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Tesla Model Y’s quiet cabin is a subtle, critical selling point for all EV buyers
When Tesla unveiled the Model 3 in the summer of 2017, the company had released its first affordable vehicle. The Model 3 had numerous selling points, though some first production vehicles were reported to exhibit a lot of road noise inside the cabin, especially at high speeds.
Model 3 owners looked for any number of ways to reduce the noise. These included aftermarket door seals, tire foam insulation, and other modifications. Later builds of the vehicle displayed an improved noise reduction system, as CEO Elon Musk had noted in October 2019 that cabin noise had been “significantly improved in current production” of the Model 3.
In a recent episode of Sandy Munro’s extensive Model Y teardown series, the automotive veteran took a look at the numerous improvements Tesla made to its electric crossover. While the Model Y is not a sedan like the Model 3, the two vehicles are effectively siblings as they share 75% of the same parts.
Tesla adopted several new strategies to keep the Model Y’s cabin quiet. According to Munro, the outer portion of the vehicle’s firewall was covered by a mat made of “lofted fiberglass.” Fiberglass is an excellent insulating material that is used within residential buildings and houses to maintain temperature. However, it is also useful for reducing sound due to its thick and dense nature.
The inside of the firewall, which faces inward toward the vehicle’s cabin is quite different. Tesla used polyurethane (PUR) and Thermoplastic Polyolefin (TPO). PUR is a material commonly used when soundproofing rooms and is usually shaped like an egg carton to deaden sound waves. TPO is traditionally utilized for roofing and uses a mixture of rubber, talc, glass, carbon fiber, and other materials to insulate heat and sound. It is also used to reduce cabin noise in cars, as its flexible nature allows it to be conformed to the twists and turns of a vehicle’s body.
Additionally, Tesla opted to use a series of pumpable and mastic sound deadener strips throughout the floorboard of the Model Y. These two materials can remove vibrations from the vehicle by stiffening the areas in the Model Y’s frame that are prone to excessive vibration. Both the pumpable and mastic sound deadeners were more frequently placed in the rear portion of the vehicle, where noise and vibrations are especially potent.
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- Tesla Model Y Mastic Strip (Credit: MunroLive on YouTube)
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- Tesla Model Y Pumpable Sound Deadener (Credit: MunroLive on YouTube)
Tesla’s installation of these elements provided a much quieter ride for passengers and drivers. Long drives on highways at speeds of 55 MPH or more can prove to be some of the noisiest driving conditions, regardless of whether one is driving an EV or a petrol-powered car. This is due to wind, tire friction with the road, and outdoor weather conditions. These noises are easier to notice in an electric car, since the lack of a working internal combustion engine pretty much amplifies other noises in the cabin.
Tesla seems to have set out to make the Model Y its quietest car yet, and it seems to have succeeded. This is reflected in the feedback of some Model 3 owners, such as YouTube host Brian Jenkins, who recently posted a video documenting his favorite features of the Model Y after 1,200 miles of driving. Jenkins notes the Model Y’s quiet ride is one of his favorite features. He added that he expected more cabin noise, but the Model Y’s cabin remained quiet. Prior to getting a Model Y, Jenkins drove a Model 3 that he fitted with noise reduction seals.
Interestingly enough, Tesla has released Joe Mode last year, a feature that reduces the audible alerts in the vehicle’s rear to prevent kids from waking up during nighttime trips. Coupled with the Model Y’s already-quiet cabin, features like Joe Mode will be extra effective. It can even be an additional selling point for the vehicle. Every parent out there who has attempted long road trips with kids would attest to the importance of a quiet cabin when the kids are asleep, after all.
Watch Sandy Munro’s breakdown of the Model Y’s cabin noise reduction below.
Elon Musk
Tesla owners surpass 8 billion miles driven on FSD Supervised
Tesla shared the milestone as adoption of the system accelerates across several markets.
Tesla owners have now driven more than 8 billion miles using Full Self-Driving Supervised, as per a new update from the electric vehicle maker’s official X account.
Tesla shared the milestone as adoption of the system accelerates across several markets.
“Tesla owners have now driven >8 billion miles on FSD Supervised,” the company wrote in its post on X. Tesla also included a graphic showing FSD Supervised’s miles driven before a collision, which far exceeds that of the United States average.
The growth curve of FSD Supervised’s cumulative miles over the past five years has been notable. As noted in data shared by Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt, annual FSD (Supervised) miles have increased from roughly 6 million in 2021 to 80 million in 2022, 670 million in 2023, 2.25 billion in 2024, and 4.25 billion in 2025. In just the first 50 days of 2026, Tesla owners logged another 1 billion miles.
At the current pace, the fleet is trending towards hitting about 10 billion FSD Supervised miles this year. The increase has been driven by Tesla’s growing vehicle fleet, periodic free trials, and expanding Robotaxi operations, among others.
