Tesla Model Y

Tesla Model Y at a glance

The Model Y sits between the Tesla Model 3 and the larger, more expensive Tesla Model X. Every Tesla in the catalogue is listed on the Tesla brand page.

From Model 3 spin-off to world best-seller

Tesla revealed the car at its design studio in Los Angeles in March 2019; the news of the four launch versions was covered on 1CARS at the time in Tesla Model Y is officially launched. The design team was led by Franz von Holzhausen. About three quarters of the parts — Wikipedia gives 75 to 76 percent — are shared with the Model 3, which kept development costs down and allowed a fast start.

American deliveries began in March 2020. The Shanghai factory added the car in December 2020, Gigafactory Texas in late 2021, and the plant at Grünheide in Brandenburg delivered its first cars in March 2022. Local production in Europe changed the sales picture there quickly.

In 2023 Tesla delivered about 1.2 million Model Ys — 1,211,601 by the Wikipedia count — and the car was the best-selling vehicle on the world market, the first electric model to reach that position. In 2024 it finished second behind the Toyota RAV4, and Tesla recorded its first annual decline in global deliveries. In Germany registrations grew from 4,400 in 2021 to 34,426 in 2022 and 45,818 in 2023, then fell to 29,896 in 2024. In Switzerland the Model Y was the best-selling car in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

The 2025 refresh and the Standard version

The refreshed car was revealed on 10 January 2025. Chinese deliveries started in February, sales in North America and Europe in March. Grünheide built the limited Launch Series together with Shanghai. The body grew to 4,790 mm, while the width, height and wheelbase stayed the same. ADAC lists the update as the first facelift of the first generation, not as a new model.

Later in 2025 the range spread in both directions. A Performance version for Europe was shown in August. In October Tesla added a Standard version with simpler equipment and renamed the former Long Range trims "Premium". In Germany the Standard was priced at €39,990 at its October 2025 launch, about €10,000 less than the previous entry version; it is rated at 13.1 kWh/100 km and 534 km WLTP, the lowest consumption of any Model Y. The Premium with rear-wheel drive reaches up to 622 km WLTP.

For China and a few other markets there is also the Model Y L. It has a wheelbase of 3,040 mm, a length of 4,976 mm and six seats in three rows. Deliveries started in China on 2 September 2025; Australia and New Zealand followed in March 2026.

Versions, batteries and range

All versions use a single fixed-ratio reduction gear, so there is no conventional gearbox. Rear-wheel-drive cars have one motor, the all-wheel-drive versions two. Battery chemistry depends on the version: the cheaper cars use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells, the Long Range and Performance use nickel-based NMC cells with more energy per kilogram.

Range figures change with wheel size and model year; the WLTP values above come from the Wikipedia table and the German launch report of the Standard. American EPA ratings are lower: 392 km for the early Standard with rear-wheel drive and 526 km for the early Long Range AWD.

Dimensions, space and charging

With 4,751 mm of length (4,790 mm after the refresh), 1,920 mm of width and a 2,890 mm wheelbase, the Model Y is about the size of a compact-to-mid-size SUV. Kerb weight is between 1,884 and 1,998 kg. The drag coefficient of 0.23 is low for an SUV and explains a large part of its efficiency.

The flat floor and the tall tailgate give a lot of room: with the rear seats folded the load volume reaches 2,158 litres. For some years a seven-seat Long Range AWD with a small third row was also sold (Parkers lists it), but those extra seats suit children rather than adults. Inside, almost all functions run through the central touchscreen, which is shared in concept with the Model 3. To see how the car fits a garage or a parking space next to its rivals, use the car size comparison tool.

Charging is one of the car's strong points. On alternating current it accepts 11.5 kW, so a full charge at home takes a night. At fast chargers the Long Range and Performance take up to 250 kW, the Standard up to 225 kW.

Safety: two five-star Euro NCAP results

Euro NCAP tested the Model Y in 2022 and awarded five stars; in January 2023 it named the car Best in Class among small off-roaders. The refreshed car was tested again under the stricter 2025 protocol and received five stars once more; Euro NCAP later named it Best in Class Small SUV of 2025. In the United States IIHS rated the crash-avoidance system Superior both for vehicle-to-vehicle and pedestrian scenarios.

The extra-cost "Full Self-Driving (Supervised)" package does not make the car autonomous: as the name says, the driver must supervise it at all times.

Reliability, recalls and running costs

Electric drivetrains have few wearing parts, and the ADAC breakdown statistics reflect that: the club recorded 0.7 breakdowns per thousand Model Ys first registered in 2023, and 1.2 per thousand for the 2022 cars. The weak points lie elsewhere. In February 2025 more than 370,000 Model 3 and Model Y cars in the US were recalled for a possible loss of power steering assist. The US safety regulator NHTSA has been investigating "phantom braking" on about 416,000 Model 3 and Model Y cars of the 2021–2022 model years since February 2022, and in September 2025 it opened a preliminary evaluation of electronic door releases on about 174,000 Model Ys of the 2021 model year.

Running costs depend mostly on the electricity price, insurance and tyres. For a calculation with your own mileage, the cost of ownership calculator works for electric cars too.

Prices in Europe and the US

In Germany the Long Range version was announced in February 2021 at €60,650 before subsidies. Prices then moved several times in both directions: list prices climbed until 2022, and in January 2023 Tesla cut American prices sharply so that the car stayed under the price cap of the US federal tax credit. The Standard version brought the German entry price down to €39,990 in October 2025, about €10,000 below the previous base model. Because Tesla changes prices without model-year steps, the configurator on the day of ordering is the only binding figure.

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