Second Impressions: The Tesla Model 3

Last week, Don, my brother-in-law, picked up his metallic deep-blue  Tesla Model 3 from one of the company’s showrooms –they sell their cars direct and not through a dealership–  in Fremont, California.

A year ago, he had put up a US$ 1,000 deposit for the promised US$35, 000 Model 3 unit that had just gotten off Tesla’s designers’ drawing boards and into production mode then.

The Tesla Model 3  was supposed to catapult the fledgling company into the mainstream car market.

All their previous models, the Roadster, the Model S  as well as the Model X (an SUV – sports utility vehicle) are relatively expensive, and only a few middle-income American consumers could afford them.

Tesla had been at the forefront in the rebirth of the all-electric vehicle boom that had seen the release of competing models from the big Japanese and European carmakers  -notably Nissan (the ‘Leaf‘) and BMW (the i3 – with the latest release, a 2-cylinder ‘range extender’ engine is now just optional )- as well as from the top 2 American car firms — General Motors (the Chevy ‘Bolt‘) and Ford (coming up with its ‘CUV‘).

Tesla Model 3 interior - driver seat perspective
The Model 3’s simple interior and almost bare dashboard are both a boon and a bane

As it turned out, Tesla’s promised consumer-friendly price tag of US$35,000 for the Model 3 ‘base model’ ballooned to almost US$57,000 after the company failed in its promise to offer one with the ‘standard batteries‘ during the consumer rollout.

Eager to drive home with his Model 3, Don was compelled to buy a more expensive unit with long-range (up to 310 miles) batteries + a premium exterior with rear-wheel drive.  His choice of color, deep blue metallic (extra $1500), and alloy sports wheels (extra $1500) set him back another $3,000 plus all the taxes and fees.

The price would have gone even higher had he opted for one with an all-wheel-drive (extra $6,000 for the ‘basic’ all-wheel drive and an extra $15,000 for the ‘performance’ all-wheel drive) & enhanced Autopilot (extra $5,000).

After all the extras, a fully loaded, top-of-the-line Model 3 goes for about $75,500 before all the taxes and fees –and that’s not a price for the average consumer.  For all that money, you could buy four (4)  brand-new (latest model) Toyota Corollas and still have a few thousand left in your pocket.

Charging the car at home via a dedicated 240V outlet.

So for the US$57K price, he shelled out -before Federal & State tax incentives- Don’s Model 3 car should, at least, be impressive.  It is but not without some drawbacks.

Most electric cars have impressive torques, and the rear-wheel-drive Model 3 can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in about 5.1 seconds.  The car’s handling was impressive as the 19″ wheels were big enough to mitigate some road imperfections.

You can’t say enough praise for all the tech goodies inside and outside the car with its gaggle of radars, sensors, cameras, software updates for the touchscreen control panel as well as the very impressive all-glass roof.   All of the Model 3’s glass parts, including the windows, were made by Saint-Gobain Sekurit, which traces its roots all the way back to 1665 in France as the Royal Glass Works.

The Model 3’s all-glass, UV protective roof is very impressive. Those 2 micro-LED pin lights provide just enough illumination for the passengers at the back

And, as this is an all-electric vehicle, you tend to rely less on the brakes to slow down the car —just release your foot on the accelerator, and you accomplish two things: 1). slows the car down to a halt, and 2). you charge the batteries (regenerative braking).

Let’s get to the things that I didn’t like about the Tesla Model 3:

Firstly, the door handles.  Opening a door is a two-handed affair.  What??? You have the push the recessed handle with one hand and grab the handle’s end once it pops out with your other hand —yes, just to open a door.

If you’re quick, you can grab & open Tesla’s Model 3 doors with one hand. For most others, opening a door is a two-handed affair.

Second, there is no manual override to open the glove box compartment.  To open it, you must turn on the touchscreen tablet (which acts as the sole instrument panel and controls everything inside the car) and push the ‘open glove box‘ button.  Too cool but also too dumb.  Any determined thief can simply use a screwdriver and force it open.

Third, and as mentioned above, the car relied too much on the 15″ touchscreen tablet in the dashboard’s center.  I honestly believe that Tesla did it to cut costs in the guise of the ‘cool’ factor.

Truly functional or just for the 'cool factor'???
This 15″ touchscreen tablet is the only instrument panel inside the Tesla Model 3.

This is especially too distracting when driving around the city as you have to deal with all the functionalities of the car on a touchscreen panel.  As if texting while driving is just not bad enough.

Fourth, for the steep price tag on any premium variants of the Tesla Model 3, real leather seats should be standard.  As it is, the ‘premium interior’ model could only boast of faux leather in black.

Lastly, except for topping off the windshield washer fluid, there’s nothing a Tesla Model 3 owner who’s keen on maintaining the car himself can do.  Most of the other end-user replaceable parts & fluids are either hidden underneath the car’s chassis –where the engine sits in your typical internal combustion vehicle is now a front luggage compartment-  or, not that easily accessible.

This means that if ever the car needs even the most simple maintenance, you may have to take it back to a Tesla dealership.  Bottom line: costlier upkeep. 

Other minor flaws need no mentioning and can be ignored, but the ones above are simply too obvious to be overlooked.

After all, Tesla’s mass-production model cars -starting with the 2012 Model S- had only been around for a few years.  Improvements should come in the next iterations of those models.

That is, if  -with their massive debt and government subsidies in the form of tax incentives ending soon-  they will remain viable and, most importantly, become profitable, as a company in the coming years.

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