Decked-Out Tesla Model Y Looks Off-Road Ready

This is one Model Y you wouldn’t be afraid to get dirty

By: Andrei Nedelea

Mar 23, 2020 at 11:02am ET

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The new Tesla Model Y comes with an 'Off-Road Assist Mode,' but taking one glance at a standard, unmodified example, you wonder just how good it really is when tarmac runs out. Enabling this mode deactivates traction control, allowing its wheels to spin when traction is lost, and it also optimizes the shuffling of power from one side to the other, as well as making the accelerator pedal less sensitive.

And while these small but important changes to how the Model Y puts its power down are sure to prove useful in slippery conditions, it lacks the ground clearance, travel and tires needed to make it a worthy off-roader. Doing all these things to the Y also makes it look cooler, which is why I went ahead and modified one along those lines in PhotoShop.

What do you think?

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At first I thought of making it a very high-riding rock crawler type of vehicle, but upon further evaluation, I realized that nobody will ever turn their Model Y into that. So I went for a more toned down approach, raising the ride height, giving it beefy off-road tires that stick out and are covered by plastic wheel arch extensions.

But it needed more, so I also fitted it with a bull bar up front, sill guards on the sides and a roof rack up top. Also gave it a lick of army-like green paint for good measure, and now I’d definitely be more tempted to take this off-road, much more so than a standard Model Y.