2025 Tesla Model Y review

Ah, Tesla. That old chestnut.

It’s been roughly a year since the latest updated Tesla model hit our shores in the form of the Model 3 mid-size electric sedan, and a lot has happened since then.

Among those were the brand’s owner becoming perhaps the most controversial figure worldwide, perhaps excluding Donald Trump, and its sales – at least in Australia – experiencing a significant decline, perhaps as a result.

That was especially evident in April this year, when Tesla managed to shift only 500 vehicles for the entire month in a 75.9 per cent decrease on the same time month year, when some Tesla owners were also burned by the numerous price cuts.

Meantime last month, key rival BYD once again cracked the top 10 with 3207 deliveries and a 127.4 per cent year-on-year increase.

Granted, there were no deliveries of the Model Y, Tesla’s top-selling model and Australia’s favourite EV, for several months before this facelifted mid-size electric SUV arrived, but it’s fair to say Tesla is desperate to reverse its sales slide.

Cue the 2025 Tesla Model Y ‘Juniper’ facelift, which brings fresh Cybertruck-esque styling, subtle tweaks to interior equipment, a slightly increased driving range, and a revised suspension setup to both reduce road noise and improve its ride and handling.

There’s understandably a lot of hope for this update, which brings not only design but chassis, powertrain and equipment improvements, and a backflip on Tesla’s decision not to fit an indicator stalk in the updated Model 3 – a move that was no doubt done through gritted teeth.

In light of increasing Chinese competition, the updated Model Y is an incredibly important model for Tesla, and one that needs to recapture some of the spark that cemented the American EV brand as Australia’s electric vehicle pioneer.

Tesla this week hosted one of its first-ever Australian media events to launch the facelifted Model Y, where we spent upwards of two hours behind the wheel of an entry-level Tesla Model Y RWD in and around Sydney and regional New South Wales.

Current affairs aside, will this update do enough to steady the Tesla ship, or is its fate well out of Australia’s control?

How much does the Tesla Model Y cost?

Prices are up by $3000 for the base Tesla Model Y RWD, which is now priced at $58,900 before on-road costs. Conversely, the Long Range AWD is $1000 cheaper than its pre-facelift counterpart.

There are quite a few more mid-size electric SUV competitors now than when the Model Y first launched, primarily from China, where the Model Y is also produced for Australia.

Some include the new MG S5 EV starting at $40,490 drive-away, the Geely EX5 from $40,990 before on-roads, the Leapmotor C10 from $43,888 before on-roads, the Deepal S07 from $53,900 before on-roads, the Xpeng G6 from $54,800 before on-roads, and the BYD Sealion 7 from $54,990 before on-roads.

Western rivals include the Kia EV5 starting from $56,770 before on-roads, the Volkswagen ID.4 from $59,990 before on-roads, and the Cupra Tavascan from $60,990 before on-roads.

The point is there are a lot of medium electric SUVs on sale in Australia now, and all those Chinese-made cars listed are cheaper than the Model Y. That means there’s a lot of pressure on the Model Y to maintain its position as the segment sales benchmark, not only locally but also around the globe.

To see how the Tesla Model Y stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

What is the Tesla Model Y like on the inside?

Largely the same as it was before, with an excruciatingly minimalist layout and an iPad glued to the dashboard.

As has been the case with Tesla, practically every key function of the Model Y is controlled through the 15.4-inch central infotainment touchscreen. While that’s overwhelming at first, you’ll find everything is laid out fairly logically, and most controls are easy enough to find and operate.

Tesla was one of the first brands to popularise this type of interior setup, and it’s fair to say it still does it better than many others. The screen is graphically crisp and responsive, and there are a handful of gestures you can use to quickly open things like navigation and climate control.

The ribbon at the bottom of the screen is always present, which means you can jump between apps without too much thought.

What is difficult is when it comes time to adjust things like the position of the steering wheel or mirrors, because you have to dive through a cluttered vehicle settings menu to do so, which is counter-intuitive.

