zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Buying
/
Here's What I Learned on a Very Short Tesla Model Y Ride
Here's What I Learned on a Very Short Tesla Model Y Ride-March 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:09:44

Elon Musk kept calling the a “mid-sized SUV” at the new car’s reveal party, but the proportions in real life are more Toyota Prius than Honda Pilot or Jeep Grand Cherokee. Here’s what I was able to glean about what it’s like to ride in on a trip around the block.

(: I asked Tesla’s PR people as nicely as I could for an invitation to its Model Y unveiling event. They were kind enough to acquiesce.)

I had to elbow my way through a throng of puffy vests and gimbaled phones to join the line to go for a spin, but lucky me, once I got there Tesla’s black-suited security had made a special line for members of the press.

Good thing too, because there was only one demonstration car loading up with four passengers at a time and doing laps of a street adjacent to the company’s Hawthorne, Calif. facility.

You’ll have to forgive the super dark environment, which led to some pretty rough photos here. I won’t subject you to the video I tried to shoot, which wasn’t any better.

But to give you some perspective on this and any other Model Y ride reviews you might be reading today, here’s exactly how these rides happened: Once one passenger was in the front and three were buckled in the second row, Tesla’s designated driver made a U-turn from a stop, took a right onto a four-lane road closed off by police, squeeze the paddle and surged up to about 50 mph, braked, another U-turn, sawed the steering wheel back-and-forth a couple times at about 25 mph, and then parked us again.

Start-to-stop was about 100 seconds. The acceleration was palpable, even when hauling over 600 pounds of passengers plus a driver here.

As far as comfort, I pretty much agree with what said: “Legroom is decent, as there’s enough space for my 6-foot frame. But as another two people come into the second row, shoulder room gets tight.”

Tight means tight, though. There was no room for politeness between myself and the left rear passenger seat and my new friend right in the middle. Lots of awkward finagling for that seatbelt clip, too.

I have no idea how anyone is supposed to fit in the third row, but it’s possible that those seats are deeper than they might appear.

As others have said, the dashboard and interior appointments pretty much look identical to the Model 3—ultra spartan, with a gigantic horizontally oriented tablet running everything in the middle.

That darkness I mentioned, along with being shooed away from the car as soon as it came to a stop, precluded anybody from making judgments on the demo car’s build quality.

The driver the driver of the demonstration car describe the trim as “long-range dual motor,” which is odd, because there was no such trim described in Musk’s presentation. I think it’s safe to assume that the demo car was actually a Dual Motor Performance model (280 mile range, with a top speed of 150 mph, a 0 to 60 mph claim of 3.5 seconds, starting at $60,000) but we reached out to Tesla for confirmation anyway.

The Tesla Model Y has already proven divisive; there are folks who don’t like the look and those who just like anything Musk makes. But I actually think this car looks pretty handsome from the front three-quarter, and I still really like the panoramic roof in this and the Model 3.

It should go without saying, but we would need quite a few more miles to make any genuine assessments of what the car is like to ride in. But it’s cool to see that at least two copies of the Model Y now do in fact exist in the sheet metal and one of them is drivable.

Here’s hoping Tesla has an easier time getting the assembly line spinning than it did with the Model 3.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Buying
In Japan You Can Buy A Stripped-Down BRZ Cup Car That Comes From The Factory With A Roll Cage And Now I'm Sad Again
In Japan You Can Buy A Stripped-Down BRZ Cup Car That Comes From The Factory With A Roll Cage And Now I'm Sad Again
We should all be thankful for accessible performance cars, like the and . That duo, alongside the Miata, are the poster children for attainable, sub-$30K thrills. If you happen to live in Japan, however, you have even more reason to be thankful. Toyota and Subaru run a one-make racing...
Mar 30, 2026
At $3,600, Does This 2002 BMW X5 Mark The Spot?
At $3,600, Does This 2002 BMW X5 Mark The Spot?
With SUVs being all the rage, it’s no doubt that there’s an active market for older editions like today’s X5. Let’s see if the seller has priced this reasonably unique soft-roader for what the market will bear. Speaking of bears, actor and epic beard-wearer Dan Haggerty (1942 — 2016)...
Mar 30, 2026
At $15,000, Could This 2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder Snare A Buyer?
At $15,000, Could This 2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder Snare A Buyer?
It’s getting increasingly hard to find a mid-engine sports car that’s not crazy expensive. Today’s MR2 Spyder is one of the last to get on that crazy train. Let’s see if, for this one, that train has already left the station. When it comes to vehicles for sale, one...
Mar 30, 2026
The Ford Maverick Is Doing Great, Thanks For Asking
The Ford Maverick Is Doing Great, Thanks For Asking
Here in the United States, . We want more space, more cargo capacity, more towing and more ride height. In that spirit, many saw the new Ford Maverick as doomed from the start — its small, fuel-efficient, car-like design is everything Americans don’t like in a truck. After last...
Mar 30, 2026
Hyundai Faces Backlash In India After Kashmir Tweet
Hyundai Faces Backlash In India After Kashmir Tweet
Back in my college days, I was a marketing major. I took class after class on things like corporate identity, brand voice, and how to properly consider your target demographic in all forms of company communication. Out of all the various lessons I learned in those years, one big...
Mar 30, 2026
Someone Crammed A 303 HP LS4 V8 Into The Back Of A Geo Metro
Someone Crammed A 303 HP LS4 V8 Into The Back Of A Geo Metro
is an oft-forgotten economy car that seemingly only gets dredged up in discussions about fuel economy or when you see one still on the road. A man in Wisconsin is giving you another reason to remember the Metro, for he managed to turn one into an absolute monster with...
Mar 30, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved