Our honest opinion on the Model Y! //2026 Tesla Model Y review
We’ve got the 2026 Tesla Model Y. Why not? And we’re off, Andrea. We’re off. So, guess what we’re doing? Hands-free self-driving. We’re coming up to a roundabout. I should have brought a second camera. I know. To face the front. Anyway, coming to a little roundabout. Around we go. No problem. Like, imagine this. You’re just driving around in the neighborhood. Now, I want to say that while we’ve had this vehicle, we’ve gotten a software update. It came through and now we’ve got full self-driving 14.2 and that includes Mad Max. We’ve got it on standard, but you can also do sloth if you’re really slow. There’s hurry and then Mad Max, which apparently you’re weaving in and out of traffic. Not not not ideal. All right, so look what’s in front of us. Tesla, I just want to say we’re way off our usual rundown here, Andrea. Okay, while this tries to navigate this intersection here, uh what is under the floor of this thing? We have the premium all-wheel drive model with 526 km, 327 mi of range. It goes 0 to 100 kilometers per hour and 4.8 seconds, 0 to 60 in 4.6 seconds. Has a top speed of 201 kilometers per hour, 125 miles per hour. Tesla actually doesn’t share horsepower and torque numbers. Okay, so it navigated out of that intersection. I just want to say we’re not getting into politics. We’re getting into a Model Y and reviewing it as a new car. That’s what we do. This is a new car, so that’s all we’re doing. Uh, in a moment, we’re going to get into the key standard features. There’s also a performance model with 492 kilometers to 306 miles of range. 0 to 100 kilometers an hour in three and a half seconds. at 0 to 60 in 3.3. Top speed 250 km or 155 mph. In the US, there are two rearwheel drive models available. Standard with 321 mi of range and premium 357 miles of range. You when you drive a Tesla in Vancouver, well, we know there’s a lot of Teslas in Vancouver. They’re freaking everywhere. There’s there’s a there’s a Model X in front of us right now. We just out of the last intersection, there was another one. Anyway, what we’re going to do is get into the key standard features of this new 2026 Model Y. The base trim comes with a 15.4 inch touchscreen, 8 in rear touchscreen, 15 speaker audio system, two wireless phone chargers, customizable wraparound ambient lighting, perforated leatherrett interior, heated and ventilated front sport seats, a heated steering wheel, panoramic glass roof, heated second row seats, and a hands-free power tailgate. So, Andrea, almost to the day, yeah, almost to the day, it was four years ago that we reviewed a Model Y. I can’t believe four years has gone by. And people say, “Well, why don’t you do Teslas?” It’s like, they have no PR department. This is the way it works. I email the PR department and they say, “Oh, come pick up our car.” There is no PR department for Tesla. So, what happened? So, we have um a viewer, his name is Charlie Wang. He’s the general manager at Tesla Port Kutam and Siri and he reached out and he said, “Hey guys, we’ve got this new model in made in Berlin for Canada. Do you want to test drive it?” We said, “We certainly do.” Now, the US models are still made in the US, made in California. We used to get our Model Y from China. That all stopped because of tariffs uh for Canada and the United States, and now they’re bringing them in. And the good news is in the armrest you get a free package of broughtwurst. Free package of broughtwurst. That is not true. That is not true. But I would like that. So this full self-driving I drove home from Port Kquilam to Vancouver and Portm. Yeah, it’s it’s a suburb outside of Vancouver. It’s about a 40minute drive. We didn’t have the full self-driving software update yet. And what I found is that it was raining really hard and the vehicle didn’t like it and it actually slowed down to the point that I took over the vehicle. Uh, and I I think it was because of weather conditions, which isn’t a bad thing. But now I’m finding with this updated 14.2, it’s better. It’s smoother. It’s not as jerky. I think that the update is a nice addition. So Tesla as a brand and the Model Y in particular is a disruptor in the motor industry. It it is I mean Tesla proved that you could make uh a car that people actually aspired to own. Model S was expensive. This is the mainline car that most people buy. So Tesla does a lot of things really well with this. First of all, I have to say that the actual design of this outward visibility, the seats, the stereo is fantastic. Um the all the trunk space that you get a big bin in the back, a frunk in the front. Um all of that is really welld designed and this technology as we’ve talked about already is uh world class. So then you add on all of the other things like range and uh the charging capabilities. There’s they have a first mover advantage. What I’m most impressed with driving this new model is that the suspension is better. It’s a little bit softer. It doesn’t beat you up like the previous model did. It was really quite firm. Uh the steering feels more precise. Even the regen braking, there’s two levels. And the standard one actually is quite nice. Like it doesn’t feel jerky in any way. No sudden uh stops. So, I have to say that the driving dynamics have really improved with the 2026 model. Yeah, when we drove that one four years ago, it was crashy, man. Really crashy over the bumps. This one drives like uh very