This menu is really the heart of the Model Y. It’s opened by pressing the vehicle icon in the bottom right corner of the screen, and inside there’s a vertical list of countless sub-categories that all open into detailed individual menus.

It’s therefore much easier – and probably safer – to make sure everything is set before you get moving, especially if you’re not used to Tesla cars.

We don’t love the lack of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but Tesla’s multimedia system is at least clever enough to get around that, and there’s still Spotify integration for music. The Model Y also benefits from an exceptional sound system.

The other big thing that will take some adjusting is the lack of any instrument cluster or head-up display. Vehicle speed is still displayed in the top-right corner of the central screen, which can be a little awkward to look at even if it is close to your line of sight.

Tesla at least listened to feedback following its Model 3 update and fitted a stalk behind the wheel – just one though, so don’t get too excited. It’s only for indicating, with other typical stalk functions like lights and wipers still hidden in the screen.

Steering wheel buttons have at least been utilised to control the windscreen washer and high-beams, but it’s difficult not to take rue the aggressive minimalism and yearn for more traditional stalks and buttons like those in some of Tesla’s closest rivals, and most other vehicles over the last century or so.

The Model Y’s new stalk doesn’t lock into place like most other cars, and instead can only be pressed briefly in either direction to start the indicators. They’ll then stay on until you complete your turn or when the car senses you’ve changed lanes – another feature that requires some patience.

We do at least like the steering wheel itself, which feels remarkably small in diameter and reminiscent of a go-kart’s wheel. It feels perfectly sized, and even the highish horizontal spokes don’t make it uncomfortable to hold at nine and three.

You also get a couple of scroll wheels to control things like volume and Autopilot, the latter of which we’ll delve into later. These aren’t anything new for Teslas, and while physically ambiguous, using them will bring up relevant widgets on the screen for a visual representation of what you’re fiddling with.

They’re also used for mirror and wheel adjustment once activated through the screen. Fortunately, there’s a good range of adjustment from both the wheel and the seats, which means it’s easy to get comfortable.

You’ll also find that the front seats are generously cushioned and very comfortable to sit in for longer drives.

To Tesla’s credit, there’s nothing really wrong with the ergonomics of the Model Y, which is a strength given the complaints we’ve had about some of the competition.

Practically all of the surfaces in the front of the Model Y’s cabin are soft-touch too, even hard-to-reach places like the far ends of the dashboard.

This is the same for the central and door armrests, the latter of which feature a new two-pronged approach to door handles. There’s the typical Tesla electronic button up top, as well as a more traditional lever right below it – this was done in response to criticism that the previous mechanical emergency handles were difficult to locate.

The car warns about damage to the door windows though, because the mechanical lever won’t roll down the frameless window to get it out of the way. Otherwise, storage up front comes in the form of a sizeable centre console box, which contains a discreet USB-C outlet.

There are also two cupholders and a deep cubby underneath two sliding covers. Below the screen is Tesla’s classic felt-lined device pad, which provides a wireless charger and a place to store your Tesla key card – which works alongside the phone app to control the car.

The second row of the Model Y is incredibly spacious. There’s oodles of legroom regardless of how tall you are, and the full glass roof means there’s just as much headroom.

The high roofline helps with this as well, while the open and roomy atmosphere is undeniably enhanced by that undivided glass roof. You get leather upholstery back here just as you do up front, though we’d expect that transporting kids would quickly eat away at the lustre of the optional white finish – an iconic Tesla interior colourway.

If you are fitting child seats, you’ll find ISOFIX anchors on the outboard rear seats and top-tether points for all three seating positions. You’ll also find a fold-down armrest in the middle, incorporating two cupholders.

On the back of the centre console is an 8.0-inch dedicated touchscreen, which controls basic functions like second-row climate control and seat heating, but there are also more unique features like a video player and basic games to keep rear passengers entertained.

It also supports Bluetooth for two headsets, and below it are two USB-C ports for charging. The driver is still the boss though, as the rear-facing screen can be monitored and locked through the main display up front.

At the back is the Model Y’s colossal boot. There’s just shy of 1000 litres of capacity in standard configuration, and it feels like there’s a kilometre of room from the boot opening to the back of the rear seats.

