2026 Tesla Model Y Performance review: Australian first drive

Tesla’s hottest medium-sized SUV has, like many Aussies over the last few years, returned from a European holiday.

The Model Y Performance has been given a spruce-up, with the styling, technology, and quality upgrades applied to the regular 2025 Model Y, combined with the latest Model 3 Performance sedan’s overhauled suspension and electric motors.

And, in a first for an Aussie-market Tesla, this specific variant is made in Germany – not China, like lower-spec versions in the range.

Where a car is built is unlikely to matter to many consumers, but it’s indicative of the more refined direction in which Tesla has taken its hero Model Y, with the control and polish that make European performance cars more than just one-trick ponies built to win drag races.

Does it deliver? Drive has had a first taste of one of the first Model Y Performance examples to arrive in Australia to find out.

The latest Performance variant has widened the price gap between Tesla’s most expensive Model Y and cheaper versions in the line-up.

It is priced from $89,400 plus on-road costs, but when $400 order and $1400 delivery fees are included – charges many other brands include in their list prices – the RRP comes to $91,200 plus on-road costs.

That is just under the Luxury Car Tax threshold for fuel-efficient vehicles of $91,387, so it remains eligible for fringe benefits tax exemptions when purchased under a novated lease – a tax break that has driven demand for electric cars, and above which EV sales are limited.

Tesla includes all six paint colours at no additional cost – including the Quicksilver on our test vehicle – unlike other Model Ys, but the white interior remains a $1500 option, though it’s not fitted to this test car.

On the road as tested, the price comes to $96,148 drive-away in NSW. The latest version is the dearest Model Y Performance sold in Australia in two-and-a-half years, up $6500 on its direct predecessor – blame higher shipping costs from Europe for part of that.

Among the nearest rivals for Tesla’s flagship Model Y are the Zeekr 7X Performance, priced from $72,900 plus on-roads, and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, priced from $110,383 plus on-roads.

The Tesla splits the pair in terms of performance and handling – the Zeekr is capable of zero to 100km/h in a claimed 3.8 seconds, the Model Y 3.5 seconds, and the Hyundai 3.4 seconds, with the latter adding genuine racetrack capability and tech such as simulated engine sounds and gear shifts.

There’s also a Ford Mustang Mach-E GT (zero to 100km/h in about four seconds) for $98,490 plus on-roads, the soon-to-be-updated Kia EV6 GT (zero to 100km/h in 3.5 seconds) for $99,590 plus on-roads, and the MG IM6 Performance (zero to 100km/h in 3.4 seconds) is $80,990 drive-away.

A Cupra Tavascan VZ is $74,490 plus on-roads with slower acceleration than even a Model Y Long Range, while, as a point of reference, a petrol-powered Audi SQ5 is $122,400 plus on-roads.

Features exclusive to the Performance grade include front sports seats with extendable thigh cushions, a larger 16-inch touchscreen (up from 15.4-inch), adaptive suspension, 21-inch ‘Arachnid’ wheels, unique bumpers, a carbon-fibre rear spoiler, carbon-fibre interior trim, and black mirror caps.

That’s all in addition to equipment shared with regular Model Ys, including matrix LED headlights, satellite navigation, Bluetooth, music streaming, heated and ventilated power-adjustable front seats, and power-reclining rear seats with heated outboard positions. As before, no Tesla has smartphone mirroring for Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

There is a glass roof with UV coating, an 8.0-inch rear passenger touchscreen, hands-free power tailgate, dual-zone climate control, front, side and rear cameras, and a suite of safety features, including lane-centring assist.

Not fitted to this test car, but available for $10,100 outright (or $149/month), is Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Supervised system, which allows the car to drive itself with close human supervision but little human input.

The Model Y Performance’s cabin is a mishmash of the regular, facelifted Model Y, the Model 3 Performance sedan, and a few bespoke items.

Minimalism remains the name of the game, with most vehicle functions – including the speed – running through the central screen, and cabin materials that feel more luxurious (and better assembled) than earlier Model Ys.

Exclusive to the Model Y Performance are the front sports seats, with integrated headrests and 16-way power adjustment (including lumbar) – two more directions than the Model 3 Performance, thanks to new extendable thigh cushions for longer-legged drivers.

