Test Pilot-Write: Özgür Sunay (Tesla Model Y Türkiye Report)
I would like to start my Tesla Model Y Turkey test drive article by stating that the transition to electric vehicles can prevent asthma attacks in 2.8 million children and more than 500 infant deaths by 2050, and by emphasizing the importance of the support that should be given to electricity.
Studies have found that gas-powered vehicles are one of the largest carbon polluters in the United States, which can be harmful by damaging children’s lung function, causing heat-related stress, and affecting fetal development.
According to the 2023 ‘State of the Air’ report; More than 27 million children under the age of 18 live in cities where at least one air pollutant cannot be kept at unhealthy levels.
Children with asthma and other lung diseases are at greater risk. 1.7 million children with asthma live in cities with the poorest air quality for at least one pollutant.
The American Lung Association has called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to update their Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.
The report called on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take serious steps to reduce health risks to children.
If the child is born on time; Exposure to air pollution can cause respiratory and heart problems, digestive problems, and a weakened immune system as we age.
Unfortunately, commercial vehicles that emit black smoke from their exhaust in traffic have polluted our world’s air enough.
I wanted to draw attention to this issue in this article.
We could live much better in a world without exhaust fumes.
We tested the Tesla Model Y Long Range Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive electric vehicle, covering approximately 1300 km.
In this test drive, we subjected our Tesla Model Y to a challenging test drive in all kinds of wet and dry road conditions.
Our Model Y Long Range Dual Engine Four-Wheel Drive vehicle can reach a speed of 217km in a short time.
Exterior Design: If we evaluate our Tesla Model Y vehicle according to its exterior design features.
With a total length of 4,751 mm, Model Y managed to catch our eye for the first time in the exterior design of an SUV vehicle with its 2,129 mm width and large-volume, high-convex roof glass. In this respect, we have no difficulty in understanding why Elon Musk, the company’s CEO and chief designer, may have designed this vehicle based on its long, wide, muscular body.
It is obvious that he designed a vehicle proportionate to his own body.
When we look at the Tesla Model Y vehicle from the outside, if we evaluate its aerodynamic structure, it draws attention with its front part’s similarity to Porsche engineering and design.
In addition, the front hood slope, which suppresses the wind at high speeds and sticks the vehicle to the ground, continues with the curved structure design towards the ceiling and rear.
The air flow coming towards the rear wing outlet has become an important element in providing the escape angle and outlet of the wind, which sticks the rear of the vehicle to the ground and highlights the aerodynamic structure of the vehicle, especially at high speeds. The rear wing has a design that also puts pressure on the vehicle.
Of course, these are entirely my opinion…
This design language and understanding in the front body, roof and rear of the vehicle manages to suppress the height and high ceiling structure of the Tesla Model Y.
When we look at the front and rear rim and tire structure of the vehicle, there are 9.5 inch wide rims with a 20 inch rim structure at the front and 45 mm wide rims with an offset structure at the rear.
The tire size is 255/40R20 XL, which is quite wide compared to the equipment we use on the front and rear.
These dimensions are expanded to 21 inches when you purchase the Tesla Model Y Performance trim.
As you know, the Tesla model is a vehicle that focuses mainly on software as well as design and engineering issues. The exterior design of the vehicle also includes Autopilot cameras, Radar sensor and Key card sensor. Even though these are placed inside the hidden vehicle, they are visible to the naked eye.
Your vehicle also has a Front tow ball cover and a Rear tow ball cover. It is recommended that you open these covers and manually attach the towbar to the vehicle.
When we look at the Interior Design Features of the vehicle;
First of all, you can open the door by scanning your card in card form (hotel room door card, credit card, apartment card, etc.) into the magnetic field on the outer driver’s door of the vehicle. Just like swiping your card on the way to work or making contactless payments while shopping, of course it’s a joke 🙂
In this way, Tesla also added simple jokes to the vehicle.
I would like to remind you that we are still at the beginning of this work and road.