The car’s somewhat ungainly slab of a rear-end provides plenty of vertical cargo space inside, even with the privacy cover in place. Additionally, there are two deeper nooks on either side of the main floor, and a powered tailgate as standard.

Under the boot floor you’ll find a surprisingly deep cubby, which is an ideal space to stow smaller bags or charging cables. The same can be said for the under-bonnet storage space, which isn’t enormous but is lined in durable plastic and it’s appropriate for stowing smaller odds and ends.

All up, the Model Y has a familiar interior package that presents well and makes sense to navigate – but only once you’re used to it all.

Most buyers coming from older cars will likely be turned off by the lack of physical controls, and that’s where some of the competition could possibly swoop in to steal some sales.

To see how the Tesla Model Y stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

What’s under the bonnet?

There’s a storage cubby situated on top of where the front motor is in all-wheel drive versions. Thee RWD variant we drove is powered by one rear-mounted electric motor producing an estimated 255kW of power and 450Nm of torque.

Tesla continues to omit full power and torque figures for its cars, so our figures are sourced from industry guide Redbook. Official consumption figures are similarly hard to come by.

Over slightly more than two hours of driving through regional NSW, our energy consumption in the Model Y RWD was impressively low.

That variant is fitted with the smaller of the two batteries available too, yet we still finished with roughly 45 per cent of battery charge remaining after around 270km of normal driving.

To see how the Tesla Model Y stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

How does the Tesla Model Y drive?

Besides its appearance, the biggest changes the Juniper update brings to the Model Y are directly related to ride and handling.

Tesla seems to have been continuously working on the suspension setups fitted to its cars, especially as almost anyone who has ever ridden in the back seat of an early Model 3 Uber car can attest to enduring a significantly harsher ride than what you’d expect in a Toyota Camry, for instance.

In that context, the updated Model Y feels remarkably well-sorted. Large bumps like bridge joints and railway crossings, which would have me wince in most other cars, are just eaten up by the Tesla.

In normal driving, the Model Y is able to simply tank through almost any significant imperfections you can throw at it. There’s no tendency for the rear-end to kick and bounce around over sudden dips and lumps, which can’t be said for some other less compliant EVs with undercooked suspension.

As for dynamics, The Model Y’s handling is still solid without being a stand-out characteristic. This family SUV was never trying to be a sports car, but its weight becomes apparent once you start taking turns at speed.

You really have to be pushing the car to induce understeer, and in normal driving the Model Y is more than capable of keeping itself together.

An understated strength is the Model Y’s level of noise suppression. This is another benefit of the car’s overhauled suspension, which supposedly resulted in a 22 per cent reduction in road noise.

While difficult to quantify, it’s noticeably quiet on the road. Even at 100km/h on coarse-chip asphalt, you won’t hear more than a light rumble – and at lower speeds the car glides along effortlessly.

A downside is that at higher speeds, we did notice significant wind whistle, the source of which we couldn’t quite pin down. It wasn’t a particularly blustery day, which suggests something in the Model Y’s exterior proportions impacts the way it cuts through the air.

It doesn’t ruin the car, but it’s something that ought to be addressed. The other issue we had is visibility, because while the windscreen and side windows are appropriately sized, looking out the rear window is like looking out of a letterbox.

It’s surprising given the rear window appears large from the outside. There are cameras you can enable using a button on the right side of the steering wheel to help get around this, but blind spots are still somewhat compromised.

Fortunately, the Model Y’s suite of safety gear is comprehensive and reliable. The array of cameras and sensors fitted as standard means the car is constantly aware of its surroundings.

This is especially apparent through the car’s on-screen display of its surroundings, which can discern cars, trucks, motorcycles, pedestrians, and roadside objects to a scarily high standard.

All that assists the functionality of the Model Y’s Autopilot system, which is a mixed bag. On one hand, you get a fairly standard adaptive cruise control system that can comfortably adjust to the flow of traffic, albeit with some limitations like the inability to accelerate when changing lanes.

