The Tesla Model 3, reviewed (finally)
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Nice review. We have been enjoying our Model 3 for a few months now. It is by no means a “perfect car”, but I don’t think such a thing exists. It’s my wife’s daily driver, and our general weekend driver, so we haven’t ever pushed the range but it works well for our use case.
My wife is already eyeing the Model Y, and I have unreasonable expectations for the pickup. Going to be a fun few years in the electric vehicle market I think.
My wife is already eyeing the Model Y, and I have unreasonable expectations for the pickup. Going to be a fun few years in the electric vehicle market I think.
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Thanks for the review ! I keep looking at Tesla cars with envy, but as long as I live in an apartment, no way to charge...
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This would be an ideal daily commute car for me. Wouldn't need any bells or whistles, just 20 miles each way of congested highway driving.
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I'm not sold on the exclusively touchscreen control, either - but the review seems to make a lot over the fact that changing cabin temperature requires a few taps. Is this really an issue? How often are people changing cabin temperature- or is there a limitation in the Tesla climate control somehow?
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Nice review. FYI, cabin temperature can be adjusted in one step by touching the temperature setting at the bottom and sliding left or right (to lower or raise the temperature).
I wonder if something was miscalibrated on the car you drove with autopilot. My wife's car tracks perfectly in the middle of the lane.
Regarding the car moving to the right when the lane widens, you should have seen what it used to be like. It has gotten much better in the last 6 months, and I've found it doesn't do that anymore in about 75% of exit ramp situations. I think it depends on how much of a seam there is in the blacktop between the main roadway and the exit: with a sufficient seam it detects the exit ramp as a separate lane and doesn't move over.
After about 9 months of driving our Model 3, I'd say there are only two things I don't like about it: the automatic wipers are almost never aggressive enough (supposedly a fix is on the way, but that's in "Elon time"), and the lack of support for the Bluetooth profile (hands-free profile?) that lets you trigger your phone's voice assistant by holding down the steering wheel button. Mostly I don't like the "free" Slacker Radio and want to use Spotify/Apple Music/Whatever by voice from my phone.
Despite the couple irritations, I'm planning on selling my current car and getting my own Model 3. It really is a pleasure to drive, and I appreciate the environmental benefits.
I wonder if something was miscalibrated on the car you drove with autopilot. My wife's car tracks perfectly in the middle of the lane.
Regarding the car moving to the right when the lane widens, you should have seen what it used to be like. It has gotten much better in the last 6 months, and I've found it doesn't do that anymore in about 75% of exit ramp situations. I think it depends on how much of a seam there is in the blacktop between the main roadway and the exit: with a sufficient seam it detects the exit ramp as a separate lane and doesn't move over.
After about 9 months of driving our Model 3, I'd say there are only two things I don't like about it: the automatic wipers are almost never aggressive enough (supposedly a fix is on the way, but that's in "Elon time"), and the lack of support for the Bluetooth profile (hands-free profile?) that lets you trigger your phone's voice assistant by holding down the steering wheel button. Mostly I don't like the "free" Slacker Radio and want to use Spotify/Apple Music/Whatever by voice from my phone.
Despite the couple irritations, I'm planning on selling my current car and getting my own Model 3. It really is a pleasure to drive, and I appreciate the environmental benefits.
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It's a big issue, at least for me. My truck had an aftermarket touchscreen radio installed by the previous owner, and trying to hit the buttons on the screen while driving is difficult. It, too, lacks haptic feedback, and it's frustrating enough that I have sworn off touching it while the truck is in motion, except for turning it off (since it has a physical power button, at least). Haptic feedback is a necessity, in my opinion, but there's no substitute for a physical object that you can find by touch rather than even a quick glance.
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Some people do not understand how a thermostat works.
I used to have a coworker who upon entering the office int he morning would crank the temp up to 80 because she was cold. by the time the place got up to 78 she was sweating and far to hot, and didn't understand why and would drop it back down to 65.
up and down like a yo-yo
if she instead set the thermostat to 70 and just waited patiently everything would warm up to 70.
So I never underestimate the stupidity of people using very simple devices.
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Glad you finally got one to review.
I was considering trying to work out loaning mine to you for at least a partial review, but mine is a config that is no longer sold.
