{"id":327885,"date":"2026-03-04T05:27:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T05:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/327885\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T05:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T05:27:12","slug":"cheaper-model-y-makes-sense-even-if-the-magics-gone-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/327885\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheaper Model Y makes sense, even if the magic\u2019s gone \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tesla Model Y <\/p>\n

\ue9d9 \ue9d9 \ue9d9 \ue9d9 \ue9d7 <\/p>\n

Year: 2026<\/p>\n

Fuel: Electric<\/p>\n

Verdict: Spacious family car with decent range, now at a competitive price<\/p>\n

Tesla<\/a>\u2019s biggest problem today isn\u2019t range anxiety. It\u2019s angry early adopters. <\/p>\n

There was a time when Tesla was the pioneer, leading the charge in the new frontier of electric cars<\/a>. It upended a staid car<\/a> market, forcing old-school brands to embrace electric. It also lowered the barrier for consumer acceptance of new brands, opening the way for an influx of Chinese<\/a> makes. <\/p>\n

The first Teslas were flawed but futuristic and ahead of the pack. No longer. Where once Tesla\u2019s range towered over rivals, boasting 500km or more as competitors struggled to match half that in real-world driving, it has now been caught and overtaken. <\/p>\n

The likes of the award-winning Mercedes-Benz CLA \u2013 Europe\u2019s car of the year \u2013 boast nearly 800km on official WLTP ratings. BMW and Volvo are ready to roll out models with a similar range this year. <\/p>\n

They make the Model Y\u2019s 505km range look old hat. <\/p>\n

To keep competitive, Tesla has turned to lowering prices. It was inevitable, but no less painful for those early evangelists whose residuals have taken a nosedive as a result. <\/p>\n

And we are not talking about folks who embraced Tesla 10 years ago. Back in those sepia days of Covid lockdowns and face masks, when Model Y landed on these shores, it started at \u20ac69,800 for the long-range AWD version. That was proper premium pricing. <\/p>\n

Fast forward to today, and you can pick up that same version \u2013 with the latest upgrades \u2013 for \u20ac50,972. You don\u2019t even need to go that far. The new entry price for the range is now \u20ac42,990. If you include a trade-in as well, then you qualify for a \u20ac3,500 bonus (on top of the value of the used car), which brings the list price down to \u20ac39,490. <\/p>\n

\"TeslaTesla Model Y: 19-inch wheels give the car a gentler, quieter ride quality <\/p>\n

It\u2019s wonderful to write about better value in the current market, given the outlandish price rises of the past five years. Sure, there has been new tech added to cars, but you can\u2019t help feeling that current buyers are digging deep to subsidise car makers\u2019 EV transition. <\/p>\n

Tesla can cut prices because its cost base was designed for EVs from day one. Meanwhile, rivals still carry the cost of transition, with legacy factories to convert or hundreds of thousands of staff to retrain.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Volvo\u2019s ES90 tries hard not to be an SUV, but it\u2019s easy to like this almost-saloonOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Tesla has also surely amortised the cost of tooling up the production lines for both Model 3 and Model Y years ago. So the price drops aren\u2019t signs of desperation, but a competitive move. It\u2019s why in the past the firm has been nonplussed about talk of cutting EV subsidies. <\/p>\n

While pitying the early adopters, spare a thought for the Tesla marketing planners. No sooner had this entry-level model been christened the Standard version \u2013 along with the entry-level Model 3 \u2013 than the Standard moniker was binned, and we are back to just Model Y Rear Wheel Drive. That seems to be the erratic way they roll at the US car brand. <\/p>\n

When it comes to Tesla, there\u2019s an Elon-sized elephant in the back seat. Musk is a divisive figure, to put it politely. <\/p>\n

From the dentist chair to the Croke Park terrace, during our time with the car, any mention of Tesla immediately moved on to Musk. Sales certainly fell over the past two years amid the Tesla boss\u2019s turbulent bromance with Donald Trump. Was that the reason behind the Irish sale dip of 13 per cent in 2024 and 5 per cent last year? Or was there more of a local angle on this? <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Tesla loses crown as world\u2019s biggest maker of EVs to China\u2019s BYDOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The firm\u2019s Irish market lead, Kieran Campbell, points to finance issues and the wrong sales programme. \u201cWe were selling well on low-rate finance, but when rates rose to 5.9 per cent, it slowed immediately.\u201d Irish buyers respond to finance, he insists. The history of the Irish new car market would suggest he\u2019s got a point. <\/p>\n

So if the price is now right on the new entry-level Model Y, what do you sacrifice on this version over the rest? Well, first off, there are the full-width lightbars front and rear. That\u2019s not really a major omission. <\/p>\n

\"TeslaTesla Model Y: Seats are adjusted via the central touchscreen <\/p>\n

Then, inside, you get fabric seats and a manually adjustable steering wheel. Neither are deal breakers, and the finish on the synthetic \u201cvegan leather\u201d was never especially plush anyway. <\/p>\n

