Here’s your first in-depth look at the updated Tesla Model Y

Precisely two weeks after it surfaced on t’internet, we’ve now had our first chance to poke around the refreshed Tesla Model Y ahead of its arrival in Europe in March. Fancy a game of Spot the Difference?

And by ‘refreshed’ we mean exactly that: this ‘new Model Y’ is in fact a mid-life facelift, and so all the Big Stuff – yup, motors and batteries – has been left well alone.

After 3.5 million sales in five years the name of the game for the best-selling car in the world is… efficiency. Not terribly exciting, but a raft of changes to the exterior have unlocked more range and more speed. We’ll get to the numbers shortly.

First, you’ll notice the headlights have been ditched in favour of a full-width, three-piece lightbar akin to the Cybertruck and Cybercab, sitting atop a new (and lower) nose complete with aero ducts for greater effi… yeah, that.

Hidden down there is a new front camera, which gets its own fluid washer and heating so that it, y’know, works in winter.

Meanwhile Tesla says the standard 19in wheels are better at slipping through the air, as are the redesigned tailgate, spoiler (made from advanced thermoplastics) and rear fascia. The diffuser is longer and wider, and adds downforce.

There’s another lightbar back here too, but this one’s a single-piece measuring 1.6m across and is actually hidden from view, so what you see is its reflection and not the light itself. Intriguing.

Inside, Tesla is promising more comfort than before, with front- and second-row seats (now all heated and ventilated for good measure) redesigned to offer more support. It has also stiffened the body, fiddled with the suspension geometry and borrowed damping tech from the latest Model 3 in an effort to improve the ride.

The Model Y ought to be quieter too, with acoustic glass used, er, everywhere, while extra sound-damping materials allegedly reduce road, impact and wind noise. Shh.

Oh, and your eyes are not deceiving you, there is – praise be! – an indicator stalk, rather than the steering wheel arrows that were so clumsily applied to the Model S. Seems like Tesla is listening to feedback. There is still a combination of haptic and physical buttons, but of course most of the features are scattered about the touchscreen anyway.

In the back, there’s a new 8in touchscreen from which passengers can set their own climate control and entertainment, including gaming and video streaming; the latter is aided by hardware gains that promise much faster download speeds. Buffering, be gone. Plus there’s a pair of 65W USBs that’ll charge a laptop apiece.

What else? The Model Y’s audio game has been enhanced by invisible speakers made possible by an ‘acoustically transparent textile’ that was developed in-house, and those back seats electrically recline, so you can fold them flat on command. Weirdly the boot is 20 litres smaller than before, but the frunk now gets a drainage hole so you can lob mucky cables in there without a second thought.

We promised you numbers, so here they are: despite doing nothing to the powertrain, the Model Y Long Range AWD is almost a full second faster to 62mph, hitting that benchmark in 4.1 seconds on its way to a top speed of 125mph.

As before battery options range from 60 to 78kWh, but Tesla claims 353 miles of range on Launch Series cars, which are booted with 20s and not the standard 19s. Peak charging stays at 250kW.

For now your only option is that Model Y Launch Series, priced at £60,990 in the UK, with more trims set to join the line-up in due course. That’s quite a jump over the equivalent, pre-facelift car, which was £51,990 only a few short weeks ago.

Will the Model Y keep its place at the top of the sales charts, do you think?