The Tesla Model Y Thread

The 2021 Tesla Model Y Is The Universal Daily Driver

Verdict

Driving a Tesla Model Y is a passionless but comfortable experience. You aren’t sure you love the Y, and it certainly doesn’t love you back, but you’ll want to stay together for as long as possible. Much like, I imagine, many of our grandparents’ marriages. What’s good is good, and what’s bad can be glossed over because you’re already in this deep and you may as well love the one you’re with.

There is a reason Tesla has shot to the fore in the electric car game. It’s not the kind of car that you fall in love with, and I wasn’t exactly sad to see it go, but it was truly competent. For the average American driver, it’s everything they need and more. That’ll do, Moby. That’ll do.


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Tesla Raised Prices On The Model Y And Model 3

Tesla raised the base price of the Model 3 and Model Y by $500 last night, according to Electrek, the latest in a series of price modulations that Tesla has done this past year or so.

The rise means Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus now starts at $39,990, and the Model 3 Long Range AWD now starts at $48,990, while the Model Y Long Range AWD starts at $51,990, all up $500 from where they started yesterday. This doesn’t really mean much on the surface, as it is unlikely $500 will sway someone’s decision to buy a Tesla or not.

But every time Tesla does this it is an interesting look at where they are at, as sometimes the price goes up, and sometimes the price goes down and, because Tesla has no public relations department, we never learn why. Does Tesla slash prices to induce demand? Does Tesla raise prices because it has more than enough demand? Is Tesla raising prices because it thinks it might eventually get the federal tax credit back? Is Tesla raising prices because it is hurting from supply chain issues, like almost every other automaker?

 
Tesla makes Hepa filter with ‘bioweapon defense mode’ standard on Model Y electric SUV

Tesla has made its Hepa filter with “bioweapon defense mode” standard on new Model Y electric SUVs produced at Fremont Factory.

With the Model X and later the Model S, Tesla has started to put massive Hepa-rated air filters inside its vehicles.

The idea is for Tesla to put efforts into developing a more powerful air filtering system in order to not only contribute to the reduction of local air pollution with electric vehicles but also to reduce the direct impact of air pollution on the occupants of its vehicles.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk credited Google co-founder Larry Page for turning him onto the idea.

The automaker claims that the filter in the Model X is about 10 times larger than a normal car filter, and it is “100 times more effective than premium automotive filters,” as it removes “at least 99.97% of fine particulate matter and gaseous pollutants, as well as bacteria, viruses, pollen and mold spores.”

When it is operating at full blast, Tesla claims that it is powerful enough to protect against a bioweapon attack — hence the name of the mode.


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I Dispelled A Big Tesla Autopilot Myth By Running Tests On A Tesla Model Y​

I've heard misinformation about this repeated many times, so I drove behind a Tesla Model Y to set the record straight.​


I’ll admit that no matter how many times I hear this particular myth about Tesla Autopilot or Full Self-Driving (FSD), I’m always surprised. I’m surprised because it’s something that Tesla itself makes very clear in its documentation, but somehow the truth hasn’t gotten to many Tesla owners. The myth has to do with what a Tesla on Autopilot or FSD does if it does not get a response from the driver. So, to settle this once and for all, I tested it, and videoed what happened.

Here’s what the myth is: there is an alarmingly high number of Tesla owners who believe that, while using Autopilot or FSD, if a driver does not respond to the vehicle’s repeated prompts to pay attention and take hold of the steering wheel, the car will put on its hazard lights and carefully come to a stop on the side of the road, out of the active traffic lane.

 
Tesla Is Raising Prices For Its Most Popular Models Again

Elon is once again asking for your financial support

Tesla has had a banner year in 2021. Their third-quarter sales set a new record for the company, sending 241,300 vehicles out to customers. Production was up too, with Model 3 sedans and Model Y crossovers making up the vast majority of the 237,823 vehicles the company built during Q3.

With such high demand, it seems Tesla has taken the opportunity to rake in a bit more cash from those sales. Prices have gone up for the Model 3 and Model Y, affecting every trim level in both product ranges.

Both U.S. base models, the Model 3's Standard Range Plus and the Model Y’s Long Range, now cost an additional $2,000. The cheapest Model 3 now comes in at $41,990, while the Model Y starts at $54,990. Compared to the end of last year, the Model 3 costs an extra $5,500. The Model Y, over that same period, is up a whopping $6,500.

The Performance trims of both vehicles have also increased in price, by $1,000. A Model 3 Performance will now run you $57,990, while Model Y Performance buyers will have to cough up $61,990.

 
Tesla Berlin: new factory could start production next month

First cars could roll out of new gigafactory as early as November, Tesla boss Elon Musk has said

The first deliveries of cars built at Tesla’s factory in Germany could take place this year, with production beginning in “November or December”, according to company boss Elon Musk.

The plant was announced late in 2019 as part of a reported €5 billion (£4.25bn) investment plan. Construction is nearly complete, although it's still waiting for final approval from German authorities, having faced significant local opposition.

If given the green light as expected, the so-called gigafactory will have the ability to produce up to 50GWh worth of battery cells annually. Musk believes this capacity will be reached by the end of 2022.

The site will also accommodate production of the long-awaited Model Y crossover, which is set to arrive in the UK next year, almost two years after the first deliveries were made in the US.

“But starting production is kind of the easy part; the hard part is reaching volume production,” warned Musk, speaking at a festival held on the factory grounds over the weekend.

He estimated that the German factory could eventually produce between 5000 and 10,000 vehicles per week, and the Tesla Semi truck is also thought to be part of plans for the new facility.

 
CAR REVIEW

Tesla Model Y

WHAT'S THE VERDICT?

“Everything you liked (and most of what you didn’t) in the Model 3, in a more practical shape. But not a pretty one”


Let’s not pretend it’s a surprise that the Model Y is a good car. And it very much is. Not simply because lots of people in America have been driving around in one they’ve bought for a year and been smug on the internet. If you’re one of the masses of folks who’ve pre-ordered one of these in Europe, you’re going to like it.

What’s most interesting is this is the first Tesla we’ve driven where the standout impression isn’t necessarily the acceleration, or the driver assistance tech, or the world-class touchscreen, or even the built-in games and memes.

It’s the packaging. The Model Y is now the poster-car for ‘if you delete the engine, the gearbox, the exhaust and all that fuel tank plumbing, then look how roomy you can make the cabin, look how much storage you can offer in the boot'.

Obviously that’s not as sexy as Autopilot or Ludicrous Mode, but it’s going to make this a great car to live with, before you get to the foolproof charging, frugal real-world electrical consumption, and all the other stuff that makes Teslas genius electric all-rounders. Plus, if the build quality continues on this trajectory, one of Tesla’s real weaknesses against the European old guard will have been, at long last, kiboshed.

It would have been one of the shocks of 2021 if Tesla has heightened a Model 3 and spoiled it in the process. In short, it has not.


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Saw another Model Y, this time in dark grey, pass me this week. They look SO much better in person, it's quite weird.

Gonna have to stop buying coffee and avocado toast to save up for one. :P
 
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