3 - Needs a few more buttons and/or much better voice control options.
Tesla - Needs to vastly improve customer support.
I was considering trying to work out loaning mine to you for at least a partial review, but mine is a config that is no longer sold.
3 - Needs a few more buttons and/or much better voice control options.
Tesla - Needs to vastly improve customer support.
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FYI, You can adjust the temp with one action. Just slide your finger along the bottom of the screen. Much easier.
Autopilot is awesome but is not full self driving you need to pay attention. That said I think it's great for reducing fatigue on long highway trips or in traffic.
Autopilot is awesome but is not full self driving you need to pay attention. That said I think it's great for reducing fatigue on long highway trips or in traffic.
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I think others have pointed this out, but your comment that it takes more than one tap to adjust the temperature is just plain wrong. There are a few features that take a little bit of learning/experimentation to use efficiently, and that's one of them. One tap will do it.
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How does the touchscreen work with full sun coming in through the all-glass roof? I've found that even a regular sunroof can was out the matte center console display in my current car. I'd hate to have a car where using a screen for control is mandatory, but can't be seen clearly/reliably on sunny days.
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I've wanted one since it they were announced. My current car needs to last long enough for some of these issues to be worked out. This is actually the perfect car for us now.
Question to owners, what is the warranty like and how to the batteries hold up over time?
Question to owners, what is the warranty like and how to the batteries hold up over time?
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Wow, what a remarkably thorough review. Articles like this are the reason I keep coming back to Ars. Thanks, Jon!
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Hmm.. I would very much like a RWD Performance model, and considering it's just a software update and bigger brakes/lowered suspension it shouldn't be a big deal for them to make it available.
..maybe one day..
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No problems at all. The roof is tinted.
I can't recall any times the light has been at the right angle to cause enough glare on the screen to make reading it difficult.
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Agreed, I was tempted when the announcement of the base finally being for sale, but with AWD only being available in the LR trim I'll have to wait and see what the competition holds. My current front-runner is the 2019 RAV4 hybrid, 39mpg combined with AWD is great. I'd prefer a PHEV or even EV but there's nothing that comes close to lifetime cost of the RAV4 except maybe the Outlander PHEV and I've already lived with one low production number car and the costs in year 10+ go up, a lot.
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Thanks for the review.
I see too much glare on the touch screen. What's it like during low-sun hours? Or night?
(I've been in German cars more than any, and I really like the Audi interiors that use red lighting instead of other spectrum of white-blue LEDs. And unnecessary glare).
I can see the 3 being more desirable as FWD or AWD. But as RWD, unless it has a ludicrous mode, its destined for nice weather roads only.
Look forward to long-term use, extended review.
I see too much glare on the touch screen. What's it like during low-sun hours? Or night?
(I've been in German cars more than any, and I really like the Audi interiors that use red lighting instead of other spectrum of white-blue LEDs. And unnecessary glare).
I can see the 3 being more desirable as FWD or AWD. But as RWD, unless it has a ludicrous mode, its destined for nice weather roads only.
Look forward to long-term use, extended review.
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The glass roof is tinted with an additional UV protection coating, making it look orange from the outside on rainy days. From the inside, there's no glare on the display and the glass roof looks like a normally tinted window, rain or not. The glare is probably unnoticeable in person because of the (overridable) auto brightness settings.
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In general I agree with you (my wife hunts on temperature, while in my car I pretty much have one temperature for winter and one for summer), but the Model 3 "auto" setting tends to set the fan speed too high which can make the car drafty feeling in the winter.
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I think it depends on how YOU utilize automatic climate controls. Personally, when I start my car, the first thing I do is adjust the temp to what I want and leave it on "auto." Just set it and forget it. Works great. MY WIFE, on the other hand, still doesn't comprehend the modern wonders of automatic climate control (that we've had since at least the 1980's) and throws it on full hot or cold, max fan. And both our cars have dual zone climate control. No matter how many times I explain that she can have the temperature perfect on her side if she'd just give it a minute, it just does not compute with her.
Judging by some of the other comments in here, I'm not alone on this one. "Too hot!" "Too cold!" "Now I'm too hot again!" So many /facepalm moments in my car when riding with her. Lol.