Model Y manages to welcome us in a spacious yet pleasant, fun and very comfortable yet simple way, with its front panel where everything is simple and functional, the touch screen in the middle and its easy-to-use, high-quality interior environment. . . . . The instrument panel structure, mixed with hard plastic in two different colors that is easy to clean and does not have a bad plastic smell, managed to emphasize the wide windshield appearance with its horizontal and vertical hard structure.
The structure of the vehicle’s front instrument cockpit panel and horizontal air outlets are hidden in different design language details.
There is a small cockpit camera just above the rearview mirror of the vehicle. The cockpit camera can detect driver inattention and send you audio alerts to remind you to keep your eyes on the road when Autopilot is active.
Unless you enable data sharing, images and videos from the camera do not leave the vehicle by default and it is said that they are not transferred to anyone, including Tesla. If you enable data sharing and a safety-critical incident (accident) occurs, you can also share short video clips from the Model Y cockpit camera with Tesla to help us improve safety and continually improve cockpit-based features in the future. .
You can control media, navigation and entertainment features and customize your Model Y vehicle according to your preferences with the touch screen with special software developed for the use of the driver and passenger in the vehicle.
When you want to do something about the Tesla Model Y, give a command or change the settings, you can do this with the help of the large touch screen and the left and right buttons on the steering wheel. Because there is no different button or button in the vehicle in this sense.
Even when opening the glove compartment, you will have to do this via the touch screen.
Our test vehicle has versatile adjustable heated front and rear passenger seats, made from a special easy-to-clean material in a special high-gloss leather white colour.
I will touch upon a small detail in the driving section regarding seat adjustments.
The trunk lids located at the front and rear of the Tesla Model Y can only be opened and closed from the touch screen. Of course, you can open the tailgate manually and close it automatically.
Tesla Model Y has a luggage volume of 117 liters at the front, 854 liters when the rear seats are not folded, and 2,041 liters when the seats are fully folded.
Although Tesla Model Y stands out with its upright rear passenger seats, it is possible to electrically adjust your back to a certain narrow angle in 3 stages.
However, while the Tesla Model Y has ample legroom and very generous headroom, especially in the rear, I see that it has some problems in terms of seating style and the design of the rear seats, and they are not very comfortable in this sense.
I would like to express that Tesla engineers should focus on this issue and focus on more comfortable and reliable seat designs.
Of course, this is an electric vehicle. Whatever our goal is, it is not to criticize these tools, but to support them. We look at the issue with this publishing approach.
But as I said, we are just at the beginning, so we would like to say that we do not hesitate to share every idea that comes to our mind for development.
Drive:
First of all, I would like to say that I am a fan of the 2017 Tesla Model S. But then we see Tesla changing direction.
I even have a beautiful souvenir photo taken in 2017 with my son’s Tesla Model S in front of his house in Oxford, England, and I am sharing it.
When activating the Tesla Model Y driving features, the driving position can preferably remain high, although the driver-passenger seat can be electrically adjusted up and down and back and forth at a certain level.
From here, we can expect the driver’s seat to lower downwards and its supports to be more ergonomic.
Because I don’t always like such a high riding position.
In addition, when we look at the steering wheel, it is possible to make fine and sensitive adjustments with the help of the touch panel.
Forward visibility is generous for the Tesla driver, front passenger and even rear passengers.
Tesla Model Y’s American shifter transmission and parking position are convenient and allow you to move and take off quickly.
The net weight of our test vehicle, Tesla model y, is 2067 kg and its engine power is 378 kW.
It also has a Dual Motor, permanent AWD 4-wheel drive system. So is 4-wheel drive always active? Or is it software-based and do the moments when it is activated differ?
We will generally evaluate the driving characteristics of our vehicle according to these.
Another issue I would like to point out at the beginning of the driving features is that when we looked at the windshield of the vehicle, we noticed the Tesla LAMINATED SAINT-GOBAIN SECURIT text, which we guess was specially developed together with Saint-Gobain. Sekurit company, which we are used to seeing in French vehicles.
However, when we look at the remaining side windows of the vehicle, the FUYAO XI/D LAMINATED brand attracts attention.
