Mini 3D Hatch vs Tesla Model Y

What's the difference?

Coincidence is a funny thing. The same week I had the Mini Cooper S 60 Years, the last VW Beetle rolled down the line in Mexico. VW blamed its mammoth €25bn investment in electric, but the reality is that nobody was buying that nostalgia trip anymore.

The story of Mini is quite different. BMW's aggressive expansion of the range beyond the three-door hatch has breathed all sorts of life into a brand that could have disappeared up its own Union Jack. Instead of sticking to the formula, the brand tried all sorts of things but has since settled on the hatch (three- and five-door), the Cabrio, the wacky Clubman semi-wagon and the Countryman SUV. BMW is now making lots of cars on the same platform, a nice two way street.

The Mini Cooper S is 60 years old and unlike the Beetle, it's powering on past its birthday and the company - no stranger to a special edition - has slapped together a classic combo of colours, stripes and badges.

This is the new Tesla Model Y L, of course, but before we even start I need to ask you a very important question.

How often, honestly, do you use all seven seats in your seven-seater? Or if you only have five seats, how often is there a human in every single one?

Rarely, if ever?

Yep, me too. So stick around, because this is, by far, the best family SUV seating layout. And one where there’ll finally be no fighting over who gets stuck with the dodgy seat.

And as a result, the six-seat Tesla Model Y L might just be among the best all-electric SUV offerings around.