KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — There is much hype about Tesla cars in Malaysia, especially since electric vehicles aren’t a big thing here yet.
Just like any new thing in the market, Tesla has sent Malaysians into a frenzy after the company officially entered the market here with the launch of its Model Y in July.
The name, its founder Elon Musk and the whole concept of the car are enough to spark lots of curiosity in any car enthusiast.
To get a feel of what Tesla has in store, Malay Mail took Model Y for a half-day ride.
The feel
Put technical specifications aside, the car is designed with unique functions.
It certainly doesn’t feel like a typical car and needs some explorations before you can get going for the first time.
The car key comes in the form of an access card and you can even use your smartphone as a keycard after setting up your profile on the Tesla mobile app.
Once you tap the card on the door, the car is ready to drive.
There is no start button and the car is ready to accelerate as soon as you get behind the wheel.
All you have to do is press the brake pedal and select the drive mode by moving the stalk up or down to get going.
The gear stalk is situated behind the steering wheel on the right-hand side to make gear shifting as convenient as possible.
Model Y is a compact crossover and you sit slightly high to get a better road view.
The drive
Once you are in drive mode, the car remains standstill until you press the accelerator.
What’s very noticeable in the car is the quietness of the engine.
You hardly hear anything even when you accelerate.
The car is highly customisable and you may even pre-select the type of acceleration you prefer to experience while driving.
The car’s touchscreen display has all the functions listed for customisation.
Under the pedals and steering tab, you may adjust the amount of acceleration you would want to experience when pressing the power pedal.
If you go for the “standard”, it provides the normal level of acceleration on non-performance vehicles while the "chill” option limits the acceleration for a smooth ride.
There is also the “sport” mode for a more punchy acceleration.
Generally, the drive was pleasurable and the pick-up was sharp.
However, once you let go of the acceleration pedal, there is a sudden drop in speed and the car prepares to stop even without pressing the brake.
This, however, can also be adjusted through the control panel depending on the driver’s preference.
The cabin is also spacious and you get enough legroom regardless of whether you sit in front or at the back.
The seats offer customisation and you can even switch on the seat heater or cooler from the control panel.
There is also a wide range of infotainment and gamification features to keep the passengers entertained while driving.
The car comes with 2,100 litres of cargo space accessible via front and back trunks.
Technology reliance
Tesla is known for its high-tech features and the car relies a lot on computer programming.
One of its distinct features is its autopilot capabilities.
Depending on the specs, all Model Y vehicles come with some level of autonomous features but none of them are meant to replace you as the driver.
The car that was tested by Malay Mail had basic autopilot features that included traffic-aware cruise control and autosteer.
To activate it, you need to maintain your speed and press the gear stalk down twice to get to the autopilot mode.
Once the autonomous feature switches on, the touchscreen display becomes colourful and shows the road and cars ahead.
The feature helps to maintain your speed based on the speed limit and keeps the distance from the vehicle in front of you while keeping you in the lane.
You may totally go hands-free when the autopilot is on but after a while, the car gives a signal to place at least one hand on the steering wheel to ensure the driver is conscious.
The feature is rather basic and is useful if you have to reply to an urgent text or just feel like getting your hands off the steering wheel for a short while.
For improved autonomous features, you may opt for the Enhanced Autopilot add-on option with additional functions such as auto lane change, auto park, and summon to move the car forward or backwards even when you are outside the vehicle.
For ultimate autonomous functions, you may add on the Full Self-Driving Capability feature to the spec for traffic light and stop sign control and also autosteer function to navigate following road curves, roundabouts and making left or right turns.
Safety is key
Model Y is designed with safety in mind.
The car body is equipped with eight cameras all around it to help the driver with blind spots or an emergency.
Thanks to its lane assist feature, the car monitors the markers on your lane and surrounding areas for the presence of vehicles and other objects.
When you turn on your left or right indicators, the side camera activates and you can have a better side view of the vehicles next to you on the display screen.
The car also has an automatic emergency braking system to reduce the impact of collision in dangerous situations.
During the speed test, the car accidentally ran over a bumper at a high speed of over 190km/h and due to the impact the automatic braking system was activated to prevent the vehicle from skidding.
The external cameras also monitor the area in front for any objects such as vehicles, bikes or pedestrians.
In any case of possible collision, the car sounds a chime and highlights the objects in front in red on the display screen.
Overall, the car is designed to offer a different lifestyle and driving experience.
Malaysians may not be fully ready to adopt EV driving due to the lack of supercharging stations but the country is catching up quickly to facilitate charging solutions.
Tesla has so far opened four supercharging stations in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, Sunway Pyramid, Sunway Big Box Retail Park in Johor and Freeport A'Famosa Outlet in Melaka with more spots in the pipeline.
The government has also reiterated its commitment to setting up 10,000 EV charging stations across Malaysia by 2025 to ensure everyone can have access to charging solutions.
Presently, there are 1,267 charging stations across the country.
The model comes in three ranges rear-wheel drive, long-range and performance with starting prices of RM199,000, RM246,000 and RM288,000 respectively.