Especially since these side windows consist of 2 layers and levels, they are quite thick and have soundproofing properties both inside and outside.
Contrary to popular belief, the driving modes in the Tesla Model Y vehicle are in a different software form.
There are two different usage options, “Calm” and “Standard”, in the “Acceleration” feature on the tablet digital main screen.
At the same time, when we look at the Steering mode settings right below, we see 3 different uses: “Comfort”, “Standard” and “Sport”.
If you want to use the energy in the Model Y vehicle in a completely economical mode, in a “feelingless” way, at the lowest levels, you need to select the calm mode for acceleration and the comfort mode for steering.
In this way, everything in the vehicle becomes soft and sluggish.
However, if you want to use the vehicle more actively and with high feeling by choosing standard mode or sport mode, then you need to select “standard” mode for acceleration and “standard or sport” mode for steering.
378 kilowatts of engine power equals approximately 508 hp.
The 2067 net kg model and Tesla 508 hp engine power, combined with front and rear thrust, equal a considerable electrical performance power.
In this sense, although the factory data regarding the initial acceleration of the vehicle is as short as 5.4 seconds from 0 to 100 in standard mode, its speed and initial acceleration are felt more in this sense. It subjects you to a small g-force that pins you to the seat like a sports car.
The fact that you feel much less at 80-90-100 km/h in a 97 model Alfa Romeo reveals how successful or unsuccessful the latest version engineering efforts like Tesla are. I believe Tesla engineers should clarify this issue clearly.
Yes, the vehicle has a super windshield. It is a marvel of engineering, but why does this vehicle not make us feel the normal speed like Volvo or Mercedes, it gives us more adrenaline.
As I said, although it is very good that the vehicle accelerates, takes off, accelerates from 0 to 200 km and sticks to the road while doing this, unfortunately, it causes the driver and front passenger to feel “too much” after 85 km. “fast”. We feel much more acceleration than the normal version vehicles we are used to. But when we look at the km indicator, we see that our speed has just reached 100-110-120 km.
I wanted to specifically mention and draw attention to this issue for Tesla.
When we look at it, Saint-Gobain is the company that makes the windshields of famous French-Italian automobile brands.
If this problem is caused by the windshield, we may be experiencing this problem in other car brands as well. But we have not experienced this problem so seriously in other car brands.
Considering that this problem is caused by the windshield, there can be only one solution and explanation: The size of the windshield relative to the vehicle. The windshield of the Tesla model y vehicle is larger than that of all SUVs. If this glass is this size, has it been tested against this much speed before?
On the other hand, as Türkiye, we do not purchase Tesla vehicles coming from Chinese factories.
Tesla vehicles offered for sale in Turkey are produced in the factory in Germany.
However, for some reasons, we saw that the vehicle’s production site or the “made in” production point that should be in the seat belt is not included in the Tesla Model Y vehicle.
This is the first time we encountered this situation. I would also like to point out this. I don’t know why or its importance. But the first thing I look at before getting into the vehicle is the seat belt.
Our Tesla Model Y vehicle has 255/40R20 Michelin brand Pilot Sport Ev tires, special for electric vehicles.
Although these tires are more performance-oriented and look sporty as if they were produced for speed, they also have a style suitable for economical use.
It seems quite difficult to keep up with Tesla, with its very wide tires and 508hp power.
In this sense, while the use of the vehicle allows us to move quickly in all kinds of road conditions, the 4-wheel drive system is of great importance in terms of the software of our Tesla Model Y vehicle in terms of adapting it to my driving style.
Of course, projecting the left and right mirror images of the vehicle’s blind spots as a camera in the direction I signal provides great convenience to the vehicle while driving.
The vehicle already has this and many similar security equipment systems, as in every vehicle today.
However, in rainy weather, it can be annoying if the wiper settings do not work exactly as I want.
I think it would be much better if Tesla made the wiper settings manually or from the steering wheel. However, it doesn’t work very well on automatic. Even if the wiper level settings are good, they may be unnecessarily long or unnecessarily slow in the first stage.
