CARLOS LAGO: This video is a follow-up
to the first impressions video I made on Edmunds' new 2020
Tesla Model Y. We bought a Tesla Model Y,
and I'm driving it right now, which feels really good.
This is when we bought when we were
running our long-term fleet for some time.
But the purpose of this video is to go
into greater detail about some of the comments and critiques I
made in that first video and rectify an error or two
I made, as well.
So it'd be a good idea to watch that video first
if you haven't seen it already.
Now, this video has the potential to be long
and, let's say, monotonous.
Even worse, it's one that I'm shooting, a lot of it myself.
So you'll have to bear with me.
And this also might seem a little nit-picky.
So I want to stress at the outset
that I actually rather like the Model Y, generally,
and what it brings to the small luxury SUV segment.
I'll say that throughout the video too, just to reaffirm it.
Let's start with pricing.
A couple people asked how we paid a mere $5,000
for the optional full self-driving capability, when
on Tesla's website, as of the time of this recording,
it's about $7,000.
Well, that's how much it cost when
we ordered the vehicle in 2018, and prices have changed.
We tried to note as much in the video.
If you were to build this exact car on Tesla's website, as
of the time of this recording, it would cost around $72,000.
I should note that price doesn't include taxes or rebates
or incentives, or what Tesla calls potential fuel savings,
because that changes depending on where you live
and how you drive the car.
That price does, though, include destination,
which is mandatory everywhere.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
In my original video when I was commenting
on the backseat comfort, I mentioned
the seat bottoms were comfortable,
but the seat back felt a little too upright.
Well, that's because I missed the recline feature.
That's my error.
It's on me.
You can adjust the angle quite a bit too.
It's nice to have, and it definitely
makes this backseat feel more spacious than it already is.
Rear seat space is one of the biggest attributes of the Model
Y.
A couple commenters mentioned that the difficulty
we were having dropping the driver's side rear seat
might be in relation to the angle of that recline.
If you recall, the passenger side rear seat on our car
drops automatically when you release it from the cargo area.
But the driver side takes a little push.
I've tested it out with all the different angles--
doesn't seem to make a difference.
I should also mention too that the second row is actually
fairly heavy, especially when you drop it with the center
section attached.
And putting them back up requires a fair amount
of effort.
Considering my gym is closed, that may be OK.
But once this whole pandemic thing is over with,
that could get quite annoying.
While we're back here, we can also
talk about rear seat climate and seat heating controls.
Now, the dual motor all-wheel drive
Model Y currently comes standard with rear seat heating.
And that's great because that's not something all small luxury
SUVs make available.
My critique had to do with the lack of physical controls
of those seat heaters, back here for rear seat passengers.
Many commenters suggested correctly
that you can use the Tesla's phone
app to control seat heating.
But there's a couple problems with that.
One, it assumes that everybody who ever sits back here
has the technical ability or desire
to download the Tesla app to their phone
and register the vehicle on their phone,
just because their butt's a little cold.
And two, as someone who frequently
does IT support for his parents over the phone,
I can tell you that phone controls are a solution but not
a good solution.
So too is the lack of rear climate controls.
Yes, I can adjust the vent speed, intensity,
and direction, but I have no way to control the temperature
outside of asking the driver or, again, using the phone.
While not all small luxury SUVs come with 3-zone climate
control standard, most, if not all, make it available.
And it's currently not available in the Model Y.
A couple of commenters pointed out
that while I was showing off the rear storage
area and the hidden compartments underneath the floor,
I didn't showcase the one in front of this one.
Now, this is a deep storage area.
I'll just remove the cover for the sake of demonstration.
But in front of it is an additional, let's say, more
disguised storage area.
It isn't as deep.
In fact, it's pretty shallow.
But it's deep enough to accommodate the charging cable,
as you can see, that comes with the Tesla.
Also, a couple people pointed out
that I didn't show the front storage area either.
It's nice.
It's not as deep as you might like,
but it's something that most gasoline-powered cars
don't offer, because that's where the engine is.
If you need to store stuff, an EV SUV
is a pretty good place to do it.
While we're on the subject, let's
talk about rear visibility.
The Model Y's roof makes for what
appears to be a rather long rear window.
But due to the angle, it's actually
a pretty small opening, when you look through the rearview
mirror.
Now, when I pointed this out, a couple commenters
suggested that I use the Tesla's rear camera
to help when I'm backing up or making parking maneuvers.
My problem there is one of my previous experience
with our Tesla Model 3, the first one we had,
one of the early ones that came off the assembly line.
That car's backup camera would stop
working on occasion, especially when you were backing up,
reducing my trust in the system, and a couple others on staff.
You know what never stops working?
A sizable rear window.
There were a number of comments about my critique of Tesla's
Bluetooth audio streaming services,
specifically when I said that the only way to change tracks
is on your phone.
I misspoke.
You can change tracks using the steering wheel controls.
What I meant to say is that you can't change media sources.
Like, for example, if I wanted to go to Spotify
to my favorite podcast app, I haven't
found a way to do that through Tesla's entertainment system.
A couple of people suggested that I
use Tesla's built-in TuneIn app to listen to podcasts.
And while that would work, I already
have a podcast app on my phone that I like.
