Visitors explore a Tesla Model Y electric car during the opening ceremony of the company’s first … More
The New 2026 Model Y is one of the most competitive EVs out there, the constant drumbeat of Elon Musk criticism notwithstanding.
Tesla is all over the news these days but little of it is positive after the company posted its worst results in four years in the first quarter. And some Tesla owners – albeit still a tiny percentage – are now affixing bumper stickers to their Model Y in an effort to “separate the art from the artist,” as some owners put it. But the economic argument for a Tesla is still strong. It is the most American-made car, making it less exposed to tariffs, has very competitive battery range for the price, comes with autonomous driving as standard, and offers the best public charging network in the U.S. All the above combined make it the most competitive All-Wheel Drive EV on the U.S. market today.
Refreshed 2026 Tesla Model Y Long-Range All-Wheel Drive:
- Lease: $499/month, 36 Months, 10,000 miles/year, $2,999 down payment (before taxes and fees).
- All-Wheel Drive: surprisingly, not that common on competing electric vehicles, with the the exception of the new Cadillac Optiq and Subaru Solterra.
- Range: EPA-rated 327 miles. Beats the competition in the same price range.
- ADAS (Advanced Driver Assist System): Tesla Autopilot autonomous driver assist standard. Tesla Full Self Driving (FSD), its most advanced ADAS, is $99/month.
- Charging: Tesla Supercharger network is hands down the best public charging network.
- Note that Tesla refers to the new Model Y as a 2026 model year in official documentation.
2025 Subaru Solterra AWD
Subaru offers one of the most competitive leases for an electric vehicle with all-wheel drive – a hallmark feature of the Subaru brand but rare among competing EV brands. The AWD drive boosts performance. I’ve found the 2025 Solterra to be very quick (I’m test driving it for a week). But as good as the Solterra is, its range is limited to 222 miles.
- Lease: $346/month, 36 Months, 10,000 miles/year, $3,000 down payment (before taxes and fees).
- All-Wheel Drive: a big plus, not only for winter and off-road but performance too.
- Range: 222 miles. Not competitive with the Model Y. But one way to look at it is the lease price compensates for the lower range. But note that the 2026 Solterra is slated to have 285 miles of range.
- ADAS: Subaru EyeSight autonomous driver assist is a lane centering technology. I’ve found EyeSight to be very helpful and can, in many cases, drive the car for you.
- Charging: public fast charging networks such as Electrify America and EVgo.
Cadillac Optiq AWD
The Cadillac Optiq is General Motors latest mainstream Cadillac EV entry and offers at least one lease competitive with the Model Y. The Optiq has standard all-wheel drive and Super Cruise, the latter is GM’s autonomous driver assist technology. Those two features as standard are a first for a mainstream GM EV.
- Lease: $499/month, 24 Months, 10,000 miles/year, $4,919 down payment (before taxes and fees).
- All-Wheel Drive: the first mainstream GM electric vehicle to offer this as standard (AWD comes with non-mainstream, high-priced GM EVs such as the Hummer EV).
- Range: EPA-rated 302 miles. Falls short of the Model Y but, importantly, exceeds the 300-mile mark.
- ADAS: General Motors Super Cruise, a great driver assist technology and very competitive with Tesla Autopilot. It is standard on the Optiq, another first for a mainstream GM EV. I’ve used Super Cruise on many GM EVs and found it to strike the right balance between autonomy and safety.
- Charging: public fast charging networks such as Electrify America and EVgo. GM also offers a NACS (Tesla) adapter for $225.
