TESTING POSITIVE

IT’S USA VERSUS KOREA AS THE MOST ANTICIPATED EV OF 2022 FACES OFF AGAINST THE ENTRY-LEVEL VARIANT OF OURREIGNING COTY. BRACE FOR SHOCK...

- CURT DUPRIEZ

WHILE NOW IN its third year of production, there’s something about the timing of Tesla Model Y’s Australian release that feels bang on. If the Model S and Model X built the church, and the Model 3, the top-selling EV in Australia by a country furlong, spread Tesla’s acceptance beyond the sanctum of devout pilgrims, the Model Y’s mid-sized SUV pitch looks dressed for success. 

“We’re working on accelerating RHD production,” Elon Musk tweeted of versions the company manufactures in China. “Didn’t expect demand to be so high.” 

One week after Model Y lobbed into local showrooms, with wait times on new orders bolting out to a year or so at last count, Tesla upped the price of the two-variant line-up. It’s another in a long line of moves demonstrated by a company that famously – or infamously – plays by its own rules. 

Tesla’s most broadly palatable model to date arrives in an accelerating groundswell of local interest in electrification, much of it due to the American company’s growing popularity, a lot of it propelled by fuel prices and a proliferation of new EV releases from elsewhere. The Model Y faces a level of diverse and viable competition Tesla’s previous releases didn’t have to contend with. 

There’s arguably no fitter rival for the Model Y than the Kia EV6. Its flagship of a three-variant range, the dual-motor GT-Line, is, of course, the reigning Wheels COTY champ.