40,000 Miles in Our Tesla Model Y Performance | What It’s Like to Live With & How It’s Held Up

Nearly four years and 40,000 miles later, our 2020 Tesla Model Y Performance is leaving the Edmunds long-term test fleet. We’ve done just about everything with our Model Y — including racing it in our U-Drags series — and, for the most part, it’s been pretty reliable. That said, we certainly had our fair share of issues, too. In this long-term test wrap-up video, the Edmunds editorial team debriefs our experience with the Tesla Model Y.

00:00 Intro
00:53 Our Previous Numbers
02:10 Pricing
03:18 Model Y Performance, Performance
04:44 Driving Impressions
06:10 Tech & Software Updates
08:51 Edmunds' Updated Testing Numbers
10:34 Edmunds' Take

[edmundscars]

Keeping our long-term Tesla Model Y for a few extra years turned out to be a great move, as we got to thoroughly test its performance and battery capacity to see how four years and 40, 000 miles have affected its speed and range. Have you also owned an EV for several years now? We'd love to hear how the years have treated your vehicles. Let us know in the comments below!

[CarStory]

As a 2022 Model 3 owner, I think for anyone who drives less than 250 miles per day and can charge at home, the Model 3 or Model Y are very good cars for the money and probably the best EV's you can buy. If you can’t charge at home, just make sure superchargers are available in the areas you travel. If you have a Tesla store in your area, you can always make an appointment to test drive one. They do not pressure you to buy anything and it will answer any questions you have about EV ownership and daily use.

[aarronblake]

Man people can’t like both? The internet sucks. I have both ev and ice cars. No complaints on both at all.

[Soh]

Ownership is key here. I have a 2021 Model Y also. But I skipped the giant 21” wheels. I get about 280 realistic miles on a full charge, although I have seen OVER 300 miles on a road trip once with 3% battery to spare. That was a 80° day where I cruised at 69mph for the entire trip with my AC set to 74°. I charge at home about 80% of the time and after 4 years, my range estimate still shows 310 miles for a full charge which would likely equate to about 275 - 280 real miles. My car currently has 37, 339 miles.

[paulgreenhough]

why does the thumbnail show a guy with his face in his hands? feels like click bait

[dangrass]

I've owned a 2019 Model 3 LRDM for almost 5 years and 63k miles. It's been the most trouble-free car I've owned in my 69 years. Battery capacity has degraded 9%. The car has had zero maintenance other than one set of wiper blades and a set of tires. Warranty repairs have been minimal and trouble free. Over the 63k miles I've owned it, the car has averaged 249 wh/mile, including lots of high speed and cold temp driving. Just yesterday I drove the car from Jackson Hole, WY to Berkeley, CA (900 miles) and achieved 246 WH/mile....almost exactly the EPA rated range. This drive included many hours of 75 MPH cruising. Most of my charging is at home at zero cost (using solar panels), or at the house in Jackson at 6 cents a KW/H. When traveling long distances the Supercharger network has been flawless. Over the 63k miles I've driven this car I've saved about $10k in fueling costs in addition to ~$5k in maintenance costs.

At this point the interior of the car is virtually indistinguishable from new, and everything works at least as well as it did when the car was new. I should also note that with the ongoing OTA software updates the car just keeps getting better. All in all I'm a very satisfied customer and would be definitely buy another Tesla vehicle. One final thing, the "dealership experience" with this car has been orders of magnitude better than anything I've experienced with any other vehicle I've owned. The service centers are knowledgeable and honest, potential problems can be diagnosed remotely, most of what little service I've had has been done in my driveway, prices are reasonable, and the quality of work is far superior to 3rd party dealers. The purchasing experience also has been head and shoulders better than what I've experienced with 3rd party dealerships. All in all, a great ownership experience.

Oh, and this car hauls ass, handles really well, is great in the snow, and gets 125 MPG.

