Krzysztof Borowiecki

Why is the Model Y so popular? You’re not a fan of the way it looks? Don’t like the minimalist interior? Looks too small? The reason the Y is so popular is because every fine grain of the vehicle’s design comes from first principals. Tesla designed the Y to be the most useful car possible for as many people as possible. Everything is driven by utility. You come to fully appreciate this as an owner, and it is why their customer retention is so high and why it is one of the most successful vehicles ever produced. The design prioritizes aerodynamics, allowing Tesla to provide as many miles of range as possible per unit of cost. They didn’t make it boxy or give it more ground clearance than necessary because they understood that this isn’t useful for 99% of the people who buy mid sized SUV’s. Maybe you think the RAV4 looks cooler, but it isn’t as optimized to be useful for the majority of people who own it. It’s just vanity that isn’t as valuable as utility for almost anyone once the novelty wears off. There is no “novelty” with the Y. You love it the same on day 700 as you did on day 10, because everything you love about it is actually valuable to you all the time. The interior is minimal because everything is automated. Beyond the buttons on the steering wheel, there is no real need for any dash buttons once you’ve set everything. Every car I’ve owned in my life before a Tesla had so many buttons that I never used, or didn’t even know wtf they were for. Tesla doesn’t put unnecessary stuff in their cars because it just adds clutter and cost. I love this not just because it helps make it affordable, but because it makes the vehicle incredibly easy to keep clean. It is a big change that most need to get used to, but once you do, you wonder why other OEMs aren’t doing the same thing. Every inch of the Model Y is optimized to be as useful as possible. Too small? This is a myth. Many do not realize that the interior storage space in a Model Y is higher than other popular SUVs like the RAV4, CX5, etc. the aero exterior design makes it look smaller from the outside, but inside, it provides MORE cubic feet of cargo space than these competitors, not less. This is why the people who own the Model Y love it, and do not go back to legacy SUVs. As an ordinary car, the Model Y packs more value per dollar than competitors. It doesn’t sacrifice usefulness for vanity. Tesla understands they lose some stubborn, closed minded customers because they’ve gone this route. But they accept this because their goal is to make the actual best car possible, not one for people who are afraid of change. Seems like it paid off considering it is one of the most popular vehicles of all time. And the craziest part? All of this is true before we even talk about self driving, which is the most insane innovation in a vehicle ever. It’s already the best ordinary vehicle for most people, but it is also a sentient robot. The Y is an engineering work of art that cannot be fully appreciated until it is lived with.