Forget for the moment that by going all electric in your next car you would be helping to save the planet. The Model 3, Tesla’s first “affordable” model, looks great and is roomy inside. For true car lover it is a blast to drive. It has acceleration that will knock you back in your seat and it corners like a very expensive sports car. You can also quit subsidizing the giant oil companies and save thousands of dollars over the life of the car in the process. And, oh yea, it is the safest car on the road. All and all it is one of the best cars you can own. Its only competition it has for that designation are other Tesla models.
Tesla has never found a need to advertise. It sells every car it can produce based solely on word of mouth and it plans to deliver between 300,000 to 400,000 vehicles this year. That wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for very happy customers like me who can’t quit telling everyone they know how great their cars are. I am writing this article so I can reach more people like you.
First the fun stuff. My Model 3 has the long range battery which provides 340 miles of range on a single charge. The electric motors provide 450 horsepower and 471lb-ft of torque giving the car a top speed of 162 MPH, not that I would ever want to go that fast. Unlike internal combustion powered vehicles which have a brief lag after you step on the gas petal as the motor increases RPM’s, the electric motors of the Mode 3 provide instant power to the wheels. The resulting acceleration is advertised by Tesla to provide a 0 to 60 time of 4.85 seconds, but independent tests have recorded times in the 4.6 second range. That is serious kick in the butt.
You can buy the basic Model 3 or $38.99K minus a $3.75K federal tax credit if you buy before July 1st bringing the cost down to $36,240 and there might be an additional state tax credit where you live. Eventually you should be able to buy it for $35K, but by then the tax credits may have expired. By the way, the average new car now costs about 36K.
The basic Model 3 offers 240 miles of range between charges, a top speed of 140 MPH, and 0 to 60 acceleration of 5.3 seconds. If you are going to do mostly city driving including commuting to work, this would be a perfect car for you. I have noticed that several local companies and our primary local university in our city now offer charging stations so you can even charge up your car while you work or attend classes.
If like some teenagers and rednecks, what turns you on about cars is how they advertise their raw engine power via loud engine noises when revved up, then the Model 3 is not the car for you. The electric motors are totally silent, even when run at high RPM’s. Well, maybe there is a very slight hum, but my ears can’t detect it. All I hear in the car is muted noises the tires make rolling across the road and on a smooth road there is not much of even that.
The ability of an expensive sports cars to hug the road on curvy roads depends on two factors, a low center of gravity and equalizing as much as possible the distribution of the weight of the car between the front and rear wheels. That’s why sports cars are built close to the ground and why the best cornering models have a mid-engine design with heavy internal combustion motor positioned directly behind the driver and right passenger seast so that it is situated between the front and rear wheels.
The Model 3 achieves the same objectives without having to lower the car’s profile or sacrifice interior room. The heaviest part of the car is the battery which extends right above the floorboard the entire length of the car. This gives the Model 3 a very low center of gravity. The electric motors are small and light allowing an almost perfect 49.5% – 50.5% weight distribution between the front and rear wheels. I can tell you from personal experience that the car goes around corners at speed like it is on tracks.
Yet with all this performance the Model 3 is also one of the safest cars on the road, a distinction it shares only with its bigger brothers, the Tesla Model S and the Tesla SUV, the Model X. When the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) crash tested the Model 3 it was awarded its highest rating, 5 Stars, in each of its tests – the frontal crash test, the driver’s side crash test, the passenger’s side crash test, and the rollover protection test – for an overall rating of 5 Stars. Model 3 also earned a five-star safety ratings from the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP).
Among its newest honors, Detroit’s hometown newspaper The Detroit News recently crowned the Model 3 its “Vehicle of the Year”. Following suit the Auto Express weekly magazine in the UK named the Tesla’s newest model its 2019 “Car of the Year” beating out the Ford Ranger and the $135,000 Corvette ZR1 with its with 755 horsepower. The magazine called the Model 3’s performance, range and its agility on the road “brilliant,” saying it is “the best Tesla yet.” That is high praise indeed since Motor Trend magazine recently named the Tesla Model S its “Ultimate Car of the Year”, essentially its car of the decade.
