Tesla Toilets And Pet Protectors: My Model Y Experience Is Just Easy

Tesla has a knack of staying ahead of the EV competition. Initially, simply being the first mass-market electric car brand gave it the lead in the EV world.

Then came the proprietary Tesla Supercharger network, offering cheaper, easier and more reliable charging than third-party providers without the faff of having to download a new app every time or even tap a credit card.

The quick and easy way of buying a car directly from Tesla and then operating it just as simply using the Tesla app put it even further ahead of the EV competition.

And now we have the latest evolution: the Tesla loo. Situated just off the M1 at a garden centre north of Luton, the first Tesla-branded toilet block is about to open its doors. It will be left unlocked during garden centre opening times and remain accessible out of hours via a passcode you can find on your Tesla's screen. A vending machine is also going to be installed.

Some loos aren’t going to move the dial for the brand but they symbolise its willingness to try things and make the user experience better. So many chargers just don’t have adjacent facilities on site when you're filling up, making installing them in the first place somewhat of a half-finished job.

The wider Tesla user experience is the thing I’m enjoying most about running our Model Y and what’s making this test so interesting. As stated in an earlier report, so many electric cars of this size and shape are so similar to look at and drive that manufacturers have to do something to stand out.

A few other features in the Model Y are now starting to shine. One of them is Pet mode, for leaving dogs in the car while you go about your business. Regardless of how cool the cabin temperature might be, I’d never leave my dog alone in a car, but a passenger? All the time.

With your phone used as a key, the car locks as you walk away. But if you activate Pet mode as you leave, your passenger can stay cool without setting off any alarms or leaving the car running. If they’re good, you can give them a treat when you return.

One feature that was a novelty at first soon became a detriment to the car – until I worked out how to use it properly. Sentry mode utilises the car’s cameras for CCTV purposes, providing both security and reassurance when you’ve left your Tesla somewhere you’d rather not.

If someone gets too close to it you get an alert, and you can catch up on what you’ve missed later on by watching video footage saved by the car on its touchscreen.

Parked up in North Norfolk one sunny morning, Sentry mode was triggered for the first time when a camper van parked far too close for comfort – and you didn’t need to go to VAR to see that some contact, however light, had been made. No note was left. No damage either, so there was no further action to take, but the feature will come in useful if you find a bump on the car that wasn’t there when you left it.

The problem is that if you run Sentry mode continuously – as I did – it really drains the battery. I didn’t make the connection at first, and was left wondering why about 10% of range had disappeared overnight. Not just indicated miles, which is always going to be variable due to things like climate, but the actual state of charge.

A trip to Gemini AI to describe the battery drainage symptoms gave me the answer, pointing to the energy breakdown use of the Model Y since the last charge. Almost 25 miles of range had been drained while it was parked up in less than 24 hours, compared with the single mile used preconditioning the car.

Now Sentry mode defaults to off and I save it for some of the more unsavoury car parks or streets I visit. None of your business how frequently that is...