Exploring our Model Y

A collection of climate stories mostly

Just before leaving the independent car dealer outside York, where I purchased my Tesla, the salesman’s parting words were, you need to get to know your Model Y.

Whilst a reflection on how little information he’d been able to provide during the brief handover, he was absolutely right.

The personal video sent through the week before had focused on demonstrating the car’s party mode, a song and dance routine aptly demonstrated many times on YouTube. There was no detailed assessment of the condition of the car which arguably might have been overkill giving the 109 miles recorded. Nor was there a rich vein of detail which might have helped to explain why Tesla is the most popular electric vehicle manufacturer in the world. Or at least it was.

I didn’t have answers to questions unknown, but the overwhelming evidence from research prior to my arrival at York station pointed towards an experience I would come to enjoy.

At the time, I reflected on a missed opportunity by the dealer to differentiate their business in a busy, confusing market.

There are no Tesla dealers. You order directly from Tesla and wait several months, or you buy from a growing number of independents who market themselves as specialists. Having several Teslas for sale on your forecourt does not qualify. Detailed answers to questions would.

First impressions

They are easy to drive, even though the minimalist layout of this genuine electrically designed vehicle might be off-putting to some. It still had the familiar pedal layout of an automatic and stalks either side of the steering wheel to give me further assurance that I’d bought a car with car-like controls.

Handbrakes have been disappearing for a while in new vehicles as have gear sticks. The Model Y is no exception. All of that is handled by the stalk shifter on the right hand side, a familiar appendage apparently for Mercedes-Benz and Rolls Royce drivers.

Deciding how you want your car to behave was definitely new. Aside from Chill and Standard, terms used for acceleration; the process of stopping also comes with options. All are easily accessible via the iPad-like-screen in the middle of the dashboard.

Roll and creep are more familiar car behaviours. Stopping on a hill doesn’t automatically hold the car if roll is selected, akin to the fossil fuelled dinosaurs I’ve driven most of my life. Think hill start during your test.

Creep is the same as a traditional automatic and will slowly continue to edge forward on a flat surface.

Hold is the most energy efficient and brakes are automatically applied when stopped, no footbrake required. I’ve got used to this now. It does the most regenerative braking of the three, returning more kinetic energy back to the battery for a second go.

First drive

It started to spit on my drive south from York. I could see wash/wipe on the left stalk butt, but up and down were only left and right indicators. There was no extra dial or twist to switch wipers on. The common signage for wiper operation appeared to have deserted me, although there’d been brief chatter about voice commands being available for nearly everything in my all to quick handover.

Voice activation is started with one of two buttons on the steering wheel.

Courtesy of Tesla

I had no choice but to issue my first uncomfortable command, windscreen wipers on, to an empty car. I was grateful for an almost instant response, my words appearing on screen, followed quickly by an efficient swish across my deteriorating vision. I discovered later that the wipers were set on automatic, but slow on the uptake, a regular complaint in user groups. There are quick and easy workarounds if they insist on being water resistant.

I haven’t bothered with voice as much as I should yet. Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant on the iPhone, has never been a close friend. But driving is different and the Model Y manual promises easy control of heat, music, phone calls and navigation. I wonder if it’s popular in British owned Teslas or has adoption been more universal in the US?

I’m more comfortable using the touchscreen, but there are exceptions such as handsfree calling. If Mrs H isn’t with me, I’ll also use voice command to set-up navigation, if only to see suggested charge points.

The biggest bonus of all

Of all the positives which regularly get talked about by Tesla owners, none gets more praise than Tesla’s supercharger network. Many buy solely because it takes range anxiety away - the fear of being stranded, miles from the next charge.

Unlike my first electric vehicle (EV), my Model Y calculates an optimal route. Travelling from Birmingham recently, the scheduled stop at the Welcome Break, M40, Oxford Services changed to a closer bank of superchargers because Oxford was experiencing heavy use. This was all communicated on the car’s internal map. I got onto a charger straight away and even got asked by another driver about my sexy alloys. The map also kept me informed on the number of free chargers as I drove, an added reassurance to stop sooner than expected.

Tesla’s investment in a supercharger network across the US and Europe is really smart. There are 40,000 worldwide and over 650 in the UK. It might have been out of necessity at the time, but they have sold a lot of cars because of it.

If you don’t drive a Tesla, be prepared to download other third party apps on your phone to find charge points. ChargeFinder is excellent, but of course nothing on your phone integrates seamlessly with your BMW, Porsche or Mercedes.

Tesla have made it really simple to power up. I touch the charge point cover on my Model Y and it opens. I plug in and everything happens almost instantly. Do whatever you want to do. Your phone automatically gets a message when you’re close to charged and another when it’s finished. Unplug. The Model Y’s charge point shuts automatically. No other manufacturer is as seamless. The precondition to this stress free zone when buying a Tesla, is registering a credit card for billing. Free electricity has not been offered for years now.

Horrendous queuing

I checked out some of the horror stories that were written in the press over Christmas about long queues for Tesla drivers. Most of the stories seemed to feature pictures of chargers which don’t even belong to Tesla. I’m getting the impression that lazy journalists have used Tesla as a collective noun for EV. Or they just fancy a bit of Elon Musk bashing. Who can blame them?

The queue at Tebay Services on the M6 near Penrith sounded less fanciful. It’s a beautiful, remote part of the country, but only with a bank of 8 chargers, on the south side of the motorway. No more electricity, until you head north to Carlisle or south to Kendal and Lancaster. If you’re running low, most drivers choose to wait. The queue is safer than a non-Tesla charge point, where there might also be queues, worse still, it might not be working.

Christmas problems could have been made worse because Tesla have opened up part of their network to other manufacturer’s vehicles. They’re still rare to see in my experience, but problems can arise because of plug point location on other makes and too short a charging cable on Tesla superchargers. The reason why you see all Teslas facing the same way is because the plug point is where you’d expect to find the petrol cap; on the passenger side, close to the boot.

Price cuts

A car manufacturer making price cuts is unheard of. Really?

The pleasure of driving a new car off any dealer’s forecourt, regardless of manufacturer, has consistently seen a depreciation in value of between 15-35% in the first year. After three, it is very likely to be worth half the original asking price.

The exception to this rule has been in the last two years when used Teslas with mileage, have remained in touch with the manufacturer’s retail price. It’s unlikely to be repeated.

Making Tesla more affordable makes sense for their longer term future as a volume EV manufacturer. The benefits of government legislation and a recharge network well ahead of anything else, insures there global popularity despite Mr Musk’s twittering.