Electric vehicles are the wave of the future and Tesla is the is the undisputed pioneer and leader in the field. The Model 3 is already one of the bestselling sedans in the country and Tesla is still in the process of ramping up its production of the car. The success Tesla has experienced in designing and manufacturing electric automobiles is forcing traditional car companies to focus on the electric vehicle market, and they are collectively spending $90 billion in an effort to catch up.
One of the things that brings a smile to my face is the Model 3’s very low cost of maintenance. My insurance costs are reasonable. The only fluid the car needs on a regular basis is windshield wiper fluid. So there is no expense for gas, oil, or hydraulic and transmission fluid. (The car has no transmission.) There are hundreds of things that can go wrong with an internal combustion engine, the generator, oil pump. and transmission system which require regular service visits. In comparison mechanically there is almost to go wrong on a Tesla. Except for occasionally rotating tires I only need to bring the car in for service to change out the battery fluid every 2 or 3 years.
In addition the Model 3 retains its resale value better than any other car manufactured today. Kelley Blue Book has listed the Model 3 with its best resale value – for example Kelley estimates Tesla’s mid-sized sedan will retain about 69% of its value after three years. Rather than depreciating, because of low availability at the time I could have sold my Model 3 for more than I paid for it the day I took possession.
For a mid-sized car the Model 3 is unusually roomy inside. Since it has no large internal combustion engine or gas tank and only small electric motors, much of the entire interior of the car is available for passenger and trunk space. The car seats 5 adults, but I think it would be more comfortable with only two in the back where leg room is limited. However, two or three kids could occupy the rear bench seat comfortably. I am 6’ 2” and I don’t even have the driver’s seat positioned all of the way back as I have to do in most cars. Given the extra headroom available I believe that someone 6’ 8” would still be comfortable in the driver’s or front passengers seat.
With the deluxe interior option I purchased my car’s entire roof is tinted glass. If you choose the standard model, the roof over the driver and front passenger seats will be metal, but the roof over the back seats is glass. Both designs give the car a roomy feel. I thought that all of that glass would be a problem during our hot sunny weather here in Alabama, but I haven’t noticed that the car gets any hotter than any other vehicle I have owned.
With no internal combustion engine or gas tank, there is also ample trunk/cargo room in the Model 3, especially for a medium sized car. The basic rear trunk is x’ wide, y’ high and z’ deep. If you remove a panel which serves s as a portion of the floor of the trunk, underneath there is another compartment which is x’ wide, y’ high and z’ deep which you can put an extra carry-on suitcase with no problem.
The car also has a small front trunk which where you can easily store an airline carry-on bag. The following YouTube video link shows that you can get two large suitcases, two carry-on bags and 4 duffel bags in the combined cargo space. Tesla Trunk Space If that isn’t enough space you can fold down the rear seats which expends the rear trunk space to 7 ft. deep.. With the rear seats folded, the rear trunk provides enough room for 15 carry-on suitcases. There are images on the internet where Model 3 owners have installed a mattress in the trunk so that they could sleep back there on camping trips.
One of the best things about my car is the money I save on gasoline. Except when I am taking long trips, I charge my car at home. I can easily charge my car up at home overnight. The cost of charging the car from 0 to 340 miles of range will vary with your electric rates. (And if your electric power company has cheaper rates at certain times of night, you can set the car to start charging when the best rates are available.) Here in Alabama a full charge costs me about $6.50. By comparison the gas necessary to drive my wife’s hybrid Ford Escape that distance would cost more $40 at the current rather low price of gas.
Taking to car on long trips is no problem because Tesla’s extensive Supercharging station network. Currently Tesla has 1,533 Supercharger Stations in the US with 13,344 Superchargers. As you can see from the map above they are scattered along all of the major highways and within easy driving distance from one another. This is map is from early 2018 so most of the supercharging stations then under construction at that time (shown in gray) are now in operation. In the Model 3 the built-in Trip Planner will automatically route you through Superchargers on the way to your destination. In addition, all Supercharger locations are displayed in the car’s navigation system to assist with route planning.