The SUV’s seats don’t feel quite as snug as the sedan’s, but they are still supremely supportive, and reasonably comfortable on longer drives, with firm but stable bolstering, heating and ventilation functions, and plush leather-look upholstery that feels upmarket.

Unique to the Performance in the Tesla Australia line-up is a 16-inch touchscreen (up from 15.4-inch in other variants) – more on this in the next section – plus, compared to cheaper Model Ys, alloy sports pedals, and carbon-fibre dashboard and door panel trims.

The driving position is higher than an EV6 GT or Ioniq 5 N, but it doesn’t feel like driving a bus, and visibility out the front is good as the bonnet drops away.

The small, leather-look steering wheel feels nicer in the hand than the old Model Y Performance, with simple buttons and heating functionality. As with many features in the car, the position of the steering wheel is adjusted through the screen.

Tesla has retained an indicator stalk, but the gear selector is on the screen, which takes time to get used to. There is a handy Auto Shift feature that anticipates your movements – detecting a three-point turn, for example – and can automatically switch between drive and reverse. It’s not infallible, but it works better than you might expect.

The rest of the cabin is standard 2026 Model Y fare, with soft-touch materials used on key touchpoints – leather-look trims on the armrests and centre console, and suede highlights on the door panels – and good perceived build quality, with no obvious squeaks and rattles in this test vehicle.

Storage space is excellent – with deep compartments in the centre console, and roomy felt-lined door pockets, though the glovebox is small. It’s well equipped with a glass roof, dual wireless phone chargers, one front USB-C port, and ambient lighting.

Rear-seat space remains generous, with plenty of room for the knees, heads and toes of a 186cm-tall passenger seated behind a similarly sized driver, in a cabin wide enough to comfortably seat three across, with a flat floor.

Under-thigh support is better than in the old Model Y, and the rear-seat backrests now recline and fold electrically. This can be controlled from the rear seats themselves, the front display, or a new 8.0-inch touchscreen for rear passengers that also houses air vent and fan speed adjustment, as well as audio and video streaming.

The Performance’s front sports seats delete the seatback map pockets, but there are still two USB-C ports, a fold-down armrest with two cupholders, roomy door pockets, and outboard ISOFIX anchors and three top-tether points for fitting child seats.

Boot space is also among the best in class, with a wide and deep storage area ideal for big suitcases and prams, and enough room under the floor for a carry-on suitcase. The cargo cover attaches magnetically, though it’s a little fiddly to use at first.

A power tailgate – with a hands-free function linked to the phone key – is standard, plus a further 116 litres of storage space is found under the front bonnet, with a drain plug so it can be used as a mobile Esky. As with all Teslas, there’s no spare wheel, and even a tyre repair kit costs extra.

New for the Performance is an enlarged 16-inch touchscreen, up from 15.4-inch in cheaper variants, running at a higher resolution (QHD 2560×1440 pixels, rather than Full HD 1920x1200).

If you’ve never owned a Tesla before, or haven’t seen another Model Y in a while, it’s hard to notice the higher-resolution display with its squarer bezels, but seen back to back – or if you’re upgrading from another Model Y – it’s a welcome upgrade in graphics clarity.

There have been no changes to the processor powering the screen, nor Tesla’s already-excellent software, which makes hosting most of the car’s functions about as easy to navigate as it can be.

The learning curve is steep, and we would prefer dials and buttons for key functions – such as adjusting the temperature – but after a few days of ownership, the software will become second nature.

There is a search function to make finding tricky settings easier, as well as voice control, and customisable shortcut buttons on the steering wheel. Over-the-air updates mean the software will only get better over time.

Included is Google Maps-powered navigation, offering best-in-class trip routing capability with charging station locations and accurate predictions of how much charge you’ll have left when you get there. It also includes speed camera alerts, which are fairly accurate, but not without fault.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are absent (for now), but there is music streaming through Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Tidal, video streaming via YouTube, and FM and digital DAB radio bands.

The projection of the vehicle’s speed on the central display takes some getting used to, but for me, it’s not the deal-breaker I thought it would be when I first drove a Tesla.

