Tesla Y, the first traditional refresh for the brand aiming to shake the car industry

Major update since its initial introduction in 2019. With the popularization of the model, the drivers hoped for many changes. This version offers everything better but nothing drastically different.

Without turning on the… screen, we cannot know a Tesla. However, until the new model is available for a deep TestDrive, let’s review the new capabilities against expectations defined over time. One major question: is it good enough for incremental improvement, or is it the disruption drivers and families hoped for?

The famous Juniper project announced years ago has delivered a new model. With a very similar footprint, it brings, according to Tesla, the expected improvements, reduced noise, and better comfort drives.

@Tesla image

Drivers were hoping for significant road quality improvement, allowing passengers to enjoy the drive as much as the driver. Model 3 updates have been applied, including lighting, back screen, material improvement. The effort on sound improvement seems mainly due to the new wheel design; let’s see how the impacts are from the passenger standpoint.

No 7 seats are already available. The model is, for now, only available in Asia, and exclusively manufactured in China.

@Tesla Image

Tesla Y had a very special market perception. It is almost like the first introduction of the Toyota Prius, which was acquired by both middle-class and tech / eco-friendly drivers. Will the new design give a driver the pride and feel of a car from the upper category or move the Y back to its peers of the same size?

Initially, Tesla benefited from the eco-friendly drivers, in addition to the technology early adopters. Now, a new category is growing, which is more politically engaged around topics such as America, people's performance, non-DEI…

This population of drivers won’t be as tolerant for an unperfect drive or too narrow car…

This model should at least continue the successful path of the old model Y. Will it be convincing enough to maintain Tesla as the market leader? The main “driver” of its incremental success will be:

1. The long run comfort level. Are the back passengers going to accept it comfortable enough for a long road trip?

2. Autonomous driving. Still the leader in the US market, will the new hardware allow an autonomous system to be adopted by all clients?

3. Is the taxi option going to allow monetizing the car’s ownership despite the lack of wireless charging? It would, therefore, make it a game-changer for all owners.

The charging mechanism still leverages the old cable and does not bring much hope to game-changing taxi monetization. The current battery does not offer the fast charging available on some Chinese competitors, with 80% charging in less than 15 minutes.

Therefore, we have not yet found the disruptive innovations we hoped for. Just a new Tesla, which is going to be enough for most. We anticipate this model will succeed in the US market, especially if the price tag remains similar. Tesla no longer has a substantial technical advantage over the Asian competition.

The major regret is on the lack of autonomy improvement

The frustration around EV and Tesla are related to the painfull charging experience. During a cold winter, the autonomy of the Y and 3 are decreasing so painfully that you have the feeling to spend longer charging than driving. The fact that after 5 years and what is called a major upgrade no improvement in the car autonomy is regrettable. especially while some annoncement on over 500 miles of autonomy are performed by BYD oversea.

The other major drawback is the lack of fast charging. This again position the car as it was in 2019, more for those with the option to charge home rather than the city driver leveraging mainly fast charging options.

Lastly, the lack of inductive charging solution will prevent the car to embrace the full autonomy where you can either summon the car from its parking slot, or to have it switched to a Taxi mode when not used.

Is the ultimate success of Tesla just to become a standard car maker ? The incremental update of cars make you feel that you drive the same technology than your parents, and it was ok.

Only the volume of sales will make the difference for Tesla and confirm its ability to drive or attract the public interest and money. Ultimately this Tesla Y is not a game changer; the design of the front is still questionable but certainly offering a nice ride. In a way, this is its purpose.

Think encore!