[tracykarinp]

The Full Self-Driving suite has been $8, 000 for awhile now, not the $12, 000 you mentioned in this video just posted 8-days ago. I had a 2020 Model Y Performance with FSD and traded-in for a 2023 Model Y Performance that I purchased new in Sep 2023. The ride quality has been significantly improved and the cabin is much more quieter (no rattles) with the addition of double-pane glass up front and carpeted storage bins, door panels, cargo cover, new center console, heated steering wheel, all-season tires, 16-volt lithium ion battery, AMD Razen processor, and HW 4 with the high-defintion cameras The version of FSD that I have now is v12.3.6 (2024.3.25), which is a giant leap from the previous version with very minimal interventions. I've been an FSD Beta Tester since Oct 21 so have had a lot of experience with FSD. Tesla is closing in incredible fast with perfecting FSD with a massive update (Update 2024.15.5 (FSD 12.4.1) that is currently being released in-house and then to the public.

[sturat]

My wife and I agree our Model 3 (70k miles since new) is the best car we've owned. No surprise the comments are full of similar sentiments. Almost zero issues-- the best daily out there. Why people get *so* hung up on the "Full Self-Driving" name, I'm not sure. It's just a (best in class) driving aid. People look for drama everywhere.

[kevinwng]

20, 000 miles on our Model Y dual motor so far. No issues. Took it on a 1600mi (round trip total) road trip not long ago and it went smoothly. Supercharger stops along the way coincided with bathroom breaks, food, and stretching legs so it worked out well.

[ShadowRaptor]

Love my 2023 Model Y LR. I think it's a great car depending on what you paid for it. For people who paid ~$70k for one, and bought FSD for $15k instead of subscribing for $99.... oof. It's definitely not worth that. But I got mine with the renewed tax credits for $43k and at that price it's great, and $99/month for when I do road trips is definitely palatable.

[cgamiga]

Nice balanced review... FSD though is now (month ago!) $8k, not $12k... not sure how you missed that? and, the monthly subscription is half, $99 not $199 (MUCH better deal, as it's not tied to the car and wasted $ if you later sell/trade-in or totalled in accident. You might as well save your money and just pay for the month you test it?)
Also, FSD is not so much a "safety system", but... cool gimmick/feature; all the safety systems (emergency braking, sentry cam, others) ARE FREE standard in all Teslas, and even the great highway AutoPilot is free/standard on all models/trims.
Newer ModelYs after 2020 also got slightly but notably improved suspension supposedly (and dual-pane front windows to reduce noise)...
not NEARLY as marked suspension/ride quality improvement as the refresh "Highland" Model 3 got, which smooths out bumps and road noise a LOT more than the old 3/Y... hope can bring to a refreshed Y soon... meanwhile, the new Model 3 Performance still has the $7.5k tax credit, go buy that :)

5-8% battery degradation in 4yrs/40k miles is... about right, maybe bit high, but as you said have tortured it a bit... biggest degradation comes up front, then it plateaus, so.. probably won't lose much more than a few % more over next years.

[danielwhitaker]

I'm in love with my 24 MY Performance and I can say that it's extremely well-built

[icy]

FSD on the Model Y is $8, 000 not $12, 000.

[StCreed]

I will consider a Tesla model Y once they give me a HUD or some other speed indicator up front where I am watching the traffic. I don't want to use a side-eye to the right to watch my speed, and we have very aggressive traffic camera and radar locally so it's an absolute must.

[philmarsh]

So far, my 2024 Model Y AWD long range has been trouble-free and the build quality is almost perfect.

[DouglasBailey]

What a good follow up video. One note on the range loss is I believe EVs generally have a high fall off early then steady out. I doubt you guys see same level of loss in a future test.

[SnowbirdSteeze]

2021 MYP - have just under 80k miles since brand new.

Issues:

- car was delivered with broken plastic around windshield
- seats had to be replaced under warranty
- -40 degrees F temps the car needs to be garaged otherwise it won’t take a charge.
- at just under 80k miles I had to replace the battery under warranty.

- The car goes through tires, but I’m heavy on the foot. I probably had to go through 4 sets.

[DR-zkdo]

35, 000 miles on our MYP. No service. No problems. No squeaks. Best tech. Rock solid high performance car.

[roncedad]

2023 model y new I reported that moisture in tail light tesla tried to tell me that's normal....

[rt.sd]

My 2021 Model 3 is amazing - no complaints and I also own ICE cars. I love it. I honestly believe the EV hate right now is a complete overreaction. Understand that it's not for everyone, but for a daily commuter there is honestly nothing more cost-effective and affordable right now.