ⓘ Tesla

Tesla has now stopped rationing Vehicle-to-Load capabilities for its most popular vehicle. After debuting on the Model Y Performance and the larger Model Y L, V2L has now trickled down to every Model Y Premium trim in the US, turning the family SUV into a power bank for camping stoves, air compressors, or the odd emergency during a blackout.

The setup is not exactly PnP, as owners need Tesla's latest Gen 3 Mobile Connector on board, plus the $80 Outlet Adapter, sold separately through the Tesla app, which converts the charge port into two 120V household outlets pushing 120V at 20A.

It's not Vehicle-to-Home, so don't expect to run the fridge during a grid outage like with the Cybertruck’s Powershare. For tools, laptops, or a mini fridge at a tailgate party, though, it's enough juice to be genuinely useful, and it's one more reason the Model Y line finally feels like it's catching up to Hyundai, Kia, Ford, GM, and all others that have offered bidirectional charging for years.

Besides camping gear power, the Model Y is now providing more storage for all those knickknacks carried during summer vacation, too. The Model Y's minimalist cabin looks great until a water bottle rolls into the pedal on every hard stop. Tesla hasn't touched underseat storage until now, and the aftermarket did notice, with offerings from third-party outfits that have spent the past year molding TPE and ABS trays that slot into the dead space beneath the front seats, accessible from the rear footwell, without touching legroom or vents.

These are not glamorous solutions, but rather the kind of aftermarket fixes that Tesla's "less is more" interior philosophy keeps creating a market for, so the automaker has now decided to build something similar in-house. Granted, the official Model Y Underseat Storage Tray costs $40 a pop instead of the $30 tray pairs available on Amazon, but it’s made with a non-slip design that prevents storage objects from rolling and carries the official Tesla logo, so it remains the easiest upgrade in the Model Y parts bin.

ⓘ Tesla

Daniel Zlatev - Senior Tech Writer - 2186 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2021

Wooed by tech since the industrial espionage of Apple computers and the times of pixelized Nintendos, Daniel went and opened a gaming club when personal computers and consoles were still an expensive rarity. Nowadays, fascination is not with specs and speed but rather the lifestyle that computers in our pocket, house, and car have shoehorned us in, from the infinite scroll and the privacy hazards to authenticating every bit and move of our existence.