James Morris All cars come with the excellent Autopilot adaptive cruise control. Not only does this provide the ability to detect cars in front and brakes accordingly – with stop and go in stationary traffic – but you can also enable autosteer. This will navigate corners for you on a motorway or dual carriageway, although we wouldn’t recommend using it on an A-road. If you pay £3,400 ($4,650) you can get Enhanced Autopilot, which gives you most of the features that used to be part of the Full Self-Driving option, including automatic lane changing, auto parking, and Summon, where you can lead the car out of (or into) a parking space too narrow for the doors to open. Full Self-Driving is still available for £6,800 ($9,300), but that currently doesn’t get you much more – just automatic stop-sign and traffic light speed control, although you will get the city autonomous driving currently in beta in the USA when it eventually becomes available. Another signature feature of all Teslas is how fast they are. The Model Y Long Range takes just 4.8 seconds to reach 60mph, which will give most sportscars a run for their money. In the USA, you can get an Acceleration Boost upgrade for $2,000 that drops this to 4.2 seconds, which presumably will be available in the UK too, but Tesla hasn’t confirmed this yet. The Tesla Model Y Performance is even quicker, taking just 3.5 seconds to reach 60mph. All of these figures are slower than the respective Model 3s, but still class-leading for an SUV. The handling is excellent too, with surprisingly little body roll round corners. You can definitely have some driving fun in the Model Y – just not as much as in an equivalent Model 3. The hatchback and boot size are the biggest benefit of the Model Y over the Model 3. James Morris There is one of Tesla’s signature features where the Y Range is merely competitive, however. Where the Model 3 Long Range and Performance are comfortably ahead in range compared to most other electric cars on the market, the Y is merely on par with the best. The Model Y Long Range has a WLTP range of 315 miles, while the Performance offers 298 miles. The Volkswagen Group electric SUVs based on the MEB platform (such as the VW ID.4, Skoda Enyaq iV and Audi Q4 e-tron) are on par, and the Ford Mustang Mach-E RWD Extended Range goes much further, albeit with a much bigger battery. But Tesla, of course, has its Supercharger network and the Model Y has 250kW charging, so most long journeys will still be a breeze. It’s not cheap The Model Y is a very tempting package, but there is one catch for UK buyers – the price. The Long Range is £54,990 ($75,250) and the Performance £64,990 ($88,900). That’s $18,000 and $27,000 more expensive respectively than the cost in the USA. European pricing is cheaper than the UK too, with the Long Range and Performance costing 56,990 Euros ($65,900) and 63,990 Euros ($74,000) respectively in Germany. In other words, the Performance is cheaper in Germany than the Long Range is in the UK. Red is the best-looking colour for the Y, but also the most expensive. James Morris That is unlikely to stop the Tesla Model Y being a big hit in the UK. It is still unquestionably better in most respects than any other electric SUVs in its price range, with a class-leading boot space and great driving dynamics. Its biggest competition will come from its own stablemate – the Model 3. If you don’t need the huge boot, the Model 3 is cheaper to buy with longer range and better performance and handling than the Model Y. If you do want the best load-lugging electric SUV in this price range, though, the Model Y should be top of your list.