the heat or A/C remotely, you can open the rear hatch remotely, unlock the doors, lower the windows. I use the Tesla app at least once a day. The one thing it doesn’t have is a scheduler for the temperature inside the car. I leave my house at 7:30am every weekday and I needed to buy a third party app to schedule the car temperature.
- regenerative breaking is very good. On the Y it works the same way my i3 worked and I can easily go from my home to my office without using the brakes at all. It takes some practice but you can get used to feathering the accelerator pedal to slow the car. I sometimes use the brakes when not needed just to keep them from rusting. The Audi e-tron uses a different method for regenerative breaking (the e-tron slows when you hit the brake pedal versus when you lift the accelerator on the Y) which is more similar to a conventional gas car and might be easier to get used to.
- maintenance on electric cars will be minimal. While I needed to bring my Y back to Tesla for heating which didn’t work and a crazy window that would go down on its own, I don’t expect to see much service of Y in its lifetime.
- the Y display is distracting. Having to look to your right just to see your speed, check the charge level of the car or to set your windshield wiper speed is, in my opinion, dangerous. There is a steering wheel display in the model S and X but not in the Y or 3. Some drivers are fine with the center display on the Y. I was not and added an after market steering wheel display. It cost $500 and took three hours to install.

I’m often asked about the range of electric versus gas cars. With the ability to charge over night at home plus the new fast public chargers, we’re getting to the point of there being no significant difference between gas and electric. Electric cars are quieter, you’ll spend less time at a gas station, require less maintenance and are better for the environment. Even taxi cabs, with well placed fast chargers where they can top up once a day in 15 minutes, can and should be electric.

 

[Fourdoor]

Thanks all,
Very helpful responses.
We haven't looked at the ID.4, but should. Awaiting the Q4 E-Tron, it looks really nice too, but RWD only until 2022 I think? We'd prefer AWD options in our neck of the woods.

One pedal driving will take a bit of getting used to, but mostly for my passengers as the driver seems less susceptible to things they do to themselves.

@DayTrippin How much do you tow (like a 1000lb camper?) and how much range do you sacrifice for that?

You should also check out the Mustang Mach E, it has good features, good cargo and passanger room, and seemed pretty nice when we test drove one. You may hate it, you may love it, but in a similar price range with good driving range it should be a consideration.

Keith