And I listen to podcasts outside of the car
too, like when I'm walking the dog
or doing housework or car work.
I mentioned Spotify earlier, and it's built in to the car.
If you're a paying subscriber, or if you subscribe
to Tesla's premium connectivity service at $10 a month,
you get access to a lot of nice features,
like streaming video from Netflix and Hulu,
live traffic visualization, an internet browser,
and so on, and so on.
This is an Apple iPhone 11 Pro.
And with it, I already have access to a bunch of similar,
if not the same applications, because I already
pay for a data subscription.
And if I had Apple CarPlay, I would have better and broader
control over those applications, without paying
additional money.
I should mention too that my previous phone was a Google
Pixel 2 XL.
I've gone back and forth between Apple
and Android a number of times, so I have good experience
with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
For the sake of comparison, we're now
inside a 2020 Kia Telluride.
No, we're not comparing the Telluride to the Model Y,
but I want to illustrate the attributes of Apple CarPlay
and, to an extent, Android Auto, that I like so much.
For example, if I wanted to switch between Spotify,
I do that.
If I want to go my podcast app, I do that.
Done.
If I want to use Apple Maps, I do that.
If I want to use Google Maps, I do that.
If I want to use Waze--
oh, that's WhatsApp.
If I want to get to Waze, I do that.
It's just that simple.
And even better, I have access to Siri
because I'm using an Apple device.
But if I was using an Android device,
I would have Google Assistant, which to my mind is superior,
but that's another topic for a different time.
Also, I have physical controls down here,
but we'll talk about that later.
Now we're back in the Model Y, a vehicle that-- remember--
I quite like.
Quite a few people commented about my complaints
about the lack of physical controls,
and recommended that I use Tesla's ever-evolving
and ever-improving voice controls to substitute
for the lack of physical controls.
Let's try out a few.
Change temperature to 72.
Turn on the seat heaters.
Turn off the climate control.
The voice controls work, and they
understand natural language, depending on, I would assume,
the thickness of your accent, let's say.
There are also times when-- change temperature to 72--
that physical controls are superior--
turn the seat heaters off--
like, when you're trying to have a conversation with somebody--
play Spotify-- or when you're trying to talk to a camera.
Turn climate control off.
I fear at this point, people may take
a lot of what I've said here as criticism
of the technology in Teslas.
And while I do have some complaints,
I think a lot of the stuff that's
happening inside this car is revolutionary.
In fact, a lot of the features in this display
would take an entire video to explain in their entirety.
We may just do that in the future, but for the time being,
I'll call out the fact that I love the onboard dash cam
system that uses the car's external cameras to record
video onto a USB thumb drive that you plug in
underneath the dash.
I really think the electronic whoopee cushion is fantastic.
It makes everybody laugh, who have ever sat inside this car.
[FARTING]
[HIGH-PITCHED FARTING]
I also think Pet Mode is really neat too,
where it keeps the climate control working when you've
run out and left your dog, cat, or tiger while you
go run errands.
And Tesla continuously updates these features and adds
new ones.
And that makes ownership exciting.
It's kind of like when a big feature
update comes to your phone or to your favorite video game.
That line of thinking though also has a couple downsides.
One, it's when fans of the brand can accept and even pay
for features that are either half-baked or not
quite finished, with the promise that they might work someday
in the future when a fix arrives through an over-the-air update.
Also, we've all had phones and been playing video games,
I would assume, for long enough that we all
have had experiences where our software has stopped working
because an update broke things.
I know I've experienced that on this phone in particular.
That can be annoying on a phone.
But with a car, the ramifications
can be far more serious.
To give an example, I need to back up.
When you buy a Tesla, you get this as your key.
It's a key card that's RFID-enabled.
I don't know the exact terminology.
And that's how you lock, unlock, and start your Tesla.
It's kind of clunky, and I don't really prefer using it.
So if you use the Tesla app on your phone,
you can do all the same things and have more control
over the car, through your app.
And that solution generally works, until it doesn't, like
on Labor Day 2019, I believe it was, when the app stopped
working, preventing a lot of Model 3 owners from unlocking,
locking, or starting their car.
Tesla recommended at the time and still prints
in the owner's manual that you should have a physical key
on you at all times.
But in my mind, if you've developed a key replacement
strategy that requires that you keep the key that you're trying
to replace on you at all times, then you
haven't really developed a key replacement strategy.
As we get to the end, I fear that I've
sounded overly critical on the Model Y and Tesla.
And that is not my intention at all.
Much like the Model 3, I truly appreciate
what the Model Y brings to the industry and Tesla with it.
It's similar, in my mind, to the effect
the iPhone had when Apple introduced it
to the smartphone market, way back when.
But that's not to say this is free from criticism.
And much of my complaints have to do
with what Tesla expects me to do as an owner
to adjust to its expectations of how to drive a vehicle.
If your lifestyle already matches up,
there are no better solutions than Teslas.
But if you don't, and you agree with some of the points
that I made, it demands a further look and a closer
inspection.
I hope I was able to clarify some of my critique
and address the error or two I made in the previous video.
I hope you'll keep watching to see how our ownership
journey goes with the Tesla Model Y
and that you'll like, subscribe, comment, and visit edmunds.com
for more.
[MUSIC PLAYING]