Mileage log for Tesla Model Y. The practical guide

Tesla Model Y is the best-selling car in Sweden and one of the most common company cars in the country. It generates more mileage log questions than any other EV, simply because so many people drive it for both business and private. Here is the practical guide to how an automatic mileage log works for a Model Y.

What the car already knows

Model Y continuously reports odometer, position, timestamps and route to the Tesla account. That is all the data Skatteverket wants in a mileage log, minus purpose and driver. Those two are exactly what an automatic log adds, together with a rule engine that classifies trips for you.

Setup for a Model Y

Three steps from Tesla account to finished log:

1. Sign in to MPH DriveLog with your Tesla account
2. Mark geofence zones around home, office and frequent clients
3. Set simple rules, for example Monday to Friday 07 to 17 between office and client zone is business

It takes about five minutes total. The remaining time goes to the few unclear trips that need manual classification.

Common use cases

Two cases dominate for Model Y. The first is the small business owner who drives business and private with the same car, often with family in the back. The second is the salesperson or consultant who does many long client trips.

For the small business owner, geofence around preschool, grocery store and cabin is important so private trips classify automatically. For the salesperson, geofence around the five biggest clients combined with a rule “weekdays 09 to 17 outside home zone” is usually enough to catch 90 percent of business trips without manual adjustment.

What you save in time

Ten to fifteen minutes a day on paper logs equals 40 to 60 hours per year. DriveLog needs about ten minutes per week, that is under nine hours per year. The difference is a full work week.

What you save in money

Tax-wise the saving is larger. A complete log can lock in limited private use and reduce the benefit value. The difference is often SEK 15,000 to 25,000 per year for a Model Y, depending on equipment and model year. More on this in Do you need a mileage log for a company car.

“My Model Y is the family car. Do I need a log?”

Only if you want to deduct costs in a business, if the car is a benefit car, or if you claim per-kilometer reimbursement for business driving. If it is a pure private car with no business connection you do not need a log.

Common problems

Two problems tend to come up. The first is that picking up children classifies as business if the office lies in the same direction as the preschool. Solve it with a specific rule classifying trips that pass the preschool as private. The second is that short detours during business trips are misclassified. For detours shorter than a few kilometers Skatteverket accepts that the trip in its entirety counts as business, which DriveLog can do automatically.

What MPH DriveLog does for Model Y

All of this happens automatically. Connect the Tesla account, set zones and rules, drive. Weekly review on Sunday evening takes ten minutes and you have a complete, exportable mileage log ready for Skatteverket.

More for Tesla drivers:

• Mileage log for Tesla Model 3
• Mileage log Model Y landing page
• Private trip vs business trip