Then there’s the actual ‘Autopilot’, which Tesla clearly labels as a ‘Beta’ system in Australia, where it’s deactivated by default. The driver can toggle between this and adaptive cruise through a settings menu, which confuses us.

Autopilot in Australia acts a lot like lane-centring does in a lot of other new cars, as local legislation currently prevents Tesla from selling cars with Full Self-Driving functionality here. So for us Autopilot is officially still in development, despite operating quite well.

There’s no bouncing between line markings either side of your lane, and you can relax your hands to let the car do its own thing. Don’t relax too much though, because the car will revoke your Autopilot privileges for the remainder of your drive if you take your hands off the wheel for too long.

Perhaps labelling it as a beta system gives Tesla a safety(!) net if something were to go wrong, while engineers continue to perfect it.

Either way, we would like to see this system lose the beta tag and work as intended, because the current functionality is promising. There are a couple of other safety systems that could do with a bit of tweaking too, one being the car’s warning systems.

If you’re stopped at a red light, you’d better start moving the instant the car in front pulls away, lest the Model Y beeps at you to warn the car ahead has done so.

Maybe beeping after less than half a second is Tesla’s way of discouraging drivers from using the iPad-like touchscreen when stopped at the lights.

The other issue is the car’s emergency braking warning, which is a bit like having your overreactive mother in the passenger seat. Even though it still has Tesla’s well-sorted regenerative braking and one-pedal drive systems, which gradually slow the car down, the Model Y doesn’t seem to recognise that as braking.

If you’re travelling at town speeds and the car in front gently applies its brakes, letting off the accelerator and allowing the Model Y to slow itself down should suffice. Instead, the car will dramatically beep and flash red lights onto the windscreen to alert you to brake.

It’s bizarre, and it happened multiple times despite minimal risk of a collision.

Then there’s the lane-keep system, which is also overreactive. More of that loud (and sometimes startling) beeping will happen if you drift close to the edge of your lane, which is actually just there to tell you the car has had to apply steering itself.

We understand having these warnings and how they might help in the real world, but perhaps less intense alerts before the car goes crazy would be a worthwhile addition.

On the subject of one-pedal driving, Tesla still has one of the best systems in the EV world. That’s commendable when you then consider some rivals like BYD have no such setup at all beyond basic regen.

Of course, like the one-pedal driving function in any EV, the Model Y will take some getting used to for the more rusted-on petrol motorist. Once you’re there, you’ll find it does an excellent job of slowing the car and bringing it to a very smooth and controlled stop.

As most Tesla owners will already know, actually applying the brakes is a fairly rare requirement, and a significant portion of our launch route was driven without touching the brake pedal at all.

There’s also the power delivery, which can be toggled between standard and a more relaxed alternative. The difference between the two is significant, and in the normal setting planting your right foot has the car taking off like a rocket.

And that’s in the RWD version, which frankly makes it all the car you’ll ever need. And the only noise you hear is the subtle whirr of the electric motor as it gets up to speed.

We also like the way some of the car’s interior tech works while you’re on the move, like the satellite navigation’s ability to predict how much charge you’ll have left when you reach your destination. Below a certain percentage, it can also provide the option to route you to the nearest Tesla charger.

One thing we don’t like is the drive mode selector, which is just a clumsy little slider that appears on the right-hand side of the screen when you apply the brakes at a standstill. It just feels like an afterthought.

There are also issues with some of the car’s safety systems that would be most useful in tight, inner-city driving, which we explained in our video review of the Model Y Long Range AWD.

Overall though, the fundamental steering, ride, handling, acceleration and braking characteristics here are all nearly spot on, with comfort being a much bogger highlight than it was in the previous model.

It’s just a shame there’s an issue with wind noise, and that some of the tech is a little jumpy. That said, the Model Y feels more solid and offers an objectively better driving experience than the vast majority of its rivals.

To see how the Tesla Model Y stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

What do you get?

There are currently only two permanent trim levels for the updated Model Y, with no Performance variant currently confirmed.