After driving 200 or so miles you probably should be taking a break anyway. At a supercharging station it will take about than 20 minutes to provide a Model 3 with a half charge. The new V3 Supercharger which Tesla is starting to install will significantly reduce current charging times. Tesla supercharging stations are always located near shopping and places to eat so there is something to do while you are waiting. Model 3 owners get their first 1000 miles of range free and after that the rate will vary from station. but in my experience it averages about $9 to $10 for a half to three quarter charge, still much cheaper than paying for gas.
Like the other Tesla models that preceded it, the Model 3 is as much technology on wheels as it is an automobile. Everything is driven by software. The first thing that is different is that there is no keys or even a button you push to start the car. Rather than a key, the vehicle comes two interfaces that look exactly like black plastic credit cards. To unlock the car, you hold one of these cards up to a spot on the post between the front and rear windows on the driver’s side. To “start” the car you touch the card on the console between the two front seats.
However, while I keep one of those cards in my wallet as a backup, I almost never use it. Early on I downloaded the Tesla app to my cell phone and use it to unlock and start the car. As I walk up to the car with my phone in my pocket and get within about 15 feet of the car, it recognizes my phone and unlocks the car, When I open the door it unfolds the outside rear view mirrors . When I enter the car, the car is “started” with the climate control system on and it is ready to drive. When I exit the car and walk 15 to 20 feet away from it, again with my phone in my pocket, the car locks itself and refolds the outside rear view mirrors.
Unlike every other vehicle I have ever driven, the Model 3 has no dials and gauges or even visible door lock buttons. Everything, and I mean everything, is displayed and/or controlled from a large centrally mounted 15” touch screen on the dash. That screen along with two rolling buttons on the steering wheel is used to control the lights, climate controls, locks, trunk latches, outside rear view windows, charging conditions, the GPS function and literally everything else on the car. It also displays your speed, your GPS map, rear backing camera view when needed, and the positions of other vehicles around you. (More on this last feature later.)
So you don’t have to drive while you are distracted in order to operate the GPS system or the sound system. I can instead use the two roll buttons on opposite sides of the steering while to control these functions while keeping my eyes on the road. For instance I can push the button on the right side of the steering wheel and use my voice to tell the sound system to “Play “Elton John – Yellow Brick Road” or “Play 95.5 FM” or “Play CNN”(the audio of the cable broadcast). I can also use that button and my voice to the tell the GPS system to “Navigate to 1363 Front St. NW”. I can also use the roll button on the left of the steering wheel to control the volume of the sound system and turn it on and off. Both of those buttons probably also have additional functions that I haven’t discovered yet.
Like some luxury cars, since my cell phone is integrated with my Model 3, it has access to my phone’s contact list. Therefore I can also use the car’s voice command system to “call home” or “call Joe Jones” or to answer a call. The telephone conversation is then routed through the car’s sound system providing a hands-off experience.
Speaking of the sound system, a buddy of mine who is an audiophile thinks the high end system that comes standard with the car produces the best sound he has ever heard in a vehicle. Articles on the web brag on its quality. Audio is piped into the car via a music streaming system over the internet which comes free with the car. Unless you direct it to play a particular song, a local FM station, or the audio of one of the cable news or sports channels, by default the system will play song after song. At first I didn’t like the type of the songs it was playing, so I keep hitting the skip button on the touchscreen. Eventually I notice a “thumbs up” and “thumbs down symbols on the screen and started hitting thumbs down for songs I didn’t like (which also skiped the song) and thumbs up symbol for songs I liked. Now it plays only the type of music I like.
The Model 3 has no transmission; the rear wheels are connected directly to the two electric motors so when the motors go faster the wheels turn faster. (You can now get the car with an all-wheel drive option; in that configuration there are four electric motors, one for each wheel.) Therefore there are no gears to shift through either manually or automatically. A shift lever on the steering column puts the care in “drive” or “reverse” while a button on the end of that lever puts the car in “park”.
