Video: 2026 Tesla Model Y First Drive: How Much Better Than Ours?

We had a 2021, we drove it two and a half years, did all sorts of reporting on range, efficiency, comfort, and we are very much looking forward to driving the new 2026 Model Y re-design, which we're here with right now. We've got 25 minutes to drive this thing. It was an invite from our local showroom. So, let's give it a quick spin and see what we think. The 2026 Model Y has definite improvements in ride quality with its updated suspension. One of the biggest complaints from our road test team was just how punishing the old Model Y's ride was, and that became more brittle over the years and miles. The new Model Y isn't a pure comfort option by any stretch of the imagination, but it's more forgiving and less of a puckering moment when you hit a pothole or a patch of rough roads. It's now more in line with what I'd expect from a luxury performance car where it's engaging to drive without being punishing. As far as wind and road noise, there's a noticeable decrease with the addition of more acoustic glass and a stiffer suspension, but there's still a bit of road noise coarseness in the Model Y and noticeable impact noise and flax over bumps as the tires hit those road imperfections. However, for an athletic SUV, I still find it acceptable, considering that the Model Y hasn't given up its athletic character. The steering remains sharp while there's responsive handling and just less getting beat up day to day. The interior isn't as significant of an update as I had imagined, considering the new Model Y certainly has a more stylized interior with wraparound ambient lighting and a higher variety of materials on this top launch edition trim level. Now, that's the first trim level being offered. It looked great in photos, but once out in just normal daylight, it really just felt like the old Model Y with a few new pieces of fabric. Yes, there's that ambient lighting and newly standard front camera, but we're really accustomed to seeing these items on competing vehicles. And to better effect with brighter and more prominent ambient lighting, as well as more camera views, like a 360-degree top down view, which are still lacking in the Model Y. Now, there are a couple features that I'm happy to see. One, because it's still here and the other because it's new. First of all, I'm happy to see a real turn signal stock. The Model 3 with its update got rid of the turn signal stock and put it in the steering wheel, and that's just awkward to use, but the Model Y kept the turn signal stock, and that's just rate for usability. However, the on-screen digital gear selector did make its way to the Model Y, and that's disappointing. To select, drive, reverse, or park, you have to use the screen or redundant physical controls on the overhead console. And knowing how failure-prone our touchscreen was in our ownership really gives me pause on having this very important control being pixels on the screen. Now, the feature that I'm excited has been added is a little blind spot warning icon near the side view mirrors, and the Model Y didn't have that before. Previously, you'd have to look at the screen to see what was in your blind spot, and sometimes it would alert you through a sound or a chime warning in the car, but that often didn't happen. But now, it has real indicators near the mirror to tell you when a car is in your blind spot, and it was a big relief driving the new Model Y with this feature, because, well, rear visibility remains poor. The Model Y launch edition comes with Acceleration Boost for acclaimed 0 to 60 mile an hour time of 4.1 seconds. Acceleration Boost is a feature that we paid to unlock in our Model Y that claimed to boost, you know, acceleration. I wasn't expecting a noticeable difference in acceleration between our car and the new one, which is why I was surprised that the 2026 Model Y acceleration felt stronger and punchier than our Model Y. I was generally disappointed spending $2,000 on Acceleration Boost, because it only felt like acceleration improved in some situations and not really across the board. But in the 2026 Model Y, it's acceleration felt like a higher performance experience. We subscribed to full self-driving the whole ownership experience. And at the end, felt it was more of a gimmick than something useful we would frequently use. Now, this wasn't an A/B test, but I felt much more confident using full self-driving in the 2026 Model Y than in our car. There was less skittishness, there was less indecisiveness, and overall it was just less scary, at least for this very brief drive that admittedly was only a minuscule sample of full self-driving. We'll definitely need more time to experience the improved capabilities versus our Model Y. The improvements are notable. If you've driven a Model Y before, you'll absolutely notice that this is a more refined vehicle overall. It feels less like a toy, less like an experiment, and more like a real car, more like a luxury car. Is it enough to trade in your old Model Y? Well, I mean, that depends on how much of a hole you're in, because what's happened to Model Y prices, you might be in a pretty big hole. And then there's the current political climate, which, ah, nope, not gonna touch that. This is about the product. You can decide on your own. If we were driving this Model Y though, back when we owned ours, there would be much more favorable opinions of the Model Y from our staff, because a lot of issues has been addressed. Yes, some goofiness has been introduced, but overall solid, solid improvements to the new Model Y. (upbeat music)