Tesla Model Y gets official 507km range and confirmed as most efficient SUV

The Tesla Model Y has now officially received its official range and efficiency rating from the Environmental Protection Authority, confirming that it will have 507km (315 miles) driving range and that it is the most efficient crossover SUV now available in the US.

Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk said at the company’s fourth quarter earnings call in January that the Model Y’s range had been increased thanks to Tesla’s engineering team and that it was now the most efficient SUV in terms of energy use.

“We managed to achieve by far the highest energy efficiency of any SUV ever produced at 4.1 miles per kilowatt hour, which means the Model Y AWD got an EPA rating of 315 miles,” Musk said at the time.

The figures – which it should be noted have only been released so far for the relatively more power-hungry Performance variant – have been published on the US EPA’s fuel economy website as Tesla prepares to begin deliveries of the Model Y by the end of March.

According to the figures, the Model Y whittles through the equivalent energy found in just 2.1 litres of fuel every 100km on the highway, beating the Hyundai Kona Electric’s 2.2 litres per 100km, which was previously the most efficient compact SUV on the US market.

In the city, the Model Y is as efficient as the Hyundai Kona Electric, and overall comes in with 1.9 litres per 100km combined ahead of the Kona Electric’s 2.0 litres per 100km, using 28kWh/100 miles (that’s about 17.5kWh/100km).

Due to a larger and heavier body, it uses more power than the Model 3’s energy equivalent usage of 1.7 litres per 100km, which runs on an average of 24kWh/100 miles, or 15kWh/100km.

While we already knew that the Model Y had been approved with 315 miles range by the California Air Resources Board, it’s the first independent confirmation of the Model Y’s energy efficiency.

It is a whopping three times more efficient than the next most efficient vehicle on the US market after the Hyundai Kona Electric on the EPA list in this crossover SUV class, the hybrid Ford Escape which uses 6.4 litres/100km.

Compared to other electric SUVs currently on the US market, the Model Y is also leagues ahead.

The Jaguar I-Pace has an equivalent energy usage of 3.1 litres per 100km when combining city and highway usage, while the Audi e-tron uses 3.2 litres per 100km.

It will be interesting to see how the Long Range rates against all of the above also, when those figures are also released over coming weeks, and then following from that the Standard Range or Standard Range Plus (we would assume only the latter as for the Model 3).

Official energy consumption figures for the Model Y are of course not yet available in Australia – these will not be added to the Australian Green Vehicle Guide until sometime when it is made available locally.

When that will be is not yet known, but when it is the Model Y is expected to generate as much excitement as the Model 3 did when Tesla first made it available for order.

Whether it generates as many sales though, may depend on how much it will cost when it gets here.