• Overly minimalist cabin design
• Frustratingly complex touchscreen
• Hit and miss quality

How is the quality and layout?

Not bad, I guess. Although I’ve seen the quality of Teslas fluctuate depending on where the land in the build series. Generally, the later cars in the production run are better built – so it might be worth holding your horses for a little while longer until we know for certain that the company’s factories have worked through any quality issues.

That being said, my test car wasn’t bad. The biggest quality issues I encountered were related to mechanical issues with the steering system (which is bad enough) – but the cabin was no worse than the old Model Y’s. You don’t get the same cast-iron quality you’ll find in the Kia EV6, but it’s passable.

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What’s more irksome is the layout. I missed having a speed display ahead of me and I hated having to interact with the screen for simple tasks like adjusting the door mirrors or even selecting drive. I’d welcome a return to buttons here, even if it means sacrificing the IKEA minimalism.

Infotainment and tech

Tesla’s 15.4-inch touchscreen is a good unit. It’s crisp, responsive and very bright. In fact, it looks and feels very much like an iPad to use. But the number of functions it controls is almost laughable – and the software that underpins the screen isn’t completely foolproof.

For example, the safety assist menu on the right-hand side of the screen kept telling me I’d been steamrolled by any wagon that came pulled in behind the car in traffic, while Tesla’s half-baked attempt at a native Spotify app couldn’t hold a connection long enough to make it through half a Megadeth song without stuttering.

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To try and compensate for this, Tesla has bolstered the screen with loads of entertainment features such as racing game that uses the car’s steering wheel as a controller, a daft fart sound generator and a YouTube app. Most of these functions only work when parked, so I guess they’re there to keep you entertained while you wait for it to charge.

Oh yeah – Apple CarPlay and Android Auto aren’t supported, either. Tesla expects you to use its system instead. I found Tesla’s Bluetooth connectivity to be a bit patchy, too.

Comfort

• Comfortable ‘vegan leather’ seats
• Heated seating all round
• Flat floor means lots of foot room

Tesla’s seats are pretty comfortable. They’re well-padded and they offer ample base and backrest adjustment, meaning even tall drivers can get comfortable. Mercifully, the seat controls are physically mounted to the seat rather being digitally stored in the touchscreen. And long may they stay that way.

I wanted a little more lumbar support – but I have quite exacting standards. I was also quite disappointed by the amount of tyre noise rattling around the cabin on the motorway. I know eco-friendly tyres are harder wearing than sporty ones, but surely Tesla’s engineers could have isolated the Model Y’s body a little better from the road with different bushes?

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Handily, all five seats are heated which means you can stay warm that way rather than engaging the climate control system. That’s far more energy intensive and would make a bigger dent in your maximum range.