By the numbers: Tesla Model Y Performance

Friday, 7 April 2023

Tesla started delivering the Model Y two years ago, now its 2023 model is under investigation from US transport authorities.

Tesla’s Model Y is proving extremely popular among EV buyers, with 761 units sold over the month of March. It’s the seventh most popular car in New Zealand for the year to date as well, notching a hair under 1000 registrations.

The American EV maker is pushing to improve those numbers too, with price cuts coming seemingly every couple of weeks. When we first tested the Model Y in June 2022, the base (and, at the time, only) model started at $76,200. Now you can order one for $70,900, while the newly introduced Performance model dropped from $108,900 to $100,900, a sizeable cut considering it has only been out here for basically a month. Those numbers are mighty impressive, so let’s dive into a few more around the Model Y Performance.

124

There aren't many differences between the two variants of Model Y, but the wheels are one give-away.

That’s how many Model Y Performance models roam our roads as of the end of March. You might have seen those sales figures above and thought it a bit strange that Tesla sold 761 units overall in one month but is only sitting at 991 units for the entire year. That’s because Tesla tends to bring in massive shipments every couple of months instead of constantly refreshing its local stock.

Another difference is this badge, which indicates a stonking amount of power.

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A larger battery means more range than the base model, despite the extra motor.

Nonetheless, 124 units in one month is a good haul. Consider the fact the roughly equal-priced Ranger Raptor sold 49 units in March, and a quick glance along the March column of model registrations reveals no performance variants sold more in the same time period. It’ll be interesting to see if this interest lasts. Using the Raptor as an example again, it peaked at 283 units in one month last October, its second month on the market.

The screen is highly functional (note the stop sign recognition) but it can become quite cluttered.

3.7*

How long it takes to rearrange your internal organs before you hit 100kph. That asterisk is Tesla’s, and it’s a tiny disclaimer that the claimed 0-100kph figure subtracts a foot of rollout. This stems from an old drag racing phenomenon where the timers used back in the day wouldn’t kick in until a vehicle’s wheel had rolled over the trigger, set about a foot away from the start line. Apparently, when lasers became a thing and timers could actually time from the start of the drag, people complained because their times were slower than before, and the foot of rollout was added back in.

Full self-driving will cost you, but it's worth it.

Why Tesla uses this and not just a regular 0-100kph time is unclear, especially because the non-Performance variant doesn’t have the rollout subtracted. Some real-world tests put the Model Y Performance at around four seconds, which is about what we got too.

514

Interestingly, this range figure is actually more than the base Model Y, which claims 455km. That’s because it has a larger 81kWh battery pack, up from 60kWh. However, if it concerns you, the Performance’s battery is a lithium-ion unit, while the base battery is lithium-iron phosphate.

Tesla is pretty honest with its range claims too. When I picked up the Performance, it read about 490km from a full charge. Of course, being the Performance, you juice that pretty quickly. While it’s obviously quick in a straight line, the twin motors mean it’s a devil in the corners as well. Much more than you might expect given the SUV body shape. There’s just so much damn grip, even in the wet. Pity the steering is a bit uncommunicative.

The 15-inch touchscreen in the middle persists, which is understandable as the Model Y and the related Model 3 haven’t had a mid-life refresh yet, much less a second generation. Unfortunately, it’s still annoying. There’s just too much information, although the screen itself is of high quality, as is the rest of the cabin. A head-up display for speed would be fantastic.

The car’s ability to ‘see’ ahead and display that information on the screen is pretty impressive– it can figure out what’s a car, a bus, a person, even road cones and what colour the traffic light is – but it’s slightly janky in that the icons tend to dance around the screen. Plus I’m not really sure why I need to see that stuff when I can just look out of the windscreen…

11,400

How much extra you’ll need to pay for “Full Self-Driving Capability”. This gives you a lot of autonomous driving features, like automatic lane changing, auto-parking and the ability to read traffic lights and stop signs. And, for the most part, it works really well. I will admit I chickened out when it came to the traffic lights for fear of a much different headline, but the set-and-forget nature of the fully upgraded Autopilot system was deeply impressive.

However, the name is a bit misleading – Autopilot won’t automatically pilot the vehicle (yet), you still need to be present and able to take control if necessary.

So, should you put your name down for one? If you’ve already got a Model Y (or other electric SUV) and are perfectly happy, there’s not much reason. If you’re coming from something combustion-based and want almost unreasonable performance, plenty of range, and a quality cabin (and don’t mind the Musk ties), this is a superb contender.