Tesla Model Y vs BMW 330e

What's the difference?

If you like the five-seat Model Y, then you'll like the six-seat L version even more. I think this the best example of Tesla's electric SUV to date, and the cabin layout just makes a lot of sense, and would suit plenty of families who don't need to squeeze someone into a compromised middle seat.

Note: The author, Andrew Chesterton, is a co-owner of Smart As Media, a content agency and media distribution service with a number of automotive brands among its clients. When producing content for CarsGuide, he does so in accordance with the CarsGuide Editorial Guidelines and Code of Ethics, and the views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

The 330e M Sport is an excellent car, but it could be a much better hybrid.

In Australia, where driving distances can be vast, a car that's as comfortable and easy to live with as this one is welcome. But for the electric range to dissipate so quickly, and not recoup again at a fast enough rate without plugging into a charger, is disappointing.

There are other plug-in hybrids, even among the more affordable mainstream brands, which can return charge to the battery incredibly quickly and effectively on the go.

If you are looking to make the step into a hybrid, then perhaps consider a fully electric car. There isn't a battery electric 3 Series on the market in Australia (yet), but BMW does sell the iX1 small SUV for less money than a 330e or the iX3 for a tad more.

Both are pure electric SUVs and have a range of between 400-500km. You'll never need petrol again, which makes a hybrid seem outdated.

Spoiler alert - it looks a lot like a five-seat Model Y, doesn’t it, albeit a slightly bigger one. And you’d have to be a bigger Tesla head than me to immediately spot the differences at a glance.

The wheelbase is longer, the rear doors are bigger as are the rear 3/4 panels and the roof line is higher, helping with headroom in the third row.

Still, safe to say if you like the look of the five-seat Model Y, you’ll like this one. And if you hate it, well, good luck.

The alloys are 19-inch and shaded by the aerodynamic caps and there are light bars front and rear which debuted on the updated five-seat Model Y when it arrived mid-last year.

The bigger changes are inside, of course. I promise we’ll get to the second and third rows in the Practicality section, but let’s talk about the look and feel first.

There’s a love/hate relationship with Tesla’s stripped-back aesthetics, and I’m probably somewhere in the middle. I like the airiness of the space in the cabin, and I think it feels nicely put together, and I really dig the contrasting fabric used on the doors and dash which add a little visual interest to the cabin.

But I hate using the central screen to select a gear and I hate not being able to see how fast I’m going without turning my head. A head-up display would work wonders in the Model Y L cabin.

Once upon a time sedans were all we drove, well mainly. Then SUVs became the style of car most people wanted. In fact, three out of four new cars sold in Australia today are SUVs.

So, I commend you on your choice of not just doing what everybody else does, and you'll be rewarded with better driving dynamics, and ownership of an iconic BMW - the four door, 3 Series.

And even though this is a plug-in hybrid version of the 3 Series it's identical in styling to the petrol variants. Only the light blue border around the BMW roundel is the indication that it's an electric vehicle. That and the charging flap near the left front wheel.

The M Sport pack adds some very sexy features such as the M Sport aerodynamic body kit, the door sills and M Sport seats, but the M Sport Pro Pack our car came with adds a black gloss grille, boot lid spoiler and the snazzy seat belts.

The cabin's double screens are impressive but I miss analogue gauges and found the digital instrument cluster overly busy and led more by cool design than functionality.

Captain’s chairs are simply a more luxurious version of second-row seating. With that there is no argument and the heated and cooled chairs that occupy the second row of the Model Y L are pretty good examples of them.

Space, both knee and headroom, is ample, and you can adjust each seat individually if you want to grant a bit more space to any third row occupants. Armrests deploy at the push of a button — as do the two hidden cupholders — and it really is easy to settle in and get comfy.

The third row is a bit more hit and miss. I’m 175cm and found I had enough legroom and headroom, but the big plastic mouldings that emerge from each side of the Model Y (which house a cupholder) are a miss. They end up pushing you into the seat next to you, and I can foresee a lot of arm rubbing with anything like two adults back there.

Also confusing is how to actually get out of it. You can fold the seat in front of you flat, but then you have to climb over it. I found it easier to just walk out between the seats.

There are another two USB-C ports in the rear row and you get air vents but no temperature controls. 

The Model Y L stretches 4969mm in length, 1668mm in height and 2129mm in width, which is roughly 18cm longer and 4.5cm taller than the five-seat model. The extra space doesn’t sound like that much, but start dropping rows and you find a heap of storage space.

