- Excellent 373-mile WLTP range
- Better performance than Standard Range version
- All the great space and charging features of a Tesla Model Y
- Will pay UK Expensive Car VED rate in April 2025
- Minimalist interior not to everyone’s taste
- No 7-seat option
Range (WLTP): 373 miles Top Speed: 135mph 0 to 60: 5.7 sec Efficiency (WLTP): 5 miles per kWh
Introduction
While we wait for the imminent arrival of the Juniper Tesla Model Y update in the UK, there’s another variant of the current model on the market. It’s called the Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive, and the name tells you most of what you need to know. This car combines the battery of the Long Range All-Wheel Drive and Performance with a single rear motor. Tesla has had a Model 3 like this available for fleet customers for a while, which end users can now buy too alongside the Standard Range version, but at the moment the Standard Range Model Y has been completely discontinued for UK customers. So this is now your entry-level Model Y choice, and there’s a lot to commend it.
Price and Options
There is very little different beyond the drivetrain with this car and other Model Ys we’ve reviewed, such as the Performance. As manufacturing is now from Berlin, you can get the Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive in the relatively new Midnight Cherry Red and Quicksilver paint finishes. The basic colour is white, with black and blue an extra £1,300, but the new colours are £2,600 more.
For some reason, you can’t get the 19in Gemini wheels with this Model Y variant, just the Gemini Dark version, which we think look better anyway. Or you can upgrade to the 20in Induction wheels. A tow hitch is £1,090, and the premium white interior is £1,100 over the standard black one. You can get Enhanced Autopilot for £3,400 and £6,800 gets you Full Self Driving, which you will probably not see the benefit of in the UK for the lifetime of the vehicle. Unfortunately, the seven-seat option is not available for this Model Y variant in Europe – you need the All-Wheel Drive version for this.
That is about it for options. The Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive is £2,000 more than the Standard Range was in 2023 – £46,990. So it’s going to face the Expensive Car VED tax supplement for vehicles over £40,000. But that makes it similarly priced to the smaller Ford Explorer, although the Vauxhall Grandland is quite a bit cheaper. The price compares favourably to Volkswagen Group brand alternatives, however. In regions where the Juniper update has arrived, that appears to have come with a slight increase in price, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens when that gets to the UK.
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