One of the more expensive options you can get on your Model 3 is autopilot, and eventually autonomous driving will also become available. With autopilot feature on the car will safely stay in the middle of its lane on the highway, and with a click of the turn signal lever, it will safely change lanes on its own. With the autopilot cruise control on, the car will not only maintain the speed you set, but when approaching slower moving traffic in its lane it will slow its speed to maintain a safe distance to the car in front of it until you click the turn signal indicator to change lanes.
This system is not yet fool proof and Tesla says you must keep your hands on the wheel and pay attention in case you have to take over manually in an unusual situation. In fact, if you take your hands off of the steering wheel for 5 seconds, the car will put out an auto alarm. If your then don’t put your hands back on the wheel, the car will turn off the autopilot system forcing you to take control manually.
The autopilot also has a summons feature. Say you just exited from a restaurant or store and your car is parked some distance away. You can access the Tesla app on your phone and “summon” the car. It will safely back out of its parking space on its and come to you. You can also get out of your Model 3 and direct it to park itself, even in a parking space so narrow that you couldn’t open the doors if you were inside. Autopilot also has a side collision avoidance warning which alerts the driver when objects such as other vehicles are too close to the side of the car. It also has automated parallel parking feature that you have seen on other cars.
Tesla is also working on autonomous driving feature. When fully developed and made available to their customers (Tesla predicts it will take about another year, but outside experts are predicting longer), the car will drive itself to the destination you have indicted in the GPS system while you read a book or just relax.
Now one of the super cool things about the Model 3 that you don’t have to purchase the autopilot feature or the autonomous driving feature get some of the benefits of the systems. The car, even the cheapest model, comes with all the sensors necessary to make these features work when it is delivered from the factory. Every Model 3 has forward facing radar, 8 outward facing cameras providing a 360° view around the car, and 12 audio sensors. (I think of these as sonar that works through the air instead of water).
Every Model 3, even those without the autopilot feature, will use these onboard sensors to indicate the vehicles or even people around the car in an image on the touchscreen when the car is on the road. This can be very useful. For instance, you can glance at that image to see if another vehicle is in one of your blind spots before changing lanes.
I didn’t purchase the autopilot or autonomous driving features, but my car still shows me when I get within 24” of any objective. For instance when I make a left turn off of my driveway into the very narrow parking space inside of my garage, the car will indicate the objects close to the front, rear and corners of my car around the image of the car on the touchscreen, counting down the distance from those objects in inches as the car moves closer to them. The system also works when the car gets close to objects when backing. It will also sound an audio alert when the car gets within 12 inches of an object and it sounds a very nasty audio alarm signal when it is about to hit the object in question.
When you buy a traditional car whatever additional features you paid for when you bought the car is what you will have for the life of the vehicle unless you bring it to accessories or performance shop for a physical upgrade. However, because the Model 3 is as much a computer as it is a car, it is always connected to Tesla via the internet so it can receive software upgrades. When Tesla finds a way to enhance its new Model 3’s via software changes, those software updates are also sent to every Model 3 ever sold.
For example when Tesla found a way to get more performance out of the Model 3’s battery, my car received a software update which increased its range, top speed, and acceleration by 5%. Now that’s pretty cool. In addition I can add the autopilot and/or autonomous driving features at any time. I just have to contact Tesla on-line and provide them with a credit card to make payment and the feature(s) will be sent to my car as a software updates.
A software update provided my car with the “Valet Mode” feature. I can now use the Tesla app on my phone to engage this feature when I leave your car with a valet service. It drastically reduces the cars top speed and acceleration (who don’t want one of the valet employees taking your car on a joy ride while you are away) and locks the glove box and trunks. Another update introduced the “Parental Control” feature so that parents can limit the top speed and acceleration to any reasonable limit they chose when their teenager uses the car. (Most of us don’t want teenagers driving our car at 125 MPH.)
Another software update added an optional feature so that the air conditioning system will come on when the car is parked so that the temperature inside the car never rises above 105°. (That works only if the battery is charged at more than 25% of its capacity.)
