TESLA MODEL Y RWD

Entry-level electric crossover sets out to prove that less is more

- RICHARD LANE

There are two reasons to sit up and take note of the new, purely rear-driven version of Tesla's junior crossover, the Model Y. For one thing - and this is especially true as you climb the rungs of luxury and price -entrylevel models are often the most likeable and convincing in the range. Simple as that. You see it all the time with Porsche, where more power, opulence and expense tend to become a distraction from those essential things the car does well.

In the case of the Model Y RWD, the other element is the cost. Tesla's pricing has been all over the place lately. Perhaps that is unsurprising when you have factories on different sides of the world, and your models use not just different battery packs but also different cell chemistries, and there are also new rivals hitting the market everywhere you turn.

(The Kia EV6, Volvo C40, Polestar 2, Hyundai Ioniq 5, BMW iX1, Genesis GV60, Toyota bZ4X and Audi Q4 E-tron are all gunning for this USdesigned but, for UK RWD versions, Shanghai-built Tesla.) It means that while a price of around £52,000 was given when the Model Y RWD was announced in August last year, it's now £44,990. Good value.