The Tesla Model Y has been one of the highlights of our year so far. Amongst all of the chaos we were happy to see that Tesla would keep up with the release of the Tesla Model Y even when other manufactures were struggling to keep up with new releases. In many ways, the Tesla Model Y was even better than we expected, but it does have some downfalls that leave us slightly concerned.

Tesla Model Y drivability

Consumer Reports received a Model Y to test drive, and overall they had a lot of positive things to say. The car had responsive acceleration and steering that made the Model Y handle more like a sports car than the big SUV that it is.

Unless you spend the extra money to get the long-range option for the Model Y, which will increase your stick price by about $12,000 the car has questionable range, which is improved to an estimated 316 miles of range. Now you might be thinking if you don’t travel far from home, having the long-range option isn’t worth the price, but the range provided by the base model is 230 miles, and that is based on estimated driving situations.

The suspension was also reported to be uncomfortable stiff, making even small bumps and imperfections in the road a little less tolerable. This isn’t usually a problem if you are expecting the same driving experience as a Lotus Elise, but for a higher-end luxury electric car, you’d expect a smooth, comfortable ride.

Questionable reliability and other problems

Brand new Tesla’s are always offered with that new-car warranty that many people look forward to when it comes to paying that brand-new car price. Tesla hasn’t had a perfect track record with new cars, however, and that leads us to question how the Model Y will be different.

There are also some features lacking from the Tesla Model Y that everyone was expecting. The SUV isn’t equipped with Apple CarPlay or even Android Auto. The controls it does have aren’t very intuitive and many users will struggle to use them to their full potential.

More surprisingly is that there aren’t any real updates to Tesla’s driving assistance features. The blind-spot warning needs some major renovation as it does very little to alarm the driver of any potential hazards, and that has become one of the more basic features we have come to expect in even lower model cars.

Only time and mileage will truly tell us how reliable the Tesla Model Y actually is, but based on the manufacturer’s current track record, we have some concerns.

Overall the Tesla Model Y is one of the best Tesla cars yet, even if there are areas where it needs improvement. We are excited to see them hit the roads and even to see what Tesla is working on next.