Sometimes one of features introduced on a software grade is just for fun. One recent software update allows you to play classic Atari games such as Super Breakout, 2048. Missile Command, Asteroids, Lunar Lander and Centipede, on the touch screen when the car is parked. Centipede has been my favorite since I was much younger.
I don’t know what new features Tesla will add to Model 3 free of charge in the future, but there is every reason to believe that my car will continue to receive interesting and useful software updates on into the future.
Other more serious feature are also interesting as well. While you can control the headlights and windshield wipers manually from the touch screen, I use the automatic mode for both of these functions. On automatic, the headlights come on automatically as night start to fall, but not at full intensity. As it gets darker, the headlights get brighter until they are at full low beam. The high beams also come on automatically under the proper conditions, but the car automatically shifts back to low beams when traffic approaches or when coming up behind a car ahead of it.
A camera focused on the windshield controls the windshield wipers via software when in the auto mode. Software turns the wipers on low when the first drops of rain start to fall. As the rain intensifies, the wipers go faster and faster until they are operating at full speed. Now I think that is pretty cool and certainly unexpected.
There are number of other features on my car that never cease to amaze me. You will have to forgive me if some of these are available on other cars and I am simply not aware of them because until I bought my Model 3 I drove a Honda Prelude for 20 years. So I am probably unaware of new innovations on other vehicles.
When the Model 3 is put in reverse, on the image from the rear facing camera which appears on the large 15’ screen are two tracks which indicate the path the wheels will take as you back car it up. Those tracks curve left or right as you turn the steering wheels so you always know where the car will go on its current path. Now I know that other cars also have this feature, but the rear view mirrors also rotate at a downward angle when the car is in reverse so that you can see the ground next to the car as back it down your driveway.
Anther feature I like is the ability to control the climate in my car when I am not in it from my cell phone. Let’s say I have been shopping or at a remote location for a meeting and my Model 3 has been sitting in the hot sun or the that the temperature outside is below freezing. Maybe 10 minutes before I intend to enter the car I can use the Tesla app to turn on the air conditioner or heater so that the interior of the car is at 72° when I get back to the car.
Or let’s say that the location that I parked my Model3 is not as safe as I would like. The car has a regular alarm system which will flash the lights and blow the horn if some tries to break into it and it will notify the owner on his/her cell phone. However, in addition I can turn on the car’s Sentry Mode. In that mode the car’s cameras are turned on to scan for any possible outside threats. When observed, the owner of the care is notified with a alert or an alarm depending on the severity of the threat. A woman who recently “keyed” a Model 3 found the police waiting for her when she returned to her home. Not only had the cameras recorded her doing the dirty deed, but the car had also captured the image of her car’s license plate as she drove off.
I have also taught my car to access my garage door opener to open it remotely. I no longer need the fob which attaches to my sun visor. I can open the garage door from my car’s touchscreen, or I can set the car to open it automatically from a certain distance (say 60 feet) when the car approaches the door as it rolls down the driveway. Once the car is safely through the garage door the car will shut the door automatically.
Now I know that I have gone on and on about my Model 3 like a giddy school kid all excited about his latest electronic toy, (congratulations if you actually read this entire long article by the way), but my enthusiasm is very real. I had so much faith in Tesla that I put down $1,000 down and ordered my Model 3 back in early March of 2016 before the design was revealed so at the time I didn’t know what the car would look like or what features it would have. I wasn’t able to take delivery of the car until July of 2018 after Tesla actually started producing the vehicle, but I have never been disappointed with my decision. Far from it!
Not only is my Tesla Model 3 the best car I have ever owned, and that includes the Prelude, a Toyota Supra and Nissan 300Z (all of which I loved), but everyone who has seen and ridden in my car has been very impressed. Now while I totally understand that even though the average new car bought in this country is almost as expensive, not everyone can afford the sticker price of a Model 3, especially if you want the long range battery and the premium interior which will cost another $9,000. However, if this car is in your price range you should definitely consider it. And if you buy a Tesla Model 3 it definitely doesn’t hurt that you will be helping to save the only planet we have.
Cajun 7/19/2019