Jay Leno’s Tesla Model Y Review (Video)

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In his latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, he reviewed a Performance version of the Tesla Model Y. Leno noted that Tesla has already mass-produced 12,000 to 14,000 Model Ys. In the video, Leno talks about his friendship with Elon, the Model Y’s interior, his thoughts on Tesla and subsidies, and some of the things he really likes about Tesla as a whole. One other thing that Leno did was demonstrate Autopilot in California traffic.

Thoughts on Elon and Subsidies

“You know, it’s funny. When Elon started to produce electric vehicles, I remember a lot of people saying ‘oh it’ll do fine for a while but once the Germans and the Europeans and everybody else gets involved in the electric car market, they’re going to wipe them out.’ And that’s really not the case,” Leno said before diving into the show.

He shares just how innovative Tesla truly is — after all, its CEO builds rockets for SpaceX as well. Leno pointed out that the type of person who makes rockets that sends space vehicles into space, to hook up with the ISS, should be taken seriously if they say they are going to make something. “If you can put people into space safely and economically, then you can build an automobile. And that’s what Elon has done.”

Leno briefly touched upon subsidies — the idea that people are angry over Tesla getting them being so silly. He doesn’t watch sports and doesn’t have kids, but his taxes that he pays help to build schools and stadiums, and he has no problem with that. To him, subsidizing Tesla, which produces the ultimate in fuel efficient vehicles, doesn’t’ seem like any kind of problem. In fact, one of the best things about Tesla is that it is American made.

OMG. Jay Leno did a demo of Autopilot traffic control.

This is going to sell some Model Y. @elonmusk @karpathy https://t.co/d5i5RX2mS5

— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) June 22, 2020

Highlights From Leno’s Model Y Review

In the video, Leno explores the trunk, the frunk, and the interior. He tests Autopilot as well, and shares his thoughts about Tesla in general. One main thing that he loves is the fact that with Tesla, it has its own charging infrastructure. Other car companies don’t have this — they just make the cars and that’s it. Tesla’s Supercharger network is very reliable (top of the industry), extremely built out, and designed in both a slick and useful way.

Personally, I think this is a great way for any car company to bring in revenue. Imagine if Ford or GM owned their own gas stations, and the drivers of those vehicles used their stations across the country on road trips or if they didn’t have home charging. This is what Tesla has done for its car buyers.

Leno loved how large the trunk was in the Model Y and shared that it was ideal for luggage, supplies, or whatever else one may need it for. He briefly spoke about the Model Y heat pump and how Tesla’s re-use of the heat that other cars would just push out through the vents or exhaust is another improvement in efficiency. (Note: some other electric vehicles use heat pumps as well.) The heat pump captures, saves, and circulates the heat as needed. This is ideal in cold-weather climates, as it helps increase the vehicle’s range.

Regarding Tesla, Leno loves how it is always trying to find new ways to do things. This includes making vehicles more and more autonomous. While Autopilot was engaged, he shared his own experiences that he had in his Model S. There were a few times when Leno may have looked away from the road to change the radio station or something and the car would slow down if needed when he had Autopilot enabled.

While driving the Model Y, Leno said that his first impression was that it drives much like his Model S. The vehicle was very quick to react, in part because it is a Performance version of the model. The glass roof gives that extra sense of space around the head. It also didn’t affect the interior temperature inside the vehicle as far as he could tell. Leno noted that it was 100 degrees outside while he was driving. He also shared his thoughts about the vegan leather seats. He couldn’t tell the difference between vegan leather or animal leather.

Final Thoughts On The Y

Leno’s final thoughts on the Model Y Performance were: “It’s a very well-made vehicle, extremely fast, and here to stay.” He loved it, but he wants that new next-gen Roadster. I have to say, that next-gen Roadster is pretty dreamy.

A funny take from the video was his decision to call Elon a few years ago when he was ready to buy the Model S. He was debating whether or not 3 p.m. was a good time to call Elon. At the time, Elon was in China — he was asleep.

Leno’s Thoughts About The Anger Toward Elon & Tesla

Going a little further, I wanted to touch upon what Leno said about people being angry at Elon and Tesla over the subsidies. Leno said that he didn’t understand why people are so angry at Elon, and I fully agree — it is senseless. However, I can see the mechanics behind it, and many don’t often see that.

People are angry at Elon Musk because they are being programmed to be. We, humans, are like flesh and blood computers, and we can easily influence one another in many ways. Portion of the media have played a huge part in producing and spreading anger at Elon Musk and Tesla. Many people only glance at headlines, which are often worded very carefully to gain your click. Often, these are worded with emotional trigger words — words that make you feel some type of way, so that you just have to click.

Regarding Elon Musk, many of these headlines are worded in a way that makes him look like a villain. It’s not about subsidies, because if it was, Americans would be really upset to know that every year we pay billions of dollars in oil subsidies to the oil companies that are destroying this planet.