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No worries at all. Almost zero glare. I've had mine for 4 months and have never notices any glare issues.
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RWD with traction control on a very heavy vehicle with 50/50 weight distribution. Quite a bit different than a live rear axle on a front engine car.
But people like what they like!
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I have never had an issue with the touchscreen and the sun. In contrast, my Jeep Grand Cherokee’s touchscreen will completely disappear with even marginal sunlight on it.
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Yeah, that touchscreen is the big question mark for me. I've got two vehicles with touchscreen head units. My daily driver's touchscreen is a bit unpredictable and not so well situated for usage in a moving vehicle with stiff suspension. The aftermarket head unit in my old truck is more responsive. Turning on headlights, messing with climate controls, using the steering wheel controls that have come on both of the vehicles I bought new in the last decade - all easy muscle memory even when one doesn't drive the vehicle daily. The touchscreen though ... one usually has to look at it, hold one's arm/finger rock steady while the vehicle is in motion, then wait for the outcome - or look at the freaking screen again - as opposed to the mechanical feedback of a physical switch.
A lot of folks insist that one-pedal driving is the shizz. I'm not convinced that putting almost the entire spectrum of positive and negative acceleration into one pedal is the way to go, however I've yet to operate such a vehicle.
A concern of mine is legroom and headroom. I'm a tall fella with long legs and have heard stories that folks ~6'4" and up just don't fit into the otherwise enormous Model S. I imagine that the skateboard chassis and desire to minimize drag eats some critical headroom that other vehicles can use by running footwell floorpans lower to the ground.
With the apparent death of Tesla's local quasi-dealerships I'm not sure I'll get a chance to try one out anytime soon short of waylaying randoms that happens to have one.
A lot of folks insist that one-pedal driving is the shizz. I'm not convinced that putting almost the entire spectrum of positive and negative acceleration into one pedal is the way to go, however I've yet to operate such a vehicle.
A concern of mine is legroom and headroom. I'm a tall fella with long legs and have heard stories that folks ~6'4" and up just don't fit into the otherwise enormous Model S. I imagine that the skateboard chassis and desire to minimize drag eats some critical headroom that other vehicles can use by running footwell floorpans lower to the ground.
With the apparent death of Tesla's local quasi-dealerships I'm not sure I'll get a chance to try one out anytime soon short of waylaying randoms that happens to have one.
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I constantly fiddle with mine in my regular ICE car. When I get into the car from the freezing outside, particularly if I'm also wet, I'll set it to max heat as high fan speed as my ears will tolerate (noise). The seat warmer also gets turned on at max at this point. Once I start feeling warm and toasty, I'll dial the heat back down to something more normal and the seat warmer usually gets turned down or off as well. Since I just dragged a bunch of water into the car, sometimes I'll have to fiddle a bit to avoid fogging on the windscreen.
The touchscreen is, by far, my biggest reservation with the Model 3.
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don't like the dash or the touchscreen stuff. I also can't do cars with the clusters in the middle. just not my bag.
i'm sure it's not a bad car though. interested to see where EVs go. i have about 10 years before my next car unless mine explodes or something so an EV will definitely be on the radar.
i'm sure it's not a bad car though. interested to see where EVs go. i have about 10 years before my next car unless mine explodes or something so an EV will definitely be on the radar.
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Same boat. Live in an old apartment building with absentee owner and a property manager who has no idea how to use WiFi, so putting any kind of EV charger there is a pipe dream.
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I'd be really curious to see how dark the touchscreen's "dark mode" appeared out in the boonies, without city-level ambient light.
I recently got landed with a rental with several large, center-dash screens. Of course these automatically changed modes when it was dark out, but (as all LCDs do) they still dumped out quite a bit of light through the "dark" regions of the screen. Out on pre-dawn deer patrol on the interstate, I found this highly distracting, and I would have been very happy to figure out how to turn the damn screens off entirely.
In the bold OLED magic future this will be less of a concern, but we're not there yet.
I recently got landed with a rental with several large, center-dash screens. Of course these automatically changed modes when it was dark out, but (as all LCDs do) they still dumped out quite a bit of light through the "dark" regions of the screen. Out on pre-dawn deer patrol on the interstate, I found this highly distracting, and I would have been very happy to figure out how to turn the damn screens off entirely.
