It’s summer in Manila and the heat radiating off the asphalt is enough to fry an egg. I’m inching my way southwards on C5—a groaning cement truck on my left and an endless river of puttering motorcycles on my right. It sounds like the quintessential Philippine driving experience, but at this particular moment, my overwhelming feeling is that of gratitude…along with just a tinge of survivor guilt. I’m sitting in a 2025 Tesla Model Y with the autopilot negotiating the road, the seat ventilation cranked all the way up, and YouTube playing on the screen. I’ve been sitting this way for 30 minutes, and honestly I could probably do another 90. The politics of its CEO notwithstanding, Tesla’s newest SUV is an outstanding vehicle. The original Model Y was the best-selling car in the world in 2023—out-stripping the legacy gas-powered cars like the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CRV—and this much-anticipated refresh..