Tesla’s phone app is among the best in the industry, offering control of the car’s locks, lights and horn, remote location tracking, pre-heating or cooling of the cabin, and a phone as a key function that means you can leave the fussy keycard that comes with the car at home.

The latest Tesla Model Y is covered by a five-star safety rating from ANCAP, based on 2025 testing conducted to the newest and most stringent criteria by sister organisation Euro NCAP.

The rating covers all Model Y variants, including the Performance, and spans category scores of 91 per cent for adult occupant protection, 95 per cent for child occupant protection, 86 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and 92 per cent for safety assist technology.

Tesla has broadened its suite of advanced safety features in recent years, such that the Model Y Performance ticks nearly every box expected of a new car in 2025/26.

It powers its driver-assistance systems – from adaptive cruise control to the parking distance warnings – with cameras, rather than sensors such as radar or ultrasonics.

They all work well on the road, without annoyance or cutting in aggressively on the drive experience, though previous testing suggests heavy rain can confuse the cameras, especially the parking alerts.

Standard in every Model Y is adaptive cruise control and lane-centring assist tech for highway driving, like most new cars on the market, but buyers can pay $10,100 outright or $149/month for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Supervised package.

It allows the car to ‘drive itself’ with human supervision, but little to no human input in most scenarios. It’s not perfect, and drivers remain legally in control of the car. The tech will disable itself if the driver is repeatedly distracted for too long – but it’s more advanced than anything its rivals offer.

The pack also includes the features of the old Enhanced Autopilot suite, which adds assisted lane changes to the regular lane-centring system, as well as auto parking, should you not want to hand over as much control to the car as Full Self-Driving.

Tesla covers the Model Y with a four-year/80,000km vehicle warranty – short by modern class standards, when rivals offer five or seven years of coverage. Separately, a more competitive eight-year/192,000km battery warranty is provided for the Performance variant.

The US car-maker does not list traditional time- or distance-based service intervals for its cars, instead opting for “condition-based” maintenance, where the car tells you when it detects a problem that requires fixing.

There are a handful of recommended service items listed on the Tesla website, however:

• Every 10,000km, or if tread depth difference is 1.5mm or more: Rotate the tyres
• Every two years: Replace cabin filter (a new one costs $35)
• Every three years: Replace the HEPA filter and carbon filter
• Every four years: Check brake fluid health, and replace if needed

Many of these can be carried out at your home or workplace by a mobile technician, alleviating the need to visit a showroom.

A year of comprehensive insurance coverage from a leading insurer costs $3995, based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

That’s steep for a car of this price; it compares to $3835 for a Zeekr 7X Performance, and $3214 for a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N with the sunroof option box ticked.

The Model Y Performance is fitted with a new nickel-manganese-cobalt battery pack that made its debut with the Long Range variant at the start of the year.

Government approval documents and Tesla owners’ manuals point to a usable capacity of about 82kWh, compared to 78kWh previously, out of a gross capacity (the total battery size, including top and bottom cell health ‘buffers’ that drivers can’t access) of about 84kWh.

It gives the 2026 Model Y Performance a claimed driving range of 580km in European WLTP lab testing – or efficiency of 16.2kWh per 100 kilometres on a slightly different version of the test – compared to 600km in the 2026 Long Range, and 505km in the old 2023–24 Performance.

We saw consumption of about 17kWh/100km in our testing, spread across energy use as staggeringly low as 13kWh/100km in 80km/h toll-road driving, to 15–16kWh/100km in general around-town use, and more than 20kWh/100km when driving the car in an enthusiastic manner.

It means a real-world driving range of about 480km to 540km in mixed conditions, or more than the 580km claim if you can get consumption down to 14kWh/100km or less. It’s exceptionally frugal for an electric car of this performance, size, and shape.

Given this is a nickel-manganese-cobalt battery, however, it’s recommended the pack is only charged between 20 and 80 per cent on a regular basis – using the full capacity for road trips only – so driving range around town is actually much lower.

DC fast-charging at up to 250kW is claimed, as with the old Performance battery, but despite improvements in the ‘charging curve’ – meaning the charging power does not drop off as quickly as the battery fills – the new model appears to charge slower than before.