nice, nicely insulated, too. One thing with electric cars, you have to actually spend the money on insulation cuz you hear everything. You hear the wind and the road noise. Okay, Andrea, this is where we typically do the hard acceleration, but we’re doing full self-driving, so we have to modify. Uh, what do people need to do? What do we have to put it in? Well, you got to put it in. S for subscribe and if you can hit that notification bell, you’ll be notified when all of our reviews drop and then you can watch them. And we do this a couple car twice a week. The first one drops on Wednesday. We put another one out on Saturday. So, all we ask is that you like and subscribe and we’ll feed you these videos. Okay, we’re driving. Oh, wants to change lanes. There’s a slowpoke in the fast lane. Oh, now he’s changing lane. This is quite interesting. So, in front of us, a slow poke in the fast lane moved over to the slow lane, and we’ll see what it does. Now, this is the bumpiest part of this road. And um yeah, you can hear it, but it’s not jarring. And the difference between the software update and what it was before is it’s smoother. Like, even when you’re accelerating, everything is smoother. I think for people who own a Tesla, they’re really going to enjoy it. It’s getting This is weird because I want to look as it’s going left. Like you put a lot of trust in this. Yeah. So, it just passed this slope here. It’s a Slowpoke Audi Q3. Keep up lady. Um, but anyway, that’s it’s it’s incredible really. And this is a nasty gray rainy day. So, other things that are new, more features have been added. Ventilated front seats. You now have more speakers. You’ve got improved materials. Um, now if you want this white interior on the model that we’re driving, you do have to pay extra for it. $1,300 in Canada and a thousand in the US. But if you get the performance model, you can get black or white. It’s all included. Well, thank goodness they changed the exterior of the Model Y. One problem with Tesla, and that’s a critique for me, is that they leave their cars too long in the marketplace. Other brands update more often. One thing I’ve said about Tesla is they don’t do decoration on their cars. They just have what they have. Um, you know, if you get an an Audi baseline, then you get an S and you get an RS. They change the look of it. They all look the same. The new light bar in the front is uh cleaner and the light bar of the back is cleaner. So, they put a new front and rear clip on this. Uh, looks more modern. It’s more aerodynamic as well, but it’s not my favorite looking uh Tesla. I actually prefer the look of the Model 3, but to each their own. Looks are subjective. I do like this model more so than the outgoing model because of those light bars. This gets 6.6 in of ground clearance and the performance model a little less at 6 in. It comes standard with LED light bars, a dash cam, eight exterior cameras, heated windshield, auto and adaptive high beams, power folding and auto- dimming side view mirrors, 19 or 20in wheels, and the performance Model Y gets 21in wheels. There are some accessories that you can add, including a roof rack and projection lights. Okay, Andrea, I’ve decided I want to drive. I don’t want I don’t want the car to drive. It’s already taken a weird route to get us here. I wouldn’t have taken that route. Anyway, um this vehicle, we’ve checked a lot of boxes so far. It it drives better. It’s got great range charging, looks better. Andrea touched on some of the materials. Where it’s going to fall down for some people is everything is done in this big screen. And there’s a couple of issues I have with it. First, I find some of the icons quite small um compared to other brands who have bigger icons. Some people might find that troubling. Also, it has this automated driving, like showing you the car going down the road. That’s a third of the screen used for that. When I’m driving, I don’t need that. I can understand when you’re doing the full self thing, but when I’m driving now, I don’t need that. I’d rather have more stuff on the screen. Now, you can make the icons a little bit bigger, but they don’t become really huge. Uh maybe Zach wants them a little bit bigger than what’s offered on this model. There is something that I don’t like. Tesla’s removed the stock shifter that was in the previous model. I much preferred it. Now you actually have to go into the screen and shift. And it’s a slider. So you slide up to drive. You can press the middle park. But if you take off your seat belt, automatically it goes to park and then slide down to reverse. It’s not intuitive to use. I hope one day they bring back a proper shifter. Well, this is interesting because I mentioned that everything is done on the screen, you know, which is fine. This is another area where Tesla went out in front with this and then the rest of the auto industry copied it. But what’s happened now is the regulator, the safety regulator in Europe, NCAAP, has said you have to remove stuff from inside the screen and actually have real physical buttons. So, it’s going to be interesting to see if if Tesla pays a penalty and just stays with this and they’re not going to get higher scores or they’re actually going to be forced to do that. I think there’s a lot of people would like to have some physical buttons outside of the screen. I think so, too. I mean, I’m missing the physical buttons. There are tabs that sit at the bottom of the