Tesla also recently updated the safety data for FSD Supervised on its website, covering North America across all road types over the latest 12-month period.
As per Tesla’s figures, vehicles operating with FSD Supervised engaged recorded one major collision every 5,300,676 miles. In comparison, Teslas driven manually with Active Safety systems recorded one major collision every 2,175,763 miles, while Teslas driven manually without Active Safety recorded one major collision every 855,132 miles. The U.S. average during the same period was one major collision every 660,164 miles.
During the measured period, Tesla reported 830 total major collisions with FSD (Supervised) engaged, compared to 16,131 collisions for Teslas driven manually with Active Safety and 250 collisions for Teslas driven manually without Active Safety. Total miles logged exceeded 4.39 billion miles for FSD (Supervised) during the same timeframe.
Elon Musk
The Boring Company’s Music City Loop gains unanimous approval
After eight months of negotiations, MNAA board members voted unanimously on Feb. 18 to move forward with the project.
The Metro Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) has approved a 40-year agreement with Elon Musk’s The Boring Company to build the Music City Loop, a tunnel system linking Nashville International Airport to downtown.
After eight months of negotiations, MNAA board members voted unanimously on Feb. 18 to move forward with the project. Under the terms, The Boring Company will pay the airport authority an annual $300,000 licensing fee for the use of roughly 933,000 square feet of airport property, with a 3% annual increase.
Over 40 years, that totals to approximately $34 million, with two optional five-year extensions that could extend the term to 50 years, as per a report from The Tennesean.
The Boring Company celebrated the Music City Loop’s approval in a post on its official X account. “The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority has unanimously (7-0) approved a Music City Loop connection/station. Thanks so much to @Fly_Nashville for the great partnership,” the tunneling startup wrote in its post.
Once operational, the Music City Loop is expected to generate a $5 fee per airport pickup and drop-off, similar to rideshare charges. Airport officials estimate more than $300 million in operational revenue over the agreement’s duration, though this projection is deemed conservative.
“This is a significant benefit to the airport authority because we’re receiving a new way for our passengers to arrive downtown at zero capital investment from us. We don’t have to fund the operations and maintenance of that. TBC, The Boring Co., will do that for us,” MNAA President and CEO Doug Kreulen said.
The project has drawn both backing and criticism. Business leaders cited economic benefits and improved mobility between downtown and the airport. “Hospitality isn’t just an amenity. It’s an economic engine,” Strategic Hospitality’s Max Goldberg said.
Opponents, including state lawmakers, raised questions about environmental impacts, worker safety, and long-term risks. Sen. Heidi Campbell said, “Safety depends on rules applied evenly without exception… You’re not just evaluating a tunnel. You’re evaluating a risk, structural risk, legal risk, reputational risk and financial risk.”
Elon Musk
Tesla announces crazy new Full Self-Driving milestone
The number of miles traveled has contextual significance for two reasons: one being the milestone itself, and another being Tesla’s continuing progress toward 10 billion miles of training data to achieve what CEO Elon Musk says will be the threshold needed to achieve unsupervised self-driving.
Tesla has announced a crazy new Full Self-Driving milestone, as it has officially confirmed drivers have surpassed over 8 billion miles traveled using the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite for semi-autonomous travel.
The FSD (Supervised) suite is one of the most robust on the market, and is among the safest from a data perspective available to the public.
On Wednesday, Tesla confirmed in a post on X that it has officially surpassed the 8 billion-mile mark, just a few months after reaching 7 billion cumulative miles, which was announced on December 27, 2025.
Tesla owners have now driven >8 billion miles on FSD Supervisedhttps://t.co/0d66ihRQTa pic.twitter.com/TXz9DqOQ8q
— Tesla (@Tesla) February 18, 2026
The number of miles traveled has contextual significance for two reasons: one being the milestone itself, and another being Tesla’s continuing progress toward 10 billion miles of training data to achieve what CEO Elon Musk says will be the threshold needed to achieve unsupervised self-driving.
The milestone itself is significant, especially considering Tesla has continued to gain valuable data from every mile traveled. However, the pace at which it is gathering these miles is getting faster.
Secondly, in January, Musk said the company would need “roughly 10 billion miles of training data” to achieve safe and unsupervised self-driving. “Reality has a super long tail of complexity,” Musk said.
Training data primarily means the fleet’s accumulated real-world miles that Tesla uses to train and improve its end-to-end AI models. This data captures the “long tail” — extremely rare, complex, or unpredictable situations that simulations alone cannot fully replicate at scale.
This is not the same as the total miles driven on Full Self-Driving, which is the 8 billion miles milestone that is being celebrated here.
The FSD-supervised miles contribute heavily to the training data, but the 10 billion figure is an estimate of the cumulative real-world exposure needed overall to push the system to human-level reliability.
Tesla owners surpass 8 billion miles driven on FSD Supervised
The Boring Company’s Music City Loop gains unanimous approval
