India-spec 2025 Tesla Model Y review, first drive - the iPhone of cars

The iPhone has been your go-to status symbol so far to show the world that you've made it. But that can change now because the Tesla Model Y has finally launched in India. For many of you, that will be reason enough to buy one. But there is still the matter of what this EV, probably the most hyped Rs 60 lakh car we've seen in a while, is actually like to drive. We spent time with it in the best that Indian roads have to offer, peak Mumbai traffic.

2025 Tesla Model Y styling, dimensions, boot space

In the Mumbai automotive landscape of rickshaws, cabs and all manner of SUVs, the Tesla Model Y stands out. This new look for the Model Y, drawn from the Cybertruck, gives it a clean, neo-futuristic vibe that's quite different from anything else you will find at this price. It's not flashy in the traditional sense but it does have size on its side. The Model Y looks quite a bit larger in the flesh than it does on a screen.

Surprisingly, the sharp low nose doesn't have a Tesla badge on it but you do get a full-width lightbar and headlamp clusters are smartly hidden. There's also not too much of the venting and aero touches that you see in other EVs.

Tesla is known to package its cars well and you see it right from the start with the massive 116-litre frunk. It's deep and shaped well enough for a couple of cabin bags and even has a drain plug in case you put a wet jacket in there.

In profile, the Model Y's aggressively arched roofline is quite noticeable. The bodywork is restrained but still pops with its sharp creases. The dark 19-inch wheels are chunky and their design goes with the futuristic sense of the car. You might think of the Model Y as an SUV but its 167 mm of ground clearance is a bit less than the average Indian SUV. So you still get a flat sporty stance.

One of the more striking design elements on the Model Y is the 'indirect' light bar at the rear. It looks posh and is an innovative trick to stand out. The duck tail spoiler on the high boot seems to be there for aero-efficiency. The light cluster has that modern three-dimensional look to it and the chunky bumper that cuts some of the mass in the rear.

This chunky rear section hides a large boot. You get 822 litres, easily accessed with a low lip and a flat deep load bay. There's no spare wheel, which will be a problem in our conditions, but you get another large sub-space beneath the boot floor. There's a smart arrangement here to store the parcel shelf.

The powered second row folds nearly flat to give you a massive 2,138 litres. The Model Y will come in handy when you need to move houses.

2025 Tesla Model Y interiors, tech, practicality

One of the reasons Tesla has made such an impact globally is its fresh take on what a car can be. The interiors of the Model Y seem like a place where this thought comes through quite clearly. It is an especially minimal space and you interact with it quite differently than in other cars.

The low, deep dash top with the arched ambient light design element is the flashiest thing here. Most surfaces are flat. These surfaces merge into sharp edges that make for a clean, modern look. The air vents and glovebox are discreetly incorporated into the design, with controls in the screen. This all-black theme seems to add to that reduced sense although a white upholstery option is available at added cost.

Much has been said of Tesla's build quality but the initial perception is that the Model Y feels its price. You have quite a few textures going on like the soft surfaces on the dash, the suede-like material in the lower reaches of the cabin and the knitted material on the doors. On closer inspection, the panels may not be as substantial and tightly held in place as a German rival but this is not exactly a deal breaker.

The centrepiece of the cabin is the 15.4-inch touchscreen. Its size is now par for the course but few rivals can match how deeply you interact with it. Nearly all of the car's functions are accessed through here, right down to the drive selector. You might think this would make it a clunky, confusing experience.

Yes, it can be overwhelming at first but you quickly realize that this is one of the more fluid, intuitive interfaces you will come across. The display is rich and responsive with the menus logically laid out. While driving, the most important functions are within easy reach. You can customise shortcuts in the bottom bar, the tab-like interface helping access functions a bit quicker if you need to. The live vehicle graphic also helps keep tabs on what is happening around the car although we wish the climate controls were a fixed panel at the bottom. The lack of a driver's instrument cluster is a bit disconcerting at first but greatly improves visibility. Although a HUD could have been a good addition.

You don't get Android Auto or Apple CarPlay but the TomTom-based navigation available natively seemed reliable enough. Tesla has a great sense of humour, which you find with games and gags you can access via the screen like the Mars skin, boombox and whoopie cushion. You can also watch movies and access music apps right from this screen.

The simple but fairly traditionally shaped steering wheel is the only place you will find physical controls. Thankfully, there is no yoke and you have a separate stalk for the indicators, unlike the Cybertruck. The scrollers on the wheel can be used for many functions, most oddly for adjusting the wheel and mirrors.

In fact, with its skateboard architecture, there is some good old-fashioned space optimisation in the cabin. You have two large wireless chargers as well as Type-C ports, a deep cubby where a gear lever would have otherwise been, well-designed cupholders and another deep bin under the centre armrest. The door bins are quite large and thoughtfully shaped too.

The front seats are impressive. You have great contouring and thigh support, and unlike the rest of the Model Y's controls, the seats have the usual physical adjustment buttons on the side. The cushioning is quite soft which we hope won't affect long-distance comfort. It is India-ready with a good ventilation and heating function.

Given the way the Tesla has been priced, it's expected that many of its owners may want to be chauffeured in it. Tesla doesn't speak of this much, but the Model Y has quite an impressive second row. The wheelbase is a generous 2,890 mm, which means the Model Y has great legroom and with the high-placed front seats, foot room is good too. Unlike in many other EVs, the floor is not very high, so you still get good thigh support. The sloping roofline doesn't eat into headroom as much as you might think.

