It’s impossible to do any sort of electric vehicle coverage without mentioning Tesla. Yet, Editor-in-Chief Patrick George and I both realized something recently that astounded us both: InsideEVs doesn't have any recent, homegrown reviews of the Tesla Model Y. Odd.
This is the best-selling EV in the world—last year, the best-selling car in the world—and it is not inconceivable that a sizable chunk of our readership have one in their driveways. You can see a Model Y on just about every street corner in America these days, and even if you live in a tiny town or a rural area, if there's any EVs out that way, there's a very good chance they're Model Ys.
People read this publication not just for news, but also for buying advice. I found that out when I learned that a college friend bought Volkswagen ID.4 in part based on our review here.
Yet, we didn’t have a review of the Tesla Model Y. That’s unacceptable, so we’re fixing that now.
Of course, Tesla doesn’t have a formal PR department in the United States anymore, so we’re limited to what we can find in rental fleets. Weirdly, this wasn’t easy, because most local rental agencies have been mass purging any Tesla-branded product.
Here in Ohio, my local Hertz replaced every EV it had with a fleet of Polestar 2s, while the Avis and Budget EV rentals are now full of Kia EV6s and Hyundai Ioniq 5s. We had to actually reach out to Hertz’s corporate PR line to ensure that we could get our hands on one. And even still, I had to drive two hours to Kentucky to get one.
An odd amount of steps to drive the world's best-selling car, but life takes you to interesting places sometimes.
But, we got it. In my hands, we’ve got a dula-motor, non-performance, five-passenger Model Y. White paint, black wheels. As typical as any Model Y out there and probably close to what most folks get when they buy one.
I’ve been driving it for a few days, and I’m eager to share my thoughts. This crossover is the best-selling EV in the world; Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe recently said that it’s the best EV on the market under $50,000. Is he right? Plenty of automakers have claimed to be “Tesla Model Y killers,” yet most have failed to touch this crossover’s sales numbers. What secret sauce does the Tesla Model Y have, that the other competitors don’t? Is this car’s sales numbers just based on momentum, or is it truly better than others in the segment? Why haven’t other brands outdone this car? Looks like I've got a week to find out some of the answers to these questions.
So, I’m asking you: what do you want to know about the Tesla Model Y? Comment below or find me or InsideEVs on Instagram, Bluesky, X or Threads.
Contact the author: kevin.williams@insideevs.com