Both the second and third row stow electronically from the boot, but with them in place you’ll find 420 litres of storage in the double-layer boot. Drop the third row, and that number grows to 1076 litres. With the third row folded there is a massive 2423 litres of space. The frunk serves up another 116 litres.

There’s also room (and the ISOFIX attachment points) for four child seats.

People will tell you SUVs are more practical than sedans... and they're right, but not in as many ways as they probably think.

The cabins of sedans and SUVs of the same size are close in terms of space, but the 330e comes with excellent storage - better than many SUVs I've tested, featuring enormous door pockets, and a deep centre console storage bin.

There are four cupholders, too. Two in the fold down armrest in the back and another two up front.

There's also wireless charging up front, plus USB ports for the back passengers. The second row also has its own climate control and directional air vents.

Legroom is excellent in the back and I can sit behind my driving position with plenty of room to spare. Headroom is also excellent thanks to the tall roofline of the 3 Series.

Where a sedan isn't as practical as an SUV is its ride height, which makes getting in and out of the latter easier (although the 330e's doors open very wide) and its boot opening.

SUVs have hatch-like openings and that offers a wider and taller aperture for carrying cargo.

The 330's boot was still big enough to fit our two largest CarsGuide suitcases (see the video), but the location of the battery means cargo capacity has been reduced from 480 litres in a petrol 330i to 375 litres in this 330e.

The BMW 330e M Sport lists for $97,400, which is $4000 more than its 330i petrol twin.

The M Sport part of the name is there because the 330e comes standard with the M Sport pack. And that gives you a tough body kit, M Sport suspension, M Sport seats and aluminium trim, as well as M Sport door sills.

The car we tested and the one you can see in the video and images also comes with the 'M Sport Pro Package'. It costs $2800 and adds a boot-lid spoiler, glossy black grille and tail pipes, and M Sport seat belts, among other goodness.

This car also had the optional 'Visibility Package' fitted. It costs $4800 and adds a sunroof and adaptive LED headlights.

There's no direct rival for the 330e in Australia now. Mercedes Benz used to have a C300e, a plug-in version of its C-Class, but retired it locally some time ago.

The standard features of the 330e M Sport are identical to the 330i M Sport.

So, along with that M Sport pack also coming standard on the 330e is a head-up display, a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel, a 14.9-inch media screen with sat nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, three zone-climate control, wireless phone charging, digital radio and power adjustable front seats.

Is it good value? There's a stack of equipment, tech, beautiful M Sport additions and it all feels superbly high quality. But knowing you can have a 330i for less means you're paying more just for the hybrid system. So, let's talk about that...

The Model Y L gets Tesla’s dual-motor AWD powertrain, with two electric motors producing a total 378kW and 590Nm. That’s enough, Tesla says, to knock off the sprint to 100km/h in five seconds flat.

The 330e M Sport has a 2.0-litre petrol engine and an electric motor. The engine makes 135kW while the motor produces up to 80kW, for a combined dollop of 215kW. Total torque is more than sufficient at 420Nm.

Acceleration to 100km/h from zero feels as quick as the 5.8 seconds BMW claims and that's also about a tenth of a second brisker than the 330i.

The 'XtraBoost' function combines the total output of both the engine and motor briefly providing that great acceleration.

An eight-speed automatic shifts gears smoothly with the drive going to the rear wheels.

I like all this very much - the responsive engine, the fantastic transmission, the extra oomph from the motor and the way it all works together seamlessly. It's just a shame it's not as efficient as some other new plug-in hybrids.

Tesla is always a little vague when it comes to the size of its batteries, but reports point to the Model Y L carrying a 84Wh (useable) NMC battery.

Whatever the specifics, the range is strong, with Tesla promising a 681km driving range on the WLTP combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle.

It’s also set up for 250kW DC fast charging, which should see you take on 288km in 15 minutes, according to Tesla.

The 330e M Sport is a plug-in hybrid which must be connected to an external power source regularly to charge its 12kWh battery.

The charging flap is located on the left side of the car near the front passenger door, which worked well for me as I could steer the 330e into my driveway and connect to a powerpoint on the wall using the charging cable provided.

It took me about six hours to charge the battery to 100 per cent from zero and that gives you a maximum 57km of electric driving range.

During my four days with the 330e Sydney's summer temperatures were hitting 34-degeres Celsius and with the climate control keeping the cabin at a hospitable 18C electric range was seriously cut short to about 40km.

I drove the 330e in hybrid mode nearly all the time - this is a hybrid after all. But there is a 'Sport' mode for more grunt and a 'Battery Hold' mode to save the charge for later.

