YouTuber John Gibbs, who featured on InsideEVs a few times in the past, has shared a 50,000-mile ownership review of his Tesla Model Y. Gibbs owns the Model Y Long Range, which currently starts at $50,490, has an EPA-estimated range of 330 miles and accelerates from 0-60 miles per hour in a blistering 4.8 seconds.
Gibbs purchased his 2021 Tesla Model Y in December 2020 and has driven it extensively since, racking up 30,000 miles in road trips, in addition to 20,000 miles of mixed driving.
He only has praise for his Model Y. It’s his first vehicle that keeps on improving after purchase, thanks to Tesla’s constant over-the-air (OTA) software updates. His previous cars remained the same from day one till the end, whereas his Model Y is a vastly improved machine since its purchase.
One of the key improvement areas for the Model Y is self-driving. Initially, the Full-Self Driving (FSD) feature did not pass the “spouse test,” said Gibbs humorously. When the car was new, the self-driving erred multiple times, and his wife was scared to use it. But thanks to the constant OTA updates, the FSD Beta feature has “improved by leaps.”
His service experience has been great as well. When the Model Y’s passenger side window began operating slowly, the service staff visited him and fixed the window in his garage. Moreover, he estimates having saved $5,800 in gas costs. With one year of free charging at the Tesla Supercharger network, Gibbs claims to have spent only $313 on charging – which sounds remarkable.
One of the only two drawbacks he mentioned is how fast the acceleration is, which many might consider an advantage instead. Since the dual motors send torque to all four wheels, the tires wear out fast, said Gibbs.
Tire wear depends on the types of surfaces the vehicle is driven on, driving patterns, aerodynamics, and how well owners maintain them. Going by the previous ownership reviews we’ve covered, different Tesla owners have reported experiencing varying levels of tire degradation, all caused by the aforementioned variables.
Watch his video above to learn more interesting bits about the Tesla Model Y, and why Gibbs thinks it will continue to be the world’s best-selling car. What are your thoughts on the Tesla Model Y? Do you think it will steal the Toyota Corolla’s crown to become 2023’s highest-selling car? Leave your thoughts in the comments.