2025 Tesla Model Y RWD equipment highlights:

• 19-inch ‘Crossflow’ wheels
• Full-width LED front and rear lights
• Automatic high-beam
• Acoustic glass with UV protection
• Low and standard regenerative braking modes
• Power-folding, auto-dimming and heated side mirrors
• Floor mats
• Black leather upholstery
• Power-adjustable front seats
• Heated and ventilated front seats
• Power-reclining rear seats
• Heated rear seats
• 15.4-inch infotainment touchscreen
• Wireless smartphone charger
• Nine speakers (down from 13+1)
• 8.0-inch rear touchscreen with climate, entertainment controls, support for two Bluetooth headsets
• Ambient interior lighting
• Panoramic glass roof
• Dog Mode (maintains cabin temperature)
• Power tailgate

Model Y Long Range AWD adds:

• 15+1 speakers
• Acceleration boost

Launch Series adds:

• Boot badge
• Puddle lighting
• Doorsill plate
• Charging console script
• Vegan suede trim

Options

There are just a couple of options available for the Model Y at the moment.

Options:

• 20-inch ‘Helix’ alloy wheels ($2300)
• White and black upholstery ($1500)

To see how the Tesla Model Y stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

Is the Tesla Model Y safe?

The pre-facelift Tesla Model Y received a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2022, based on tests conducted by Euro NCAP. It’s not clear if this rating carries across to the updated model.

Standard safety equipment includes:

• 7 airbags incl. front-centre airbag
• Autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
• Tesla Autopilot
• Blind-spot assist
• Lane-keep assist
• Front, side and reverse parking cameras
• Front, rear parking sensors
• Tyre pressure monitoring
• Intelligent speed limiter

To see how the Tesla Model Y stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

How much does the Tesla Model Y cost to run?

The Tesla Model Y is covered by a four-year, 80,000km warranty in Australia. During the warranty period, Tesla Australia guarantees the battery will retain a minimum of 70 per cent of its capacity.

Tesla also offers a Parts, Body and Paint Repair warranty for one year or 20,000km, whichever comes first.

To see how the Tesla Model Y stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

CarExpert’s Take on the Tesla Model Y

The updated Model Y is a conflicting prospect.

For one, you get a refreshed version of one of the world’s best-selling EVs, which fixes many of the shortcomings of its predecessor, undoubtedly making this popular electric SUV better than it has ever been.

There’s a comfortable interior, reliable tech, and a price that isn’t completely ridiculous, which is all that many want.

It now rides well and is still exceptionally fast, even if the latter isn’t difficult to achieve in an EV, so there are now fewer reasons not to consider a Model Y.

Design is subjective, and some may be turned off by the inherent Cybertruck-ness of the way the Model Y now looks. There are light bars upon light bars, but arguably it now looks less like a bar of soap.

The only problem for some may be Tesla itself, which may be a dealbreaker depending on your political persuasion.

But at lot of people bought a Tesla because they wanted a good EV, and there are now even more reasons to recommend the brand’s newest one. Tesla still makes some of the best EVs globally, even if the competition has closed the gap and become more numerous, and even if some of them are more palatable for the average punter.

If you can look past the issues from beyond Australia, you’ll find yourself behind the wheel of a great vehicle. And the Model Y RWD could really be all the EV anyone will ever need.

The only advantage of going with the Long Range is, obviously, the longer range. But you’ll pay an extra $10,000 for the privilege, and the lack of motor up front provides for exceptionally efficient motoring, and potentially more rewarding dynamics in the right conditions.

However, it’s getting harder to recommend the Model Y itself as there are now so many direct competitors available for less money, so Tesla is no longer the default choice for people in the market for a mid-size electric SUV.

But as a vehicle, the updated Model Y is still up there with the best of them.

Interested in buying a Tesla Model Y? Get in touch with one of CarExpert’s trusted dealers here

MORE: Everything Tesla Model Y

Pros

• Compliant, comfortable ride
• Exceptionally low road noise
• Still the benchmark for electric SUVs

Cons

• Disappointing tech imperfections
• Still a relatively short warranty
• Wind noise