screen and things like a heated steering wheel, for example. You can make sure that it sits there at the bottom. If in the summertime you don’t need the heated steering wheel on, you can move that elsewhere and you can put other apps down there. Like I put Spotify down there. I also like the phone icon. Initially, when you get in the vehicle, you’re a little bit overwhelmed by how much is involved, but it’s actually intuitive to use. Everything is very logical once you know where it all is. The other thing is I’ve also been using the app and I have a profile set up. The app is fantastic. It’s so easy to use and it really connects you well with the vehicle. So, it does come standard with a 15.4 in touchscreen. The performance model actually gets a bigger screen, 16 in. And then you’ve got this new 8- in touchscreen for rear seat passengers. And you can Yeah, that’s awesome. I’ve been checking that. I played our our videos in the back there, Andrea. I know. So, you can watch videos, you can listen to music, you can do everything that you want back there. and you’re a very comfortable passenger. One thing about talking about looking backwards, the window out the back is small. Your your scope of visibility out the back window is quite narrow. Um, so try that out and see if you like it. Mhm. So, storage wise, this is great. This is big. You’ve got a huge storage box where the wireless chargers are. You get two, by the way. And the door pockets are big. I just think overall comfortwise Tesla’s done a nice job. Well, here’s me getting in the back seat. Of course, it’s electric vehicle, has a perfectly flat floor. You got a lot of leg room, excellent headroom, the seats are comfortable. What’s the size of this vehicle? So, Tesla doesn’t share dimensions when it comes to front and rear seat leg room, but I will give you the dimensions of the vehicle. The Model Y is 188.6 6 in in length, 64 in in height, and with the mirrors extended, 83.8 in in width. So, Andrew mentioned you don’t get dimensions for the Model Y, but here’s me lifting the power lift gate, and you get a very nice, useful cargo area. What’s killer, though, is underneath you get a massive storage bin, like really big in the front. The frunk is big. And now for 2026, the rear seats are power operated and they fold down. There’s a lot of space in this vehicle. Questions? Oh, you’ve got questions about this. Time now for questions, coffee, and cars. Your questions from Instagram. Do the rear power reclining seats make a significant difference in comfort, or is the Max Recline similar to the standard Max manual recline angle in most rear seats of competitors. I actually found them to be very similar to the Kia Sportage or the Hyundai Tucson because they actually have that physical recline button whereas a lot of them you have to go on the top of the seat and um sometimes recline. I found them to be very comfortable. It’s a good pitch. I like the power option to fold them down. That’s that’s that’s what I like. Yeah, that’s a new addition. No non-glass roof option. No thanks. So, this is, you know, as I’ve been talking about through the video, Tesla was the disruptor and an innovator and everybody’s following along and this is one trend we’re seeing with a lot of EVs is a fixed panel glass roof, but they’re, you know, they could add a sun shade. Yeah. So, a viewer said that one of his good friends moved from a Model 3 to this new Model Y, and he’s loving everything about it, but he did find on really hot days that it doesn’t give him enough protection. Uh, it’s a little bit too hot. So, he went and actually bought some shades and that’s been helpful. Yeah. So, maybe if there was an option for shade. Yeah, there’s loads of aftermarket ones you can put in there. Maybe Tesla even has a, you know, something they sell as well. Hey, if you want to get a question in for a future episode, don’t be shy. Follow along on Instagram. It’s motormouth_and Andrew. You also see all the pictures behind the scenes. For me, it’s motormouth_. And the links are below the like button. I like it. Cabin looks improved, but is still way behind the premium ice manufacturers for comfort and amenities. I wouldn’t I would disagree on the comfort. I think these seats are pretty good. The stereo we talked about is excellent. Outward visibility. Actually, the the the when you sit here looking out, this is this rivals a Forester. Yeah. For outward visibility. So, I would disagree with that. What you’re what you’re missing are all the other We have a Merc a very expensive Mercedes-Benz this week. And when you get in that, it’s a lot of bling and flash. A lot of bling. A lot of bling and flash. Uh this one, no bling. That’s their whole thing is no their their thing is no bling. I you look it to say that it doesn’t have a premium feel because it’s simplistic and extremely clean. No driver display, no extras, no pizzazz. They’ve added ambient lighting which is nice. The materials in here are much improved compared to the previous model, but this is something that you have to really like. It’s different. I wouldn’t say, you know, that it’s necessarily less premium. It’s just different. Okay. So, what I just I just noticed now, just now, I just put my hand on this. A big knock against say BMW and Mercedes is below your knee in the door cards, they’ve gone to hard plastic. Tesla has gone to the soft molded plastic on the Feel the door card there. I did. And um that is a step