Automotive Expert Sandy Munro On The Tesla Model Y: “Lots Of Room In There”

We have covered expert Sandy Munro and his company Munro & Associates multiple times on CleanTechnica over the years. When the Tesla Model 3 first came out, Munro led the charge to call Tesla out for out of spec panel gaps. For a short period, the corporate media preceded to interview and quote him often. Then, for the last two years, Munro changed his tone as Tesla improved its quality systems and has consistently praised Tesla. Accordingly, the mainstream media has hardly mentioned Munro.

CleanTechnica and a few others have been doing the reporting other outlets should have done. Mr. Munro should have weekly appearances on CNBC, Fox, CNN, and others. However, because he gushes about Tesla, the media now largely ignores him. Of course, it’s in the media’s massive financial interest to not praise Tesla too much. Tesla does not advertise, while GM spends billions a year on advertisements with mainstream media networks.

In an earlier piece, we discussed why Munro stated Tesla had a 10-year lead over its competitors. The truth is, from the talks that Munro has given, there are hundreds of articles even CleanTechnica hasn’t been able to cover. I have been meaning to cover his comments on the Cybertruck. In a recent interview, Munro marveled at how inexpensive the capital costs of the Tesla Cybertruck factory would be, primarily because no paint shop is required, but also because cutting and bending the cold-rolled steel is simple and inexpensive.

Munro is making decent money off of his Tesla reports. He is particularly in demand in China, as everyone is rushing to learn from Tesla’s innovation. However, the money seems to be only a little part of his motivation. Munro has no shortage of other clients. He even has clients in the defense industry. You have to understand that Munro is a workaholic engineer who absolutely loves what he does. He is the type that will never retire. From his videos, interviews, and even his reports, it’s clear that he lives and breathes engineering, manufacturing, and business. He has traveled the world to give detailed talks and presentations exclusively on Tesla. Many employees of Munro and Associates have enthusiastically bought Tesla vehicles as a result of their research.

After much anticipation, Munro recently took possession of a red Tesla Model Y. The video below is just his initial reaction and is only a few minutes long.

Munro and Associates will do a complete teardown of this Model Y, and the details will undoubtedly be doled out over the coming months. So, stay tuned. In the meantime, here are a few key quotes from what they have shared so far:

“This is like a Bentley trunk.”

“Lots of room in there.”

“Everything appears to be really, really nice.”

Munro did notice a few small gaps in this early edition Model Y, but having experienced Tesla’s rapid learning curve with the Model 3, he fully anticipates they will be corrected over time. He noted he correctly predicted this with the Model 3, which has seen dramatic improvement over the last two years to its near-perfect quality today.

Let’s focus on the quote, “there is lots of room in here.” In a previous article on the Tesla Model Y, we compared the cargo capacity of the Model Y to other vehicles. The Model Y, at more than 66 cubic feet of cargo space, dominated other EV crossovers in this key metric. Even compared to the gasoline-powered Toyota RAV4, the Tesla Model Y competed well, with only a few less cubic feet of cargo space. To get precise numbers, check out that earlier coverage of the Model Y.

Featured photo © Dick Amacher