Of course, when talking about the features and driving of the Tesla Model Y, I am not trying to highlight only certain features of the vehicle here. I explain in full detail the things that no one talks about about the Tesla Model Y vehicle.
I tested the Tesla Model Y vehicle in every performance-based road condition you can think of, covering more than 1300 km in 6 days.
I can say that with the current tires on it, the comfort is quite low and the vehicle can be used more firmly in all kinds of road conditions.
In this sense, in an electric vehicle such as Tesla Model Y, interior comfort can remain quite low as the tire sidewalls are compromised by gaining range.
During the test, when I pushed the vehicle’s performance on a slightly wet, smooth asphalt surface, especially in tight bends, and gave the throttle all the way, it was observed that the vehicle had difficulty holding on to the ground under normal conditions. and, naturally, made slight slips from front and back.
When driving on a flat highway in wet and heavy rain weather, the car moved quite safely at high speeds and did not show any negative effects on its ride and handling.
The vehicle was tested by using it continuously for a certain period of time at a speed of 217 km on a flat dry asphalt surface.
The vehicle’s handling is very good. The steering movements are quite firm, reassuring and very sensitive in sports use.
The steering system generally responds instantly to the slightest driving movement and has the highest feedback response tested to date.
When we compare our Tesla Model Y vehicle with other brands and models at high speeds:
If we compare it with the example Volvo in terms of speed;
Volvo S90 and XC90 hybrids or XC40 electric models appear to stall when traveling at 185 km/h. While driving, we can turn our heads and even look at the view.
When driving at 185 km/h with a Volvo, we do not feel the speed and are not disturbed.
However, in the Tesla Model Y, we feel the speed too much at these speeds or when traveling at a constant speed of 217 km/h. As if the vehicle was traveling at 320 km/h.
Of course, I think this is also an important thing in terms of safety, because then people will experience adrenaline at those speeds and become anxious. If they don’t speed too much, maybe this could cause fewer accidents.
If we look at the issue from this perspective, there is a different perspective.
When we look at the use of autopilot in Tesla driving, it is not that easy to use in Turkey. So I won’t talk much about it since I can’t make it work properly or I don’t need it.
But my purpose is never to criticize electric vehicles. The fact that these vehicles are electric is already enough to protect the environment and the world from exhaust gases.
I don’t really care if it has other features or not. For me, it is enough for the vehicle to drive well, hold on to the road and provide a reliable ride. Self-driving vehicle, autonomous driving, autopilot system, lane tracking features, etc. It’s not really my area of interest.
We are not doing YouTube work here, it is our duty to convey our experiences with the vehicles in the most accurate way without offending anyone.
It has been observed that the Tesla Model Y is satisfactory and reassuring, with its tires and power, providing enjoyable use in performance driving on dry asphalt and winding roads, without slipping from the front or rear.
However, since Tesla Model Y does not have the old production infrastructure of brands such as Volvo, Mercedes, Audi and only produces electric vehicles, the vehicle’s undercarriage and especially the shock absorber structure, suspension and springs, in short, the drive parts, are very satisfactory; However, since this point has not been reached yet, I think it is natural for the car to reflect the atmosphere of using an “underground metro” instead of an SUV.
By the way, the curved roof glass of the vehicle is quite successful.
Let’s come to a different topic,
The entire battery located under the vehicle creates a warming temperature that is not felt in daily use, especially in the driver’s foot area, and a smell under the carpet under the gas-brake pedal while driving.
In this sense, my lower foot was burning very much while driving the vehicle and I had to turn on the air conditioner and blow cold air under it from time to time.
Again, when we examine the interior of the vehicle, I must say that the lower carpet flexible floor and the leather covering on the doors are not satisfactory and resemble the simple thin carpet flexible coating sold in the industry.
When we looked at it cosmetically, there was an opening that was not fully connected between the right rear door of the vehicle and the fender junction. Is this a bug specific to our test vehicle? I do not know this.
Opening the front hood and trunk of the vehicle is quite nice and very good for use.
However, we noticed that it got dirty very quickly. Dirty wind and air entering through the hood gaps caused the trunk and under the hood to become dirty.
