One of the largest and best quality-yet gallery of images showing the exterior and interior of the “perfect” Tesla Model Y has been posted via image sharing site Imgur.
Imgur user “eweaver19832718” posted the gallery on Friday morning (Australian time), to share the extensive range of photos he took after having the chance to sit in the blue Model Y.
Deliveries of the Tesla Model Y, which is rated for 507km range and in the US starts from $US52,990 ($A84,430 converted), are slated to commence this week according to dates posted by users on a reservation tracker.
Although it is not yet available for order in Australia, details like these offer a lot of insight into why Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said he expects the new EV will be more popular than the groundbreaking Model 3.
In a discussion on Reddit where the photographer also posted a link to the gallery, he was also able to offer insight into a whole range of details about the Model Y from front and rear storage space, seating and leg room, the full-length solid glass roof and a whole lot more.
Up frunk and personal
The first lot of questions from forum members focused on how much extra space the Model Y crossover has (it has a large hatch opening at the back compared to the Model 3 sedan’s smaller boot, known as a trunk in the US), and extra storage space under the boot floor.
“It looks like; are there two separate storage areas in the trunk under that flat surface?” asked one user.
“Yes. The one is towards the back and pretty deep. The one more forward than that is pretty shallow but still useful,” the photographer replied.
Other insights include that the trunk (that is, boot) is powered and about the same size as the user’s Chevy Equinox (badged Holden in Australia) apart from the fact that the Y’s roof curves downwards more.
The “frunk” (front trunk, or rather, bonnet in Australia) on the other hand is not powered.
Flexible and roomy interior
Others wanted to know about the seating: what can fold down, how the seats fold down, and how much leg room there is in the back.
As it happens, the second row seats work by pressing a button, but are not motorised either, he says. “Not in a mechanical slow way like adjusting a powered seat but cool nonetheless,” he said.
Some will be glad – such as for example, surfboard owners not keen on adding a roof rack, or dog owners, that the middle seat can fold down independently.
The photographer – who says he is 5’9″ tall – also says that there was plenty of leg room and that he enjoyed the fact the seating was further off the ground.
“Leg room was great. I’m not tall but felt better than a 3 to me. I love the seating position compared to the 3,” he said.
“You can slide into the Y whereas I hated slouching down to get into the 3.”
In the back, there is also more leg room: “Rear leg room was better. I remember sitting in the 3 and it felt awkward, like my knees were up too high. Not like that at all in the Y,” he said.
The sky is the limit
There was really great feedback on the panoramic glass roof, which is a solid piece of glass and goes way behind the passenger heads allowing for fantastic rear visibility and a sense of expanse (in the Model 3, the high back seat and parcel tray can make it feel a little claustrophobic).
“I always thought the rear visibility in the 3 sucked. Looking through the rear view mirror I couldn’t see anything. I made sure to check out how it was on the Y and it seemed much better,” he says.
Lastly, the touch screen interface for the Model Y is the same size as that of the Model 3. Some have suggested it may be larger, and although this now does not appear to be the case it really doesn’t matter in this writer’s opinion, at least – the current screen already takes a long reach to hit the “X” button, which is over on the far top left, from the righthand driver’s seat to exit “pages” in the Tesla interface.
Drivers in Australia can but wait now for the Model Y reservation page to go online, although according to this educated estimate on how much it will cost, it may prove out of the reach of many people’s pockets at circa $A100,000 even before on roads.
Still, going on the informal review given by this photographer, it may be that the Model Y encourages yet another “Tesla Stretch” that we first anecdotally reported happening with the Model 3.
“I know some people just prefer sedans, and I know the range and performance is better on the Model 3, but after being in this thing, I really have to believe this is the vehicle for most people. It’s perfect,” he said.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.