2025-26 Wheels Car of the Year Contender: Tesla Model Y

Now with self-driving capability – love it or not – the Model Y attempts to reinvent itself in an ever-deepening crowd of not just electric options, but efficient hybrids and plug-in hybrids, too.

That love-it-or-not theme is a common one also, not just with electric vehicles in general, but with the Tesla brand in particular. The reality is, though, Tesla puts forward an incredibly compelling case for those of you wanting to move into the EV realm. In regard to value, and we’ll look at the Model Y specifically in a minute, Tesla has the market at its mercy.

Its public charging infrastructure is better and more extensive than any other. And it works. All the time. Tesla’s app is easier and more intuitive to use than the competition, and the way in which the app controls the car is immediately evident as being designed by people who understand modern technology. Quite simply, the all-round Tesla ‘ecosystem’ (to use a modern branding term), is second to none.

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Wheels chose the middle of the range, the Long Range AWD, which starts from $68,900 before on-road costs, as the smart-money pick in the line-up. It continues the value story with twin motors, an 81kWh lithium-ion battery pack, 286kW and 510Nm, 0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds and a WLTP claimed range of 600km.

The judges noted efficiency as a strong point, too, with Tesla’s claim of 13.8kWh/100km extremely close to the figures you’ll get in the real world. In many cases, you’ll get an even better return.

The new Model Y’s styling has been sharpened up, ensuring it looks more contemporary than the old model, which had started to age somewhat. Negatives are few and none of them reflect the way the Model Y behaves or drives. The glass roof, for example, which can be covered with an optional clip-in shade, is good in theory, but can’t cope with the roasting Aussie sun in the middle of summer.

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The lack of a driver’s display, head-up display or gauge cluster of any kind, is a deal breaker in the eyes of the judging team. Likewise, the move away from a shift stalk on the steering wheel, and the replacement of that with a touch and slide function – again on the screen – which is neither intuitive or easy to decipher.

“Stupid, silly, nonsensical, unnecessary.” All terms used by the judging team to describe some of Tesla’s choices. In this instance, Tesla has gone a little too far. However, integrating rear seat entertainment into an 8.0-inch screen that also controls temperature and ventilation in the second row? That’s genius.

Annoyances aside, the Tesla infotainment screen works incredibly well once you work out its complexities. It’s still unfathomable that there’s no smartphone-mirroring connectivity either, Tesla still sticking to its ‘use our system’ guns, for better or worse. Storage space is excellent – 938L out to 2022L when you fold down the second row.

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The big change for this update, though, is the quality of the ride and bump absorption, which has been markedly improved along with general refinement – most specifically, inside the cabin. The judging team noted the quality of the interior insulation on Lang Lang’s ride and handling course, a section of coarse chip designed to unsettle the best cars on the market.

The judges agreed that the Model Y is a car that should absolutely be on your shopping list if you’re considering a switch to electric. It’s competent, solid, excellent to drive and energy efficient.
Let’s leave the self-driving functionality to cartoons and sci-fi movies for the moment, though.

Specs

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