However, since there is air conditioning and air intakes under the hood, I think this dirty dust may cause different problems in the vehicle in the future. This section must have good insulation.
By the way, I don’t think even the engineers who made Tesla could give the information, data and feedback I wrote about Tesla Model Y.
Actually, I think such things have not been written in the world until today.
Charge and Go:
The vehicle, which can be charged to 100 percent in 40-45 minutes, provides a range of 503 km in a very short time.
If you can choose the silent usage mode and keep your speed constant between 100-120km, it is very easy to reach the Tesla charging point in Bolu from Istanbul.
At the Tesla charging point in Bolu, you can fully charge your car within 30 minutes and during your break, and you can easily reach the AnkaMall Avm Tesla charging unit in Ankara.
In fact, an acquaintance of mine who is a Tesla Model Y user said that he left his home in Istanbul, went to Kartalkaya, skied, charged his car in Bolu on the way back and reached his home in Istanbul very easily. He had an ABB charging unit installed in his garage.
As long as you don’t drive efficiently in the city at reasonable speeds and don’t make sudden exits, you can easily see a range of 375-400km.
I think you can reach 410 km in the city with a calm ride and a continuous 70-80 km journey.
If you switch your vehicle to sports mode at speeds of 150-160 km after fully charging it, the mileage range may drop to 300 in a very short time. It is dangerous to reach Bolu this way. You will have problems accessing.
When we look at the price of Tesla Model Y, I think it is currently sold at incredibly exorbitant prices for Turkey.
But Tesla users are everywhere. Everyone around me drives a Tesla Model Y, and no matter where I go, they’re everywhere in traffic.
You would think it looked like a taxi or something like that.
I think that a law requiring the conversion of taxis to electric vehicles should be passed in Istanbul, Ankara and Antalya in a short time.
Although electric vehicles take up space in our world, I think it will be necessary to establish larger factories producing these batteries over time. The problem will no longer be just electrical energy.
For example, the Tesla Model Y battery warranty covers 192,000km.
For example, there are people like me who reached 192,000 km in 3 years.
So what will happen to this battery after 3-5 years? Can Tesla recycle this?
If it is predicted that these waste batteries, not only Tesla’s but also those of others, will start to harm nature and the environment and pollute our world even more, I don’t know whether scientists are too busy these days or whether they are dealing with this task. To save and clean our world?
It’s nice, but I haven’t come across a scientist who saved the world yet…
I think the problem is not just with waste batteries…
Like all electrically powered devices, electric cars and hybrid vehicles generate extremely low frequency (elf) electromagnetic fields (EMF) during operation.
More precisely, compared to a tiny battery inside a mobile phone, we are exposed to a certain amount of radiation in the entire battery at the base of an electric vehicle, just like in the subway.
What is this amount of radiation? Why don’t manufacturers put a warning on the vehicle label regarding this issue? Because there are already these warnings on everything sold in the world that is harmful to health.
How will the world change when we switch to electric vehicles? Hopefully it will be in a good way.
If you think all this won’t be a problem for me, let’s talk briefly about Tesla Model Y;
Model Y provides a large, spacious and very useful interior. It also attracts attention with its high ceiling and wide structure.
In this sense, the interior seat covering colors and material are very nice. In addition, the vehicle’s acceleration and rapid take-off are also satisfactory.
The security features are good in terms of software, but they are not very useful and practical in terms of usage.
The vehicle’s tires and road holding are good, but it is quite poor in terms of comfort and driving components.
To summarize briefly this way.
In Four-Wheel Drive vehicles, Skid Start in case the Model Y gets stuck in mud, snow or ice, depending on the conditions, or Terrain Assist to provide general improvements during off-road driving are among the features of the vehicle.
Tesla Model Y as “Notification of Security Defects”; You can also use voice commands to give Tesla feedback. Use “Report,” “Feedback,” or “Bug report,” followed by your short comments. Model Y records brief information from its systems, including your current location, vehicle diagnostic data, and touchscreen images. Tesla periodically reviews these notes and uses them to improve Model Y.
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