In two days we will have had the Tesla Model Y six months. It still drives, steers, and stops as well as it ever did, which is extremely well. Since our last trip which was covered in my last post we have had the Tesla at home and been using it for local use using our Tesla home charger. This setup and setting up the charging from 12-6am when electrical costs are low works great. We still have not installed solar as our electrical bill so far is just not that big. I do switch our air conditioning off at 4pm though and it is just now starting to get hot enough that it would be nice to sometimes leave it on. But otherwise the setup of home charging during super off peak times works like a charm.
We have not had any repairs so far except for the small rattle noted in one of my earlier blog posts. We did add a $320 Tesla garage door opener. I held off doing this as I thought the price was exorbitant and most of the cars we have bought in the last 15 years have included a built in opener when we bought the car. The Tesla price included a visit from a Tesla installer at our house to install the device and set it up. It works really well.
I injured my right knee when I was a kid in a biking accident. I have been putting off knee replacement for a long time and finally decided that since long distance travel was still hit or miss and the fact that my original equipment knee was finally worn out that this was a good time to do it when we could not take an adventure vacation easily. The reason I bring this up is to say that as a 6′ 1″ full sized adult of medium build that the Tesla model Y we have is very well designed to get in and out of. My right replacement knee is not as flexible as my old one at this time. With the model Y I find the height, size of door, angle the door opens to, to be very good for someone with limited flexibility. To my mind the model Y is just about perfect in size, space, storage area.
At this point both my wife and I both agree that the way this car drives is it’s biggest asset. Smooth, quiet, power to go and to stop is very confidence building. And the way it goes around corners is also very good. The big sun roof without a shade, hard to easily control air conditioning and sound system are three annoyances. In my opinion the way we are using the car right now, using it close to home and charging in the garage is the best use scenario for this car. If you plan to do a long commute over a less than excellent road there are better vehicles. Something like my old Toyota Avalon would fit that use. Or if you plan to use the vehicle for frequent travel I would recommend a good sedan like the Avalon or a well made SUV like the Acura MDX. Having used both of those car/SUVs for travel I would likely prefer the Avalon due to it’s much lower fuel use, slightly better ride, and super comfortable front seats. The Acura is also a great travel car, but you are talking about premium gas, 17-20 MPG, and a noisier ride than the Avalon. The Toyota comes today in both a V6 or a hybrid. The car I had was with the V6. Because of the excellent motor and transmission I frequently got way better fuel milage than the EPA rating. I used to drive it for business frequently 200-300 miles at 75MPG. I found that going down the freeway at 75mpg the Toyota would get between 30 and 35 mpg. I think the hybrid is a little over that, but to me the V6 in this car is so good it is worth using a little more gas.
I am giving some thought to getting a Cybertruck next year. I put a small deposit down on one to get in the line. I am so far back that there will have been lots of reviews and tester details before I have to finalize a purchase. For me the critical Cybertruck feature is range. Tesla is quoting 500+ miles of epa range. So if it follows the pattern of our current Tesla that means real World range if you drive at the flow of traffic speed of somewhere around 375 miles. The other significant changes I would like to see from the model Y is being able to soften the ride for longer distance driving. A sun shade for the roof. And a spare tire option would be great. As an alternative I could be happy with another model Y if the range went up to real World 375 miles, sun shade, and adjustable suspension. I have heard that these may be coming with the model Y II or +. I will have to wait and see.
Bob Nuttmann 