2025 Tesla Model Y RWD: Quick drive

The previous-generation Tesla Model Y quickly gained a foothold in the Australian new car market, with Aussie fans taking delivery as quickly as the brand could unload them at the port.

However, and Alex Misoyannis has already tested the updated AWD model, we know that Tesla has listened to plenty of key feedback and in effect made a good thing even better. Now, we take our first look at the updated 2025 Tesla Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD), the model variant that found its feet as the most popular in our market.

In fact, almost 80 per cent of Model Y sales of the previous model were the RWD variant. It’s fair to say, therefore, that this updated model will be vital to the brand in Australia. 

As you would have seen if you read our AWD review, there’s new styling – sharp and attractive it is too – an improvement to the driving experience you sense from the behind the wheel, and a cabin that has been upgraded significantly enough that it feels different. 

So, with the point taken that the Tesla Model Y was both a popular and excellent electric SUV, is the update a worthy step forward? Let’s find out. 

We’re five years in, which is about the same time frame you’d see in regard to updating a conventional vehicle, but in EV terms, five years is a long time, such is the pace of change and advancement of technology. Codenamed internally as ‘Juniper’, Tesla’s Model Y has seen off many challenges in its time on sale, but those challenges will keep getting tougher. 

Across model grades, driving range has been increased, the gear selector has been moved to the touchscreen (I still think that’s dumb, but more on that later), suspension has been revised, the steering has been overhauled and cabin insulation has also been enhanced. 

As Alex noted in his AWD review, the Launch Series editions have sold out, which leaves the RWD we’re testing here as the price leader in the range – starting from $58,900 before on-road costs. If you factor in those extra costs, you’re looking at $60,700 drive-away for the RWD at the time of testing. 

In regard to the revised styling for this update, you get new headlights, an LED rear light bar, ventilated front seats, which are also a deeper and more sculpted design, an 8.0-inch touchscreen for second-row passengers, power folding and reclining rear seats, ambient interior lighting, a front camera and blind-spot monitoring. The RWD gets a nine-speaker audio system. 

Other crucial cabin equipment includes the new UV coating to the glass roof (thanks Tesla, for listening), heated outboard rear seats, a 15.4-inch central screen, native satellite navigation, music streaming and Bluetooth, dual-zone climate control, an electric tailgate and front and rear parking distance sensors that work off cameras. 

Alex covered the cabin highlights in his full review, but it’s worth noting a couple of things. The indicator stalk is back, and the UV coating for the glass roof makes a big difference, especially in direct sun.

I did a long drive in the previous-generation Y for an episode of Drive TV in the middle of an Aussie summer, and wore a hat for most of the daylight hours behind the wheel. That’s how much heat came through the glass roof. You don’t need to do that now. Who’d have thought that an indicator stalk would be such a good idea? 100 years of automotive manufacturing, just about all of you, and also Tesla evidently.

The seats are also a welcome improvement over the outgoing Model Y. Significantly more sculpted, even in the second row, they are much more comfortable, even after a three-hour road trip out of Sydney, and a two-hour freeway run back into the city. There’s no fatigue or aching at all, and they are as comfortable after three hours as they were in the first five minutes. 

I’d still prefer proper smartphone connectivity, but you also can’t argue with the functionality of the Tesla system. Control systems that could be deeply complex aren’t, and the general interaction between driver and car is excellent. Tesla would argue that you can connect into everything you need through the system itself, whether that be entertainment or mapping, but I still maintain that there’s an elegant simplicity to mirroring the phone that you already use all day, every day. 

The native satellite navigation system worked faultlessly for us on test, as did the various audio entertainment options, where streaming music or a podcast was effortless, and the digital radio was one press of an icon away. 

I still say a gear selector on the touchscreen looks too much like Tesla engineers trying to prove they are smarter than we are, and is also completely unnecessary. The stalk – Mercedes-Benz style – worked fine, as would a regular shifter or even a rotary dial like so many other manufacturers have opted for.

I get it. Tesla wants a clean centre stack and console, but I still think it’s significantly easier to execute a quick three-point turn when you’re not messing round with a touchscreen. That said, it didn’t do anything strange at launch, and like many things automotive, you’ll get used to it the more you drive the new Model Y. 

We’ll test the real-world driving range of the RWD Model Y when we get a week with it, but on face value, it would appear that yet again Tesla has set a standard in regard to maximising the efficiency you can extract from a battery pack. WLTP testing claims 466km from the RWD, and we expect to see close to that in the real world given what we know about Tesla efficiency. 

For mine, the biggest change that will make a difference to owners is in the drive. Revised suspension, which Tesla promised would offer a softer, more supple ride, has done exactly that, and the Model Y is now significantly more comfortable on country coarse-chip surfaces, in addition to the way in which it can deal with nastier sections. There’s no harsh crashing or bottoming out, and it’s as comfortable as many non-electric SUVs.

The steering is excellent too, even on a section of fast, twisty road, and the work that’s been done on cabin insulation has paid dividends, too, with the sense of calm inside the cabin a big improvement. 

We’ll test the RWD more extensively in the coming weeks when it passes through the Drive garage, including looking closely at efficiency, range and day-to-day practicality. If there’s anything you’d like to know specifically, let us know and we’ll answer those questions for you. 

In the meantime, it would appear that Tesla has indeed made a good thing even better. It’s not perfect, but it’s an accomplished electric SUV that will still appeal to Aussie buyers. 

Electric Cars Guide

Trent Nikolic has been road testing and writing about cars for almost 20 years. He’s been at CarAdvice/Drive since 2014 and has been a motoring editor at the NRMA, Overlander 4WD Magazine, Hot4s and Auto Salon Magazine.

Read more about Trent Nikolic