In general, Tesla cabins were never opulent, so a sparse interior is in keeping with what we\u2019re used to from the American brand. <\/p>\n

On the upside, you still get the dual wireless charging pads, the electric tailgate and front heated seats and a heated steering wheel. So, aside from sacrificing roughly 100km of range, are you really missing anything by opting for entry-level? <\/p>\n

Some critics continue to complain about the lack of a driver\u2019s binnacle, but personally, I don\u2019t have a problem with the positioning of the speedometer at the top right of the screen. It catches your eye, and with so many beeps and alerts these days, you can easily police your speed without regularly staring at the numbers. <\/p>\n

Yet irksome issues remain. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are still missing. Neither operates as standard on Tesla, which still forces you to engage with its proprietary infotainment system. Once you get used to it things work fine, but it\u2019s an odd anomaly that will annoy many customers. <\/p>\n

\"TeslaTesla Model Y: A spacious family car with a big boot and decent range <\/p>\n

The key card is as fiddly as always, and tapping it on the B-pillar definitely leaves its mark over time. Far better to engage with the phone app, which lets you do the usual opening and closing, plus pre-conditioning, a useful feature on cold days when you can arrive in the chilly car park to find the car nice and toasty. <\/p>\n

Moving the wiper and headlights on to the steering wheel introduces too many unnecessary idiosyncrasies to the car. <\/p>\n

And now a new gripe arises with this entry version. In a notable cost-saving move on the new entry-level variant, Tesla has removed the physical seat-adjustment switches from the side of the front seats. While the seats remain electrically operated, adjustment is now routed through the central touchscreen.<\/p>\n

Having to use a touchscreen and fiddle with menus to adjust the seat is silly. That sort of carry-on may be fine for technophiles, but Tesla is clearly eager to chase a wider audience, given its lower pricing, and the general motoring public doesn\u2019t have patience for this nonsense. <\/p>\n

\"TeslaTesla Model Y: Inside, you get fabric seats and a manually adjustable steering wheel <\/p>\n

Tesla\u2019s steering systems and ride quality have certainly taken better account of European roads and driving styles than it did when the brand first landed on this side of the Atlantic. <\/p>\n

The ride is helped by the entry-level being shod with 19-inch wheels, giving the car a gentler and quieter ride quality, plus steering that\u2019s a match for many rivals \u2013 and better than many Chinese rivals. <\/p>\n

Yet ultimately, for the money, you are getting a spacious family car with a big boot and decent range. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Two in five Irish people planning to buy an electric vehicle in next two yearsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The range is ample for getting about, and you can expect to regularly get consumption figures below 18kWh\/100km in this car, so you can reasonably expect it to close in on 400km during everyday driving. <\/p>\n

Power is delivered through the 295hp electric motor on the rear axle, which is more than most of its similarly priced competitors, which is why it feels punchier than most entry-level rivals. <\/p>\n

Yet the real punch of the Model Y rear-wheel-drive entry version \u2013 don\u2019t call it a Standard \u2013 is its price.<\/p>\n

Entry pricing for mid-size electric crossovers in the Republic now starts from just \u20ac34,850 for Volkswagen\u2019s ID.4 (albeit with a smaller 52kWh battery). To match Tesla\u2019s battery range, you need the 77kWh version, which starts at \u20ac41,015. <\/p>\n

\"TeslaTesla Model Y: When it comes to Tesla, there\u2019s an Elon-sized elephant in the back seat <\/p>\n

This updated Model Y rear-wheel-drive starts from \u20ac41,832 \u2013 placing it squarely alongside rivals such as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Skoda Enyaq, and several thousand euro below the likes of Kia EV6 and BYD Sealion 7.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t perfect, and it\u2019s not class-leading or cutting-edge any more. However, it was easy to spend a few days with this car, and it\u2019s certainly better to drive than when it first landed back in 2021 at a significantly higher price. Tesla is also a talking point \u2013 for good or ill \u2013 in a way the others aren\u2019t. At this price, the entry-level Model Y makes a lot of sense for many family buyers and can go wheel-to-wheel with any of its similarly priced rivals.<\/p>\n

It may annoy early adopters, but it makes sense for the brand and for new EV buyers. <\/p>\n

Lowdown: Model Y Rear Wheel Drive<\/p>\n

Power: The entry-level rear-wheel-drive Model Y uses a single rear-mounted electric motor producing around 295hp (220kW) and roughly 420Nm of torque.<\/p>\n

0-100km\/h: 7.2 seconds <\/p>\n

Official consumption: 13.9kWh\/100km<\/p>\n

Official range: 505km<\/p>\n

Price: \u20ac42,990 (\u20ac3,500 bonus available if you trade in a car)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tesla Model Y \ue9d9 \ue9d9 \ue9d9 \ue9d9 \ue9d7 Year: 2026 Fuel: Electric Verdict: Spacious family car with decent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,48331,8856,605,61,60,14835,1188],"class_list":{"0":"post-327885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-car-reviews","10":"tag-electric-vehicles","11":"tag-elon-musk","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-motors","15":"tag-tesla"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}