What is it like to own a 2021 Tesla Model Y in NYC?
1,441 are registered in the five boroughs. Here is what they cost to fuel, what owners report to NHTSA, and which recalls are open.
There are 1,441 2021 Tesla Model Ys actively registered in New York City, most of them in Queens at 535. EPA rates it at 111 to 129 MPGe combined, 244 to 326 miles of range. NHTSA lists 23 safety recall campaigns covering this vehicle and holds 1,978 complaints submitted by owners and drivers.
- Registered in NYC
- 1,441
- Combined MPGe
- 111 to 129
- Recall campaigns
- 23
- Complaints to NHTSA
- 1,978
Data: NYS DMV August 17, 2026 snapshot, NHTSA and EPA as of August 17, 2026
Will I see myself coming and going?
1,441 2021 Tesla Model Ys are actively registered in New York City, across 5 of the five boroughs. Queens has the most at 535, and The Bronx the fewest at 135.
| Borough | Registered | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Queens | 535 | 37.1% |
| Brooklyn | 376 | 26.1% |
| Manhattan | 244 | 16.9% |
| Staten Island | 151 | 10.5% |
| The Bronx | 135 | 9.4% |
| All five boroughs | 1,441 | 100% |
What will fuel cost me?
The 2021 Tesla Model Y is electric, so EPA rates it in MPGe rather than MPG: 111 to 129 combined across its 3 EPA configurations, with 244 to 326 miles of range. MPGe is a conversion of electricity into a gallon-equivalent, so it compares consumption, not fuel bills.
| Configuration | City | Highway | Combined | Annual fuel cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic (A1), All-Wheel Drive | 131 MPGe | 117 MPGe | 125 MPGe | $600 |
| Automatic (A1), All-Wheel Drive | 115 MPGe | 106 MPGe | 111 MPGe | $700 |
| Automatic (A1), Rear-Wheel Drive | 140 MPGe | 119 MPGe | 129 MPGe | $600 |
What goes wrong with it?
Owners and drivers have submitted 1,978 complaints about the 2021 Tesla Model Y to NHTSA, across 28 component categories. The most reported is forward collision avoidance, with 837. These are reports, not confirmed defects and not a failure rate: a car that sold well collects more of them than a rare one for no reason other than that more people own it.
| Component | Complaints submitted | Latest report |
|---|---|---|
| Forward collision avoidance | 837 | August 1, 2026 |
| Service brakes | 177 | May 26, 2026 |
| Vehicle speed control | 159 | August 1, 2026 |
| Electrical system | 143 | August 10, 2026 |
| Unknown or other | 133 | June 7, 2026 |
| Lane departure | 92 | July 2, 2026 |
| Steering | 86 | July 25, 2026 |
| Suspension | 67 | July 25, 2026 |
A complaint is somebody telling the federal government that something happened to their car. It has not been investigated, confirmed or agreed to by the manufacturer, and the count says as much about how many of these were sold as about the car itself. If you want to know what a symptom means rather than how often it is reported, the symptoms guide is the page for that.
Is mine affected by a recall?
NHTSA lists 23 safety recall campaigns covering the 2021 Tesla Model Y. A campaign covers a range of vehicles, not every one built, so the only way to know whether yours is included is to check your own VIN against NHTSA's lookup.
| Campaign | Component | Reported |
|---|---|---|
| 26V507000 | Exterior lighting:headlights | August 4, 2026 |
| 26V283000 | Back over prevention:software | May 4, 2026 |
| 24V935000 | Tires:pressure monitoring and regulating systems | December 17, 2024 |
| 24V554000 | Electrical system:software | July 24, 2024 |
| 24V376000 | Seat belts:front:warning light/devices | May 28, 2024 |
Who works on Model Ys in Brooklyn?
We do. Nacmias Service Center is at 619 Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn, family owned since 1977: diagnostics, brakes, suspension, engine and transmission work on the Model Y. If it will not start where it sits, the flatbed that brings it in is ours too.
Registration counts: New York State DMV registration file, five New York City counties, August 17, 2026 snapshot. A registration is a record in a state database, not a car on the road, and the borough is where the registrant receives mail rather than where the car is driven. How we counted.
Fuel economy: EPA and DOE ratings published at FuelEconomy.gov, unaveraged, so each configuration is its own row. Recalls and complaints: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, the agency's own wording, as ingested August 17, 2026. Complaints are reports members of the public filed, not confirmed defects. The NYC registration study is the analysis these counts sit on top of.
234 vehicles in this directory, covering 520,848 registered cars. Data as of August 17, 2026.