Compare the2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee LVS 2026 Tesla Model Y

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the Jeep Grand Cherokee L are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Tesla Model Y has only front height-adjustable seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Grand Cherokee L are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Model Y doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Grand Cherokee L has standard Active Head Restraints, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Head Restraints system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Model Y doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Grand Cherokee L Summit’s standard Hill-descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Model Y doesn’t offer Hill-descent Control.

A passive infrared night vision system optional on the Grand Cherokee L Limited Reserve/Summit helps the driver to more easily detect people, animals or other objects in front of the vehicle at night. Using an infrared camera to detect heat, the system then displays the image on a monitor in the dashboard. The Model Y doesn’t offer a night vision system.

The Grand Cherokee L has standard Uconnect Access, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Model Y doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.

Both the Grand Cherokee L and the Model Y have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive, around view monitors and driver alert monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Jeep Grand Cherokee L is safer than the Tesla Model Y:

	Grand Cherokee L	Model Y
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	21%	25%
Neck Stress	152 lbs.	210 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	137	211
Neck Injury Risk	28%	28%
Neck Stress	125 lbs.	165 lbs.
Neck Compression	41 lbs.	189 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Jeep Grand Cherokee L is safer than the Tesla Model Y:

	Grand Cherokee L	Model Y
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	92	358
Spine Acceleration	34 G’s	45 G’s
Hip Force	375 lbs.	567 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	32 G’s	39 G’s
Hip Force	432 lbs.	682 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Warranty

There are almost 12 times as many Jeep dealers as there are Tesla dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Grand Cherokee L’s warranty.

Reliability

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2025 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Jeep vehicles are better in initial quality than Tesla vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Jeep above average in initial quality. With 14 more problems per 100 vehicles, Tesla is rated below average.

Brakes and Stopping

The Grand Cherokee L stops shorter than the Model Y:

	Grand Cherokee L	Model Y
60 to 0 MPH	123 feet	125 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Grand Cherokee L has larger standard tires than the Model Y (265/60R18 vs. 255/45R19). The Grand Cherokee L Summit’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Model Y (275/45R21 vs. 255/35R21).

The Grand Cherokee L has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Model Y doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Grand Cherokee L offers an optional full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Model Y; it requires you to depend on roadside assistance and your vehicle will have to be towed.

Suspension and Handling

The Grand Cherokee L has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Grand Cherokee L flat and controlled during cornering. The Model Y Performance suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

The Grand Cherokee L offers an optional automatic front and rear load leveling suspension to keep ride height level with a heavy load or when towing. The Grand Cherokee L’s height leveling suspension allows the driver to raise ride height for better off-road clearance and then lower it again for easier entering and exiting and better on-road handling. The Model Y doesn’t offer a load leveling suspension.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Grand Cherokee L’s wheelbase is 7.9 inches longer than on the Model Y (121.7 inches vs. 113.8 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Grand Cherokee L is .8 inches wider in the front and 1.1 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Model Y.

For greater off-road capability the Grand Cherokee L Laredo/Limited has a 1.9 inches greater minimum ground clearance than the Model Y (8.5 vs. 6.6 inches), allowing the Grand Cherokee L to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The Grand Cherokee L Overland/Summit’s minimum ground clearance is 4.3 inches higher than on the Model Y (10.9 vs. 6.6 inches).

Chassis

The Grand Cherokee L Altitude/Limited/Summit uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Model Y doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The Grand Cherokee L offers optional seating for 7 passengers; the Model Y can only carry 6.

The Grand Cherokee L has 3.6 inches more front hip room, 2.8 inches more front shoulder room, .5 inches more rear headroom, 5.7 inches more rear hip room and 4 inches more rear shoulder room than the Model Y.

Cargo Capacity

The Grand Cherokee L’s cargo area provides more volume than the Model Y.

	Grand Cherokee L	Model Y
Third Seat Folded	46.9 cubic feet	n/a
Third Seat Removed	n/a	34.3 cubic feet
Second Seat Folded	84.6 cubic feet	76 cubic feet

Towing

Maximum trailer towing in the Tesla Model Y is limited to 3500 pounds. The Grand Cherokee L offers up to a 6200 lbs. towing capacity.

The Grand Cherokee L Summit can be flat towed on all four wheels (dinghy towed), allowing recreational vehicle owners to bring it with them on the road. When they reach their destination, the Grand Cherokee L can be unhitched and driven around locally. The Model Y can’t be towed flat on the ground.

Ergonomics

Unlike the driver-only memory system in the Model Y, the Grand Cherokee L Summit has a passenger memory, so that when drivers switch, the memory setting adjusts the driver’s seat, steering wheel position (with optional power wheel adjuster), outside mirror angle and radio stations and the front passenger seat also adjusts to the new passenger’s preset preferences.

The Grand Cherokee L Limited Reserve/Summit offers an optional heads-up display that projects speed, tachometer, certain gauge and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Model Y doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Grand Cherokee L has a standard rear wiper. The Model Y doesn’t offer a rear wiper.

Consumer Reports rated the Grand Cherokee L’s headlight performance “Good,” a higher rating than the Model Y’s headlights, which were rated “Fair.”

The Grand Cherokee L’s standard side window demisters help clear frost or condensation from the side windows in the winter. The Model Y doesn’t even offer side window demisters, so the driver may have to wipe the windows from the outside to gain side vision.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the Grand Cherokee L has standard extendable sun visors. The Model Y doesn’t offer extendable visors.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Grand Cherokee L to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Model Y doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The Grand Cherokee L Limited Reserve/Summit has standard front air conditioned seats and the Grand Cherokee L Summit also has them in the second row. This keeps the passengers comfortable and takes the sting out of hot seats in summer. The Model Y doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats in the rear.

The Grand Cherokee L Summit has standard massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Model Y.

The Grand Cherokee L is equipped with both FM and AM stereo radios, offering access to more content and better coverage than the Model Y, which solely provides FM radio. With AM radio, you can enjoy a wider variety of stations featuring news, talk shows, sports commentary, native language programing, automated traffic guidance, and emergency broadcasts. AM waves travel further and penetrate buildings and obstacles more effectively than FM signals, especially at night. Having both FM and AM stereo radios the Grand Cherokee L offers a more comprehensive listening experience compared to only FM in the Model Y.

HD Radio boasts several benefits over conventional radio: superior sound quality with clearer and consistent FM broadcasts, CD-quality audio, and Multicast Channels offering up to four streams from a single station, adding programming choices. Cars like the Grand Cherokee L Altitude/Limited/Summit equipped with HD Radio provide an improved in-car entertainment experience. The Model Y, devoid of this technology, foregoes these benefits. Selecting the Jeep Grand Cherokee L empowers drivers to enjoy a more immersive and enjoyable listening experience while on the go.

Compared to the Tesla Model Y’s traditional radio, the Jeep Grand Cherokee L optionally equipped with SiriusXM satellite radio provides an unmatched listening experience. Its extensive coverage guarantees consistent, crystal-clear reception across the continental U.S., and access to over 100 channels dedicated to a multitude of genres, including music, news, sports, talk shows, and comedy, many with only limited commercial breaks.

The Grand Cherokee L Laredo X/Altitude/Limited/Summit has a 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Model Y doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

Economic Advantages

According to iSeeCars.com the 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee L retains 53.18% of its original value after 5 years, significantly more than the 39.16% resale value of the 2026 Tesla Model Y after five years, which can save the Jeep’s owner up to $18223 in depreciation.

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