Tesla Model Y passes muster with engineering expert: ‘It will sell’

Professional car dismantler and manufacturing consultant Sandy Munro was famously critical in his first analysis of the Tesla Model 3 back in 2018, but the president of Munro & Associates got a sneak preview of the new Model Y electric crossover before it went into production and gave it generally high marks.

“It will sell,” Munro told Bloomberg, which visited him at his tech center in suburban Detroit. “Tesla buyers will overlook everything, and other buyers won’t see what we see.”

Munro rendered harsh judgment on an early version of the Model 3 over fit-and-finish issues and some manufacturing glitches, though he later amended his verdict somewhat to say that Tesla could make a profit off its purported mass-market electric sedan.

He did find fault with somethings on Tesla’s new crossover, finding inconsistencies in the gaps on the front hood and the hatch, plus dirt in the paint on the hood. But he heaped praise on the flat floor of the 68 cubic-foot cargo area, flush with the hatch opening, and on Tesla’s electronics and powertrain.

“We’ve looked at everything else, and this is a far cry from everything we saw on the Model 3,” he said. “This is much, much better.”

Model Y deliveries begin!https://t.co/ZhuiM5MTOf pic.twitter.com/3gX6MBPmhp

— Tesla (@Tesla) March 16, 2020

Unveiled just over a year ago, the Model Y is Tesla’s fourth mass-production vehicle and first since the Model 3, with which it shares a platform and much of its styling. It has an EPA-rated 315 miles of range and an overall 121 MPGe for the dual-motor Performance trim with all-wheel drive, which starts at $60,990. Long-Range versions of the crossover start at $52,990, with less expensive, shorter-range versions supposedly arriving next year.

Tesla had already started production and deliveries before being forced to suspend operations because of the coronavirus.