The glass roof not having a shade helps here, although six-footers might find things to be a bit tight. There's an airy sense here with the large glass area. In the open sun, which is not as harsh as peak summer, that we drove the Tesla in, the special coating on the roof seemed to keep quite a lot of the heat out. The seat is wide enough for three, helped by the flat floor. Like the front, the bench is contoured well with soft cushioning.

You don't get seat ventilation or window shades here, but the space is otherwise well-equipped. You have a powered recline function as well as a boss function. The 8-inch screen can be used to control audio and climate functions as well as for games, videos and music, being Bluetooth equipped. There are two more Type-C ports here.

2025 Tesla Model Y features, safety

The Model Y gets a single feature grade with highlights being auto headlamps and wipers, dual-zone climate control, a 9-speaker audio system, ambient lighting, dashcam, light show, front ventilated seats, heated and powered seats, a panoramic glass roof and the two screens being the highlights.

Safety features include front, side, centre and curtain airbags. You also get 360-degree cameras and a Sentry mode. The India-spec Tesla Model Y will not get full self driving but will come with the kind of level 2 ADAS features we are accustomed to for an added Rs 6 lakh. These will be rolled out via updates once the cars hit the roads. Safety is a strong Tesla attribute with the Model Y scoring a high-score 5-star Euro NCAP rating.

2025 Tesla Model Y battery, range, charging

Tesla is famously secretive about its car's specs although it has revealed that this Model Y RWD has a 500 km WLTP range. In our short time with it, we think over 420 km can be easily expected in urban conditions in the real world.

It seems like this RWD variant is fed by a 63 kWh battery pack and can accept up to 175 kW of DC fast charging. Tesla will set up its Supercharging network over time in Mumbai and Delhi first, eventually expanding into other cities. The Model Y uses a CCS2 plug in India so it should be compatible with existing charging infrastructure. An AC wallbox will be provided for home charging where the Tesla charges at 11.2 kW.

2025 Tesla Model Y driving impressions

At this point, it's not surprising that you don't get in or start the Model Y like a regular car. In the Tesla, you walk up to it and get in if your phone key is set up or use a key card. This effectively turns on the car, you swipe into Drive and head off. One of the first things that strikes you on the move is just how quiet it is on the inside. The Model Y has double-glazed windows and windscreens which do wonders in a noisy city like Mumbai.

Also great is the visibility. You can't see the edge of the Tesla's bonnet like in a traditional SUV, but the low sill, large windows and windscreen make navigating traffic easy. The cameras are especially clear and lag-free, and run even at higher speeds. This is especially helpful since visibility out the rear-view mirror is not great with the sloping roofline. Not having an instrument cluster is a bit odd at first but you soon get used to the screen readout that falls in your broader line of sight.

Tesla doesn't quote power or torque numbers but it is said that the Model Y RWD makes 299 PS and 420 Nm. Tesla has said the RWD will do 0 to 100 kmph in 5.9 seconds, which makes this quite a brisk car for our roads.

You have two drive modes, Chill and Standard. The Chill mode seems right for the average Mumbai commute. You have enough go to keep pace with traffic, and even as you press on the torque doesn't come in a sharp gush but in a mellow swell that is manageable. The Standard mode is slightly sharper at higher speeds and more energetic, but still rolls off softly enough to be used for everyday driving. Now that's not to say that this is not an exciting car. Tesla were pretty much the ones who started this whole trend of family cars having insanely large power figures, and even this base Model Y has dollops of torque as you wring it out.

There is a fluid, linear demeanour to all of the Model Y's movements, so moving from power to coasting to regen feels natural. This makes driving the Model Y intuitive and easy to get used to quickly. There are two regen modes, reduced and standard. The reduced mode itself feels strong. In our short drive, we left it in this mode for the most part.

Further, there are three steering modes, Light, Standard and Heavy. The Standard mode seems the most natural, seeming the best balanced for all speeds. The Light felt a bit too distant to feel confident but may come in useful in tight parking spots. But we think the steering generally could have been done with a bit more precision. It's quite dead at centre but seems to weigh up quite aggressively as you turn in. It could have felt more cohesive, maybe the drive-by-wire tech from the Cybertruck could be a good addition to the Model Y with the responses that it brings.

Now for this India-spec Model Y, Tesla has worked on tuning the suspension to our conditions. With the large wheels, there is a bit of firmness, especially on the kind of uneven surfaces that we usually have in our cities. It can get a bit noisy at times over these surfaces but the car itself remains largely level. With the great sound deadening, you have that sense of being cocooned in a space exactly like how you might want in a luxury car, which makes for an elevated experience. There is a solid, tied down sense to the Model Y at triple digit speeds which adds to this feeling of being in an inexpensive car.

We can't quite tell you how the Model Y handles in the time we spent with it, but like many EVs, it should be a secure experience. It probably won't be as sharp as an EV6 but you can expect good things given the low slung mass and low ride height. The brakes work confidently, without the regen system getting in the way all that much.

2025 Tesla Model Y price, verdict

Priced at Rs 59.89 lakh onwards for this base RWD version, the Tesla Model Y seems to make sense in its segment. It charges a premium but you get a fresh, smart experience in the cabin, equally smart looks and a tech package that seems as well sorted as you might want in a car. It could have been a bit more dynamic but is comfortable, refined and offers that kind of elevated, tech-forward experience that reminds one of another piece of high-quality equipment, the iPhone.

Images by Anis Shaikh