Tesla Model Y 2025 electric car owner review

Paul B drives a Tesla Model Y Long Range RWD 75kWh 2025.

This is Paul’s second electric car, he’s owned the Model Y less than a year and drives 10,000-15,000 miles annually. The current mileage of the car is between 1,000-5,000 miles and he achieves 280 miles range from an 80% charge.

Why did you choose the Tesla Model Y?

Longer range than my previous car (CUPRA Born), better software and the Supercharger infrastructure.

Positives

In-car software & integration with the app
better public charging experience.

Negatives

Auto rain sensing wipers are worse than our more recent cars
auto cancel on indicators doesn’t always work.

Compared to when you first bought the car, does your battery still charge at the same rate & do you still get the same range?

Yes, the car is only 4 months old, but we have done 5,400 miles already including a long trip up to Scotland & around the North Coast 500 then home to north Norfolk, totalling almost 1,900 miles over 12 days.

Have you experienced any faults with the car? If so, what have they been?

No faults.

What are the standout technological features of the car?

The integration of the app is excellent, to vent the windows a little or switch on the air-con to cool the car before we get in. It really helps us get the most out of the car (and our home solar/battery setup) e.g. adjusting the charging speed when charging at home on our zappi charger.

Our ‘My CUPRA’ app was forever losing connection to the car or required me to re-sign in, where I’ve only needed to restart the Tesla app once, after an update on my phone.

Tell us something people wouldn’t readily know about your Tesla Model Y

Huge storage – the under boot area, side pods & the frunk are great places to store charging cables, warning triangle/first aid kit (provided by Tesla) without using the main boot area. This keeps it free for suitcases when on holiday etc.

What’s the biggest or funniest myth you’ve heard about EVs?

They are less fun to drive than ICE cars. EVs are the most powerful, smoothest cars I have ever driven. So much for being glorified ‘milk floats’!

What electric car(s) are you interested in next and why?

Probably another Tesla as I’ve been so impressed with this one, so far. Although, in another 4-5 years when I look to change my car, I will look at the whole market as it’s likely to have changed significantly by then.

Home charging unit

myenergi zappi – really easy to use, scheduling overnight charging is simple & effective. The unit seems to require a strong Wi-Fi signal, otherwise it can drop connectivity with the app, so you have to restart the unit via the on-unit buttons. The history of your charging is only held for 12 months.

Electricity supplier & tariff

Intelligent Octopus Go – 6 hours of cheap electricity (7p per kWh). Makes home charging so simple. I only occasionally use the ‘intelligent’ part of the Octopus tariff, as this doesn’t work well with my home battery setup. Customer service is excellent.

What public charging networks would you recommend to others and why?

The Supercharger network is reliable and the cheapest for ultra rapid speeds
Osprey, IONITY & Gridserve – their units seem reliable, although they are more expensive
Avoid bp pulse, Shell Recharge – expensive and the units are often offline or won’t start a charge.

Insurance

Aviva – excellent cover and I have breakdown included (add on). Not the cheapest but I would prefer to pay a slightly higher premium & have a better claim experience, if needed.

Please itemise where you’re saving money (or not) owning & running a Tesla Model Y

Monthly PCP payment is comparable with my last few ICE cars, the Tesla was nearly twice the price & so is the monthly payment
‘Fuel’ costs are massively reduced for an EV if you can charge at home
Road tax is now similar to ICE which doesn’t really seem fair when we have zero CO2 tale pipe emissions
Insurance costs are higher but so is the value of the car and it’s technologically more advanced as well
I haven’t required ant servicing as yet and only needed 1 service after 2 years in my previous EV, but that was covered by the salary sacrifice scheme.