It's been announced quite some time ago, but it's finally here. The Tesla Model Y. The bigger brother of the Model 3, or the smaller brother of the Model X
Just how you want to look at things. For a long time, Tesla was the sole ruler of electric cars with a usable specs, but more and more...
manufacturers start moving into that territory. So to compare this new Tesla, we've put a car next to made by a manufacturer who has over...
100 years of experience building conventionally powered cars: a Volvo XC40 P8, our longterm car. Both cars have two electric motors,
will do 0-100 km/h in around five seconds, and have battery packs that both consist out of around 75 kWh.
So on paper, they do sond alike, but how do they hold up in the real world?
The first thing that stands out with the Model Y is its height. It's much taller than the Model 3 for example.
You can already tell by the black wheelarches, but that's necessary because this is a crossover.
It also has black edges under the sills and bumpers. This car is all about practicality.
It's not a saloon either. It's more of a hatchback or even a fastback. It's got five doors and the interior space has been improved.
The seats might not be the best there is, but they're more than alright. They're the same as in the Model 3, but the rails are a tad higher...
which means you're more straight up. Despite that, you've got more than enough headroom left. That's because the roof itself is higher as well.
Something you'll notice in the back as well. First of all, you've got more than enough legroom. If I put the front seat to my own preference,
and I'm almost 2.00 m. tall, I've still got more than enough legroom left. And the same goes for the headroom, because there's a few centimetres...
before the glass roof starts. If we move even further back, we arrive in a very spacious boot. It's very accessible because of the fifth door as well.
Tesla won't specify the exact amount, but it's really spacious. Also, the Tesla comes with a frunk at the front and there's a lot of space left...
underneath the boot floor. In the future, that will be less whenever there's going to be a 7-seater, but that will be in the future.
And we're living now. The only drawback to the boot is that there isn't a parcel shelf or rolling cover or anything, so it's resonating quite a lot.
Quite noisy. And you can't cover your belongings. I mean sure, the glass is darkened, but a parcel shelf wouldn't have been too much, right?
Finishing of the interior is very neat and the design is still very minimalistic, as we're used to from Tesla. Having said that, you have to operate all of...
functions through the big central screen. That houses all of the functionality. What I personally don't like is that the speedometer isn't right in front...
of me and that I have to look sideways, but it is what it is.
Thanks to the lowly positioned battery pack in this car, the centre of gravity is on the good side. That means the Tesla offers a very...
stable handling. The steering is nice and direct, so all in all, it's a very comfortable whole.
Tesla's strong suit has always been their electric drivetrains, because they exclusively make electric cars. For the Model Y, they kick things off...
with the Long Range-version. That means you've got two electric motors, one at the front and one at the back, and together they produce...
351 horsepower. So if it's necessary, it can get from 0 to 100 km/h in five seconds. That's nice and all, but the battery pack is more important.
It's a 75 kWh-unit and you're supposed to be able to do 507 kilometres on a single charge. We didn't reach that, but if I look into the trip...
computer, we reached 17,5 kW per 100 kilometres, which translates into around 430 kilometres on a single charge. And you don't have to try to...
get even further. 450 kilometres is a very realistic range. And when the battery runs flat, you can quickcharge it up to 250 kW.
So you'll be on your way again in no time.
The XC40 is shorter than the Tesla and both the front and rear axles are closer to each other as well. In reality, that means there's less interior space.
In the front, you won't really notice that. The seats themselves are nicer, for example. But if you move to the back,
you have a few centimetres less space to use. If you move even further back, the luggage space is more compact as well.
Just like in the Tesla, there's a storage compartment at the front, and if that's still not enough, this car is allowed to tow 1.800 kg.
That's 300 kg more than the Tesla's is allowed to tow.
The interior design of the Volvo is more playful than the minimalistic Tesla-design. And a fun sidenote is that when Volvo first introduced...
the XC90 six years ago, we said that interior was minimalistic as well. And we don't really think that's minimalistic anymore.
It all looks very good though, and it feels a tad more solid than in the Tesla. More premium really.
There are a lot more buttons than in the Tesla, because every button added to the zero buttons of Tesla, is more.
Despite that, you can do a lot of things through the multimedia system, which is powered by Google: Android Automotive.
That means it works slightly differently than other Volvo's. However, because it's integrated, it works with Google Maps as well, which can...
display all current traffic information. That's ideal. I mentioned it earlier, but on paper, this car is quite the rival to the Tesla.
That's because this car has two electric motors as well. You can get it with only one motor as well, but we're driving the Twin Engine today.
That means we've got 408 horsepower at our disposal, which makes this car a fraction quicker than the Tesla.
It has a 75 kWh-battery pack, which means it should be able to get just as far as the Tesla, but it just doesn't seem to able to do that.
Sure, the car is over 100 kg heavier, but it only does 20 kW per 100 kilometres, and that's quite a difference in the long run. Volvo themselves say it...
will do 418 kilometres on a single charge, but we can't get near that. We were able to calculate that it'll do 350 kilometres, and that's it.
Quite the difference really, and the charging times are slower as well. It can quickcharge only up to 150 kW.
This car shares its base with the Polestar 2, but it doesn't have the additional Polestar-damping and chassis control. It's just an XC40.
And it's very comfortable. There's a bit more movement than in the Tesla and the steering is a tad more distant, but for daily usage it's very nice.
This car is fitted all kinds of safety systems and driving aids, because it's always safety first at Volvo. They're making their first steps towards...
autonomous driving as well. There's adaptive cruise control and lane assist, but Volvo isn't as far as an Autopilot yet.
Speaking of which, the Autopilot is very bèta. What Volvo offers always works, whilst Tesla's Autopilot sometimes needs some help from the driver.
Sometimes it hesitates or it doesn't do something you expect it to do. But that's the risk of beta engineering. And that comes with another drawback,
because you usually pay alpha prices for that.
Speaking of money, Tesla wants €65.000 for the Model Y. That's a serious amount of money. Volvo on the other hand, only wants €56.000...
for the four-wheel drive electric XC40. That's a price gap of almost €10.000. Sure, the Volvo isn't as spacious and the range is less,
or not as developed, but the finishing is better. In short, if you want space and range, you have to pay a little extra at Tesla.