above. They have moved away from it. These guys are leaning into it. That’s a win. And even many manufacturers are using hard plastic here at the center console. This is soft. I think it’s really well done if you like this style. And now it’s time for our hot topic. What’s this one, Andrea? A lot of EVs from different manufacturers have access to the Tesla Supercharger network now in North America. And some even have adopted the NACS port, namely Hyundai and Kia. Is the Tesla ecosystem still light years ahead of the competition or does the NACS portal make the Ionic 5 or EV6 a real alternative? Now, in a recent questions, Andre, we talked about the what comes first, the chicken or the egg, put the cart in front of the horse, all that kind of stuff. Tesla did it right. They built out the supercharge infrastructure first, then they started selling the cars. That along with all the other stuff we talked about is the reason why these things sell. And the other brands are now starting to line up at their chargers and um they they have they have the secret sauce for charging. They do and and these other vehicles that you mentioned like the Ionic 5 and the EV6 may work better for some instead of a Tesla because still have a regular shifter. So what works for one person may not work for the other. But absolutely, the selection of electric vehicles out on the market now uh is is really fantastic and they’re doing a very good job trying to keep up with Tesla. Tesla number one. Number two in terms of sales is General Motors. Yeah. Number three in terms of sales is the Hyundai group and number four is Volkswagen Group. So there you go. All right, let’s get into all of the vital stats of the Model Y. Let’s start with pricing. We’ll do Canada first and then move on to the US. The premium all-wheel drive model we’re driving is just under $65,000 and the performance all-wheel drive model just under 75,000. In the US, there is a stripped down standard rearwheel drive model for under $40,000. And then the top performance all-wheel drive is just under $575,000. The self-driving is cool, Andrea, but it is expensive. Yes, in Canada it’s $11,000 and in the US $8,000. Charlie Wang, the general manager at the dealership, says that most people who want it will pay for it monthly and it works out to be about $99 Canadian a month. At a Tesla Supercharger, you can get up to 253 km or 157 mi of range in 15 minutes. The performance model, a little less, 229 km, 142 mi. When properly equipped, the Model Y can tow 3500 lb. Tesla offers a warranty of four years, 80,000 kilometers, or 50,000 mi. The battery and drive unit, 8 years, 192,000 km, 120,000 mi with a minimum 70% retention of capacity for the warranty period. Lightning round, two things we like, two things we like to improve. Lightning round, cuz it’s electric. Yes. Well, I’m just so impressed with the technology in here. Fantastic. It’s a much better driver than the last Model Y. What I’d like to see improved is I’d like to just have a regular shifter. Yeah, I they’re going to have to if they do follow the regulations, move some of the stuff out of the screen. That will be welcome for a lot of people, me included. You could also make the graphics bigger. So, there it is. It’s the Model Y. What do you guys think of that? Thanks for watching and if you like what you see, subscribe. We’ll see you next time.
This is a couple car review of the 2026 Tesla Model Y compact, electric crossover vehicle.
For the Canadian market, the 2026 Tesla Model Y is made in Berlin, Germany and for the US market, it’s made in the US.
What’s New? The 2026 Tesla Model Y has improved handling, comfort, more responsive steering and a quieter ride. The exterior gets some tweaks, the front and rear lightbars have been redesigned to improve aerodynamics, range and efficiency. The interior has been updated with more soft touch finishes, acoustic glass, a larger 15.4” touchscreen, invisible speakers, ventilated front seats, a power recline second row and an 8” rear seat touchscreen has been added.
We’re driving the 2026 Tesla Model Y Premium AWD model with 526 km, 327 miles of range. 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds and it has a top speed of 201 km/h, 125 mph. Tesla doesn’t share horsepower and torque numbers.
There is a 2026 Tesla Model Y Performance model with 492 km, 306 miles of range. 0-60 mph in 3.3 seconds and a top speed of 250 km/h, 155 mph.
In the US, there are also two RWD models available, Standard with 321 miles of range and Premium 357 miles of range.
The 2026 Tesla Model Y offers a lot of value with a starting price of $64,990 CAD for the Premium AWD model and $74,990 CAD for the Performance model. In the US, Standard RWD $39,990, Premium RWD $44,990, Premium AWD $48,990, Performance AWD $57,490.
The 2026 Tesla Model Y really shines when it comes to charging, you get up to 253 km/157 miles of range in 15 minutes at a Tesla Supercharger. The Performance model at little less at 229 km/142 miles.
We are so impressed with the full-self driving feature which our model has for $11,000 CAD/$8,000 USD. Whether you are in the city or on the highway, the vehicle drives itself. You just sit back and enjoy the view.
Thank you so much to Charlie Wang, the General Manager at the Tesla Port Coquitlam dealership. We appreciate you lending us this Model Y to review.
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Zack Instagram https://www.instagram.com/motormouth_auto/
