Tesla Model Y SUVOTY Review: More Choices With the Same Compromises

Pros

• You don’t have to drive it if you don’t want to
• New base model’s price
• Competitive highway range

Cons

• Concerns around FSD and Grok remain
• Base model is probably too cheap
• Y L not a great three-row vehicle

No, we didn’t accidentally republish last year’s Tesla Model Y SUV of the Year story. Numerous changes to the 2026 Model Y were enough for the venerable SUV to earn a rare back-to-back invite to our 2027 program. Last year, the Model Y competed thanks to a midcycle refresh that made the bestselling EV more premium, but underlying ride quality issues and technology challenges held it back from the finalist round.

This year Tesla has rounded out the Model Y lineup. The model we tested last year has since been rebranded the Model Y Premium, making room for the three new versions that we evaluated: the entry-level Model Y, the sporty, range-topping Model Y Performance, and the long-wheelbase Model Y L. Despite all being part of the Model Y family, each has a different mission, and each performed as Tesla intended to varying degrees of success.

The new base Model Y was created to help stem slowing sales once the federal EV tax incentive ended. Starting at $41,380-$6,250 less than the Model Y Premium-Tesla pulled cost out of the car wherever it could. This Model Y has a textile headliner, no LED light bars, steel wheels with hubcaps instead of alloys, cloth instead of leatherette, no center console, a manually adjustable steering column instead of power, and no power seat-mounted controls. All adjustments are now made via the touchscreen-something judges found to be universally annoying. There are more changes under the skin, too, with a single rear motor good for 300 hp (you can add a front motor for $2,000), and a smaller, slower-charging 77.0-kWh battery pack.

Despite feeling “poverty spec,” as digital director Erik Johnson put it, most judges thought the base Model Y was generally agreeable to drive. At this price point, judges were more willing to forgive the shorter Model Y’s ride issues, the family’s iffy build quality, and the video gamey steering shared by all three versions. Its single motor was plenty powerful, and 270 miles of MotorTrend Road-Trip Range make it a compelling choice so long as your dollar won’t allow you to spend a penny more or if you refuse to consider slightly smaller and cheaper options not named Tesla.

The Model Y L was drafted into duty to solve a different problem, namely the discontinuation of the three-row Model X. Tesla looked to China to fill the hole in its lineup, as the company had already developed a 7.0-inch-longer, three-row, six-passenger Model Y L for that market. Now it’s here. Judges thought the redesigned profile and tweaked roofline were well done, so much so that you’d be hard pressed to tell a Model Y L from its shorter siblings without seeing them all lined up.

Inside, the design was less successful from a functionality standpoint. The new second-row captain’s chairs feel ritzy, but the third row is difficult to access (the second row doesn’t tumble out of the way; ingress/egress is accomplished by squeezing through a narrow aisle), and not spacious enough for anyone out of grade school for longer than a short drive. It’s a three-row Model Y, but it isn’t a particularly useful three-row crossover.

As for the Model Y Performance? Judges agreed it was a good value, quick, and a competent corner carver. But it felt cold, only giving a few judges the warm fuzzies that other performance SUVs in the space give, somewhat defeating the model’s purpose in the first place.

Our safety criterion has traditionally focused on crumple zones and airbags, but in the era of the software-defined vehicle, that purview has expanded into the digital realm. All three Model Ys here featured Tesla’s latest Full Self-Driving (Supervised) and Premium Connectivity, which are subscription services available for $99 and $9.99 per month, respectively. FSD is impressive in its ability to navigate to your destination with minimal driver input, but some judges expressed qualms about the system’s tendency to break laws and the inability to set a speed limit. Premium Connectivity includes almost every feature in the car’s infotainment system, including its Grok AI assistant. Unlike last year, Grok can now control some in-car functions, but its “18 or older” profiles don’t have any meaningful guardrails in place to prevent children from accessing it.

Ultimately, while the changes were meaningful from a model proliferation standpoint, they weren’t enough to write a finalist chapter to this year’s Model Y SUV of the Year story.