I started with a full charge and a full tank of petrol, and for four days I lived with the 330e as I do with all my test cars.

I didn't aim to get the best fuel economy ever, nor was I wasteful with fuel. My wife and I, plus our two kids, just used it as our family car, doing trips to the beach, endless laps of the supermarket car park looking for a space, a birthday party, the lot.

I drove 154.7km over those four days and charged it on the second day after the battery was drained completely before driving another 70km or so over the next couple of days.

When I filled up after this it needed 7.74 litres to reach full again - it's a small 41 litre tank.

That converts to average fuel consumption of 5.0L/100km, which is bang on double the 2.5L/100km BMW says you should get.

I don't doubt you could get 2.5L/100km, but you'd have to be doing short trips and charging almost every time you weren't driving. And not use the climate control on an icy blast setting.

I've tested other plug-in hybrids that achieved much better mileage and that's because their on-board charging capabilities were excellent.

Some were even able to use the petrol engine to power the motor in reverse and therefore act as a generator to recharge the batteries fully.

The 330e M Sport doesn't do a good job of charging its battery while on the go. Sport mode does recoup charge to the battery, but again, if you're doing a long motorway trip that charge evaporates fast.

I don't think this type of plug-in hybrid is suited well to our country where we don't blink an eye at travelling 100km for Christmas lunch and then drive back again.

Also think about if you ever go on a trip away and don't have access to a power point or public charger. It's happened to me.

Honestly, it feels like the Tesla Model Y has grown up. I didn’t love earlier iterations of this car and I found the Performance to be fast but lacking any emotional fizz.

This one, though, feels solid and composed, and the power on tap (of which there is ample) is more about effortless progress than it is attempting to offer sports car excitement.

The steering is now nicely weighted and feels direct enough without being too sharp, and the cabin is well insulated, with often the slightly off-putting sort of rubbing noise the steering wheel makes when you turn it the only intrusive sound.

One drawback is a ride that definitely errs on the side of firm. This Model Y L gets electronic damping designed to iron out some of the more jagged stuff, but it still feels brittle in places, and you can definitely feel some sharpness in the cabin. Now, to be fair, it’s not too firm for me, but it might be for you.

Another is a bizarre turning circle which constantly reminds you you’re driving a big bus, especially when you try to complete a tight three-point turn.

But despite its stretched dimensions, I found the Model Y L easy to drive and park in the city, and once you're up to speed with Tesla's operating system (there's no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto), then the screen is pretty easy to use, too.

The 330e M Sport is outstanding to drive. The driving position is superb, the steering is effortless and accurate, handling is excellent and the ride is beautifully comfortable.

Brake pedal feel is surprisingly good for a hybrid - some have a wooden sensation.

The transition from electric motor to petrol engine is also remarkably smooth.

Acceleration in Sport mode is sudden, with the engine and motor combining their mumbo to move you. There is a 'fake' or synthesised exhaust note in Sport mode, but it sounds convincing.

Speaking of sounds at lower speeds, in fully electric mode the 330e emits a warning tone to alert pedestrians of your presence. It's quite loud in car parks and does actually make people turn around looking for a UFO.

The 3 Series was awarded the maximum five-star ANCAP rating when it was tested in 2019. The 330e comes standard with AEB, lane keeping assistance, blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert.

There are excellent cameras front and rear and LED headlights, too.

Adaptive cruise control is also standard on the 330e M Sport.

Tesla warranty is a these-days-underwhelming five years and unlimited kilometres, while the high-voltage battery is covered for eight years or (a wildly specific) 192,000km.

There’s also five years' of roadside assistance, including puncture repair (a good thing, given the lack of a spare wheel). I also couldn’t find a puncture repair kit and later research suggests Tesla sells them, rather than provides them as standard.

Tesla servicing is condition-based, so there’s no fixed schedule, with a summary on the car’s touchscreen providing a record of when vehicle maintenance was last carried out and prompts for when they should be performed next.

In the absence of a combustion powertrain the emphasis is on things like wheel rotation, balancing and alignment, brake fluid testing, air-con servicing, camera precision, radiator cleaning and high-voltage battery maintenance.

Expecty a ‘Vehicle Health Check’ to come in under $300 with ‘General Diagnosis’ at around $270 per hour.

The 330e M sport is covered by BMW's five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty. The hybrid battery is covered by a six-year/100,000km warranty.

BMW offers a five-year/80,000km service package for the 3 Series for $2150.

Service intervals are condition-based, and the car will let you know when it's time for a check-up.