In the bold OLED magic future this will be less of a concern, but we're not there yet.
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I use it on my Leaf in stop-and-go traffic, and for that it's really nice, and it softens the throttle response enough that you're not so much at risk of launching yourself into the car in front of you. The aggressive off-throttle braking takes a bit of getting used to, mind you.
For everything else, though, I prefer the standard driving mode with minimal regen, since yeah, having the pedal be so sensitive is annoying.
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Nice review.
That should be the mid or base battery. Tesla is just being conservative. The LR is a speed demon on the supercharger. Real world people are showing just under 200 miles in 30 minutes. Makes me a bit jealous and tempted to trade in my Model S but I keep cars for at least a decade so I am out of the market till 2025.
When Tesla unveils the 200 KW chargers next week will be curious to see how fast the Model 3 can go.
When Tesla unveils the 200 KW chargers next week will be curious to see how fast the Model 3 can go.
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Sometimes it's the stupidity of the controller. Depending on implementation, cranking up high and then setting it lower afterwards is the fastest way to reach a specific target temperature.
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i cannot wait to get an electric car, but that barren/minimalist dashboard is the deal breaker for me. I want the car's status (speed, battery info, range, etc.) located in front of me, either (a) behind the steering wheel, and/or (b) using a modern HUD, and/or (c) with a hi-res 3D 2160p 24-bit-color variable-transparency HUD holographic avatar*, located just above/behind the steering wheel, displaying those data on cue cards or something else cool.
* I'll take R2D2 displaying the car's info via one of his hologram projections. But, when my wife/daughter/mother-in-law are not in the car, it changes to Princess Leia in her Jedi bikini. : ] What avatar(s) would YOU use?
* I'll take R2D2 displaying the car's info via one of his hologram projections. But, when my wife/daughter/mother-in-law are not in the car, it changes to Princess Leia in her Jedi bikini. : ] What avatar(s) would YOU use?
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After 9 months with my Model 3 I will say that the two biggest issues for me are:
1) The touchscreen
2) Service/parts availability. That is an organizational issue with Tesla vs. anything specific about the car.
Neither of these prevent me from loving the car.
There are many touchscreen operations that take too much attention. The worst offenders are the windshield wipers and the audio system, with the climate controls a close third. Over time I have learned to deal with all of these, but they are definitely not ideal. And yes the voice controls are inadequate (the ones that are there mostly work great, they just need more functionality).
On the other hand, the navigation system works fantastically and I love the huge display for that.
I'm in complete agreement that having the primary driving info slightly off to the right is a total non-issue, and I've become very fond of having almost nothing directly in front of me to distract me.
Whatever complaints I might have generally melt away when I hit the accelerator.
1) The touchscreen
2) Service/parts availability. That is an organizational issue with Tesla vs. anything specific about the car.
Neither of these prevent me from loving the car.
There are many touchscreen operations that take too much attention. The worst offenders are the windshield wipers and the audio system, with the climate controls a close third. Over time I have learned to deal with all of these, but they are definitely not ideal. And yes the voice controls are inadequate (the ones that are there mostly work great, they just need more functionality).
On the other hand, the navigation system works fantastically and I love the huge display for that.
I'm in complete agreement that having the primary driving info slightly off to the right is a total non-issue, and I've become very fond of having almost nothing directly in front of me to distract me.
Whatever complaints I might have generally melt away when I hit the accelerator.
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Nice review.
That should be the mid or base battery. The LR is a speed demon on the supercharger. Makes me a bit jealous and tempted to trade in my Model S but I keep cars for at least a decade so I am out of the market till 2025.
When Tesla unveils the 200 KW chargers next week will be curious to see how fast the Model 3 can go.
Respectfully, Telsa's own press kit disagrees with you:
https://www.tesla.com/presskit
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The value of regenerative braking is pretty obvious: I've heard ~10% range bump on average. Failing to integrate this into the brake pedal is baffling. The one time I test-drove a leaf ~5 years ago the throttle and brake seemed distinct with only the slightest hint of simulated engine braking when the throttle was released, but I imagine the vehicle has since changed.
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