KilowattAuto notes that white interiors are easier to clean than black and make the car look more spacious. It also helps keep the seats cool on hot days and doesn’t allow stains to show up as easily. The white interior also makes the vehicle stand out more in a crowd and is a great conversation starter. The one drawback is that it is more prone to scuff marks and needs more frequent cleaning than other colours.
Tesla used to get a lot of stick for iffy build quality and materials that looked out of place in premium-priced cars but the Model Y feels a lot more solidly screwed together. It’s still not as pristine as the best premium EVs but the gaps and seams are much less obvious. There’s still a lack of physical controls, however, and the infotainment screen dominates the dashboard with just two scrolling buttons on the steering wheel plus stalks for the indicator and windscreen wipers. Everything else is controlled through the smartphone app, which offers a currently unrivalled level of functionality – including making your key card redundant and pre-heating or pre-cooling your car before you arrive at the door.
The Y is a big improvement on the Model 3 in terms of driving position, comfort and practicality. It’s still not as supple as a Volvo or as luxurious as an Audi Q4 e-tron but shoulder room is about the same and hip space shrinks only slightly. The rear seat folds flat and provides class-leading stowage capacity of 854 litres with the seats down, plus 117 litres in the front boot. That’s more than the likes of the Kia EV6, Toyota bZ4X and Volkswagen ID.4 can offer and will prove crucial if you intend to use Australia’s patchy (if improving) public charging network for longer trips.