Tests out of Europe point to a 10 to 80 per cent recharge in approximately 34 minutes, about two minutes slower than before – and nearly double the time it would take a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, which peaks at about 250kW, but holds that figure for much longer.

AC charging remains limited to 11kW, but the Model Y Performance is understood to be the first Tesla sold in Australia with vehicle-to-load capability.

Earlier iterations of Tesla’s Performance cars were often accused of focusing too much on straight-line speed over handling poise, but that won’t be the case for the latest Model Y Performance.

Acceleration is, unsurprisingly, still explosive. The SUV inherits the Model 3 Performance’s updated dual electric motors, including a new, more powerful rear-drive unit for a combined output of 343kW according to Tesla, or 461kW according to Australian government homologation data (which adds together the theoretical power of both motors).

The true peak output is believed to sit in the middle, at around 425kW, based on the maximum power the new 84kWh battery pack is understood to supply.

The result is zero to 100km/h acceleration in a claimed 3.5 seconds, which translates to epic performance on the road at any speed, and in any weather, only held back by the speed limit and your willingness to let the battery run low.

Insane mode unlocks maximum acceleration, with a sharper response on the accelerator pedal, and the option of Launch Mode for the first time. Chill and Standard modes are also available, dialling back the pace and performance for regular driving or unfamiliar drivers.

Adaptive suspension is another donation from the Model 3. There is still a firm edge to the way the Model Y Performance deals with bumps, but in Standard mode, it’s a little less comfortable than a regular Model Y on upgraded 20-inch wheels and is not jittery or brittle.

Sport mode makes the ride slightly busier – the harsh edge on imperfections that Standard irons out shining through – but even on a rough country road, both modes still leave enough compliance in the suspension to avoid jostling occupants over bumps and undulations when the car is driven enthusiastically.

As with all Model Ys, the steering is ultra-quick and direct, albeit lacking in feel. Once you get used to it, though, it helps to hide the car’s mass in corners, as well as some (though not all) of the sense you’re sitting higher over the road than in a Model 3 Performance sedan.

Grip from the Pirelli P Zero tyres is excellent, and helps fill the gap left by the Performance sharing the regular Model Y’s 335mm four-piston front and 355mm single-piston rear brakes.

The pedal is firm, which won’t be to all tastes, and they resist fade well on a road drive, though track testing is likely to reveal a different story.

We can’t see many customers taking their Model Y Performance to a track, though, and nor does Tesla: it has removed Track mode with this latest model.

It all makes for a sharp electric SUV to hustle through corners, but it won’t be the driver’s pick over a Model 3 Performance, nor is it the hooligan a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N can be, with its simulated gear shifts and engine sounds that would enhance entertainment behind the Tesla’s wheel.

Conservative tuning of the stability-control software has always been a Tesla trait, but the Model Y Performance gains a ‘Reduced’ mode that allows some wheel slip and, in turn, a little movement from the rear of the car out of bends.

It is not an all-out drift mode that allows for reckless behaviour – it never lets the car get unruly, or overwhelm the driver – but keen drivers will appreciate the more natural feel it lends, one that allows for a little more fun in the right environment.

Other notes: tyre and wind noise are noticeable, but not overwhelming; the new sports seats offer far more support than the old Model Y Performance’s items; and visibility is good out the front but not the side or rear.

The Tesla Model Y Performance has gone to finishing school.

It blends the best of a performance car – ferocious power, sharp handling, and a chassis that’s keener than ever to excite its driver – with the Model Y’s daily usability, from a controlled ride to a spacious cabin, excellent technology, and class-leading range and efficiency.

It is, without a doubt, the most resolved and well-rounded Model Y Performance yet. But it comes at a cost: $20,000 above the Long Range AWD, a vehicle that offers the same space, features and user experience, yet delivers more than enough performance to lose your licence.

Simulated gear shifts and engine sounds akin to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N – which can be toggled on and off – would add another dimension to the drive, the warranty is short, and we’d still like to see features like Apple CarPlay added.

As an overall sports SUV package, however, the Model Y Performance is better than ever, and for customers that want – and can afford – everything Tesla’s top seller